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W hen Georgia Christensen entered this sprawling example of Texas modernism in Preston Hollow, she immediately knew she was home. Not because of the 90foot expanse that draws the eye from the entrance through the living room, dining room, kitchen and den. Nor because of its thoughtfully rendered update. The expansive backyard pool and beautifully worn interior concrete floors were certainly a plus, but the real reason was much more primal: The dwelling transported her back in time. Her father, architect Roland Laney (a contemporary of George, Bud Oglesby and O���Neil Ford and also a proponent of the Texas modernism movement), had designed her childhood home, and the sensibility she encountered in this particular space triggered a flood of happy memories. Of course, there was a time when Georgia, executive creative director at Neiman Marcus, didn���t always see eye to eye with her dad���s design choices. ���Growing up, everyone else had wall-to-wall carpeting,��� she says. ���We had hardwood floors with sheepskin rugs. I was mortified.��� Additional cringe-worthy moments for her teenaged self occurred when he brought home discarded materials from construction sites, occasionally turning slabs of stone into tables or, in one memorable instance, a credenza. Thankfully, tastes evolve, and the Christensens now enthusiastically dwell amid pedigreed modern pieces that once graced the Laney family home, including classic Eames chairs and beautifully inlaid side tables by Erno Fabry Associates. Less hallowed but equally loved are her grandmother���s desk and an upright Baldwin piano, whose presence causes husband Chris to roll his eyes. The overall vibe is one of tranquility without austerity. ���I like things that are clean and open. I don���t want to live in a space that feels decorated,��� Georgia says. ���Maybe it���s all about control, but I need something that is the antithesis of chaos.��� This, of course, is coming from a woman who didn���t think twice about having a white sofa back in the day when she had two toddlers. The vast expanse of sparkling white is the backdrop for the family���s self-expression. Photographer Chris��� charming series of black-andwhite multigenerational portraits dominates the entrance to the couples��� bedroom. Son Will, a film student at Columbia College in Chicago, shot the urban street scenes, an intriguing photographic counterpoint to Grandma���s desk. And daughter Lizzie (now a senior designer of women���s wear for Steven Alan in New York) contributed the wovenraffia installation conceived as a sophomore class project at Rhode Island School of Design. Georgia���s own oil painting graces one wall in the dining room, a moody landscape that evokes the Texas plains. Mix in images from photographers she has worked with over the course of her career ��� including the legendary Lillian Bassman and Rodney Smith ��� and a very personal collection is formed. All in all, it���s a radical departure from the couple���s former home in Westport, Connecticut, a typical colonial on two acres with, in winter, a pond turned skating rink for neighborhood hockey games. The heritage of their new modern mecca stands on its own ��� it���s just a bonus that the house was formerly owned by Abraham Zapruder, a Dallas-based clothing manufacturer who achieved notoriety when he inadvertently filmed the assassination of John F. Kennedy. And one more genealogical gem: The residence was frequently visited by Tab Hunter, as a guest of yet another predecessor. Nowadays, that type of drama keeps its distance, but the history of beautiful and functional design lives on. Opposite page: In the entry, mirror and credenza by Square One. Chairs from Marble Chair Company. John Saladino lamp. This page, top: Part of the den serves as a library with hundreds of design and art tomes. Charles and Ray Eames for Herman Miller lounge chair. Circa-1940s inlaid side table by Erno Fabry Associates, manufactured in Denmark. Left: The work of late photographer Lillian Bassman strikes a fashionable chord over Georgia���s childhood piano. SEPTEMBER | PAGE 55 | 2012