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���The Palace, By the Way ... is like a sculpture you enter.��� ��� artist Salle Werner-Vaughn CLOCKWISE: Palace as Palazzo: The name for her diminutive dwelling, Palace By the Way, references ���the concept of the palace of the mind,��� Werner-Vaughn says. Rolls of lush silk swirl around a tablescape and one of a pair of Scandinavian chairs, while an 18th-century Italian candelabrum stands guard, part of a trove of antiques that Werner-Vaughn has owned for many years, and gleaned over the course of innumerable travels. The luminous Surrealist-style canvas, The Dream, circa 1990s, would be at home in the Menil. Werner-Vaughn, who has exhibited at an Old Master gallery in New York, is represented by the venerable Meredith Long & Company of Houston. She also has a suite of paintings permanently on view at the Shepherd School of Music, Rice University. Pucker: Red-patinated bronze lips rest on a miniature stand in the wall. What do they mean? The surreal moment is left for the visitor to decipher. The luscious, distinctive crimson hues of the walls (a discontinued paint from Martin-Senour) is a shade Werner-Vaughn refers to as ���old schoolhouse red ��� It also reminds me of the Red Room of Pompeii or a Russian lacquer box,��� she says. Pompeii in Magnolia Grove: In a space around the corner, walls painted by Ruperto Corral echo the sublime interiors of Pompeii. On the ���oor, Werner-Vaughn created a shrine-like sculpture, while a 19th-century painted Scandinavian chair becomes a place of repose. Werner-Vaughn worked on the home with two assistants, a painter, the aforementioned Corral and a carpenter, Julio C��sar Orozco, both of whom she directed; she profusely praises the skill and pride they took in their endeavors. The progress was slow, more than a year in the making, after moving walls and recon���guring the interior. At the artist���s insistence, the team kept scratches, scars and marks throughout to preserve the spirit and history of Palace, By the Way. She has owned the house for 20 years and had previously used it for storage, after acquiring it from the family of a Mrs. Horton, whom the artist believes may have descended from the original owner. SEPTEMBER | PAGE 60 | 2012