Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/112444
THE PERFUME OF THE PAST COHABITS WITH CUTTING-EDGE CONTEMPORARY ART WITH A SIDE OF MID-CENTURY DESIGN On the day we entered the stately, art-packed 1895 Victorian home of game-changing gallerist Devin Borden and pilot Robert Briscoe, we found two whippets, a trove of cool vinyl, some intriguing Roman artifacts and a luncheon party in progress. Strains of Schumann waft from an elegant late 19thcentury Steinway grand piano, which is tuned into (and dates from) the exact year of the music parlor where it now holds court. The oft-played instrument occupies the epicenter of the first floor of this graceful, perfectly preserved 1895 residence, which proudly reigns in the West End. Miraculously, its original woodwork, working transoms and intact pocket doors have survived, existing as a portal back into the period of its birth. But because this is the home of one of Texas��� most significant contemporary gallerists and his partner, a captain of aviation, the house is not preserved in amber but brought forward to the 21st century, thanks to a sensitively installed collection of artists from our time, including those who often attend the hosts��� legendary luncheons and dinner parties. If the curtain to the past were pulled back, we suspect original owner Conrad Schwarz (1845���1919) ��� a German immigrant, vehicle manufacturer and enterprising carriage and early car dealer ��� would whole-heartedly approve. Millie the whippet relaxes in style on a mid-19th-century ombre velvet Louis Quinze side chair. Over the matching settee hangs a silver-and-pink oil by Geoff Hippenstiel, whom Borden represents. Vinyl aficionado Borden was among the first to snap up the recently rereleased Beatles catalog at Vinyl Edge Records in the Heights. Shown here: Abbey Road and its iconic cover. AS TOLD TO C ATH E RINE D. A NSP O N. P H OTO G RAP H Y J AC K T H O M P SO N. A R T D IR E C T IO N M IC HE L L E AV I�� A . MARCH | PAGE 38 | 2013