Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1291046
F or more than 25 years, Renea Abbott has been shopping in Round Top for European antiques and vintage furnishings to fill her Houston store, Shabby Slips. So, when she and her husband, Greg Manteris, sold their first Round Top house several years ago — furniture and all — Abbott was like a ship without a port. "After six months, I couldn't stand not having a house there," she says. "I wanted to find a house in town, with lots of neighbors around." It didn't take long to land the perfect one. Located on 2 1/2 acres dotted with tall pines along Round Top's main road, the house is "tucked away, but in the middle of everything," she says. "We are a half- Taking iT Down a noTch in Designer renea abboTT has creaTeD a laiD-back, sTylish counTry home for herself anD husbanD greg manTeris in The hearT of rounD Top. block from the town's only stop sign, behind the library, and down the road from the Mercantile, the only grocery." The couple sold their Austin vacation home and now spend three or four nights a week in Round Top, population 91. Abbott can be seen tooling around in her black-and-white golf cart, in jeans and a straw hat, her hair tied in a small knot at her neck. Round Top's vibe is country casual, with a thriving social and design scene populated by a crew of Houstonians who have homes there. On any given night, they'll regroup at restaurateur Lee Ellis' Ellis Motel for drinks, Armando and Cinda Palacios' Lulu's or Mandito's restaurants, and on Friday nights, everyone heads to The Stone Cellar & Round Top Dance Hall for music and dancing. "The town is so small, you always run into people you know," she says. "We have a circle of friends we see out there, and we're invited to something almost every night." With such a full social calendar, Abbott and Manteris wanted their country home to be a reprieve from the outside world, rather than a place for entertaining. Built in 1985 with Victorian-style flourishes and several covered porches, the two-story house is small and old-fashioned with tiny closets and hallways, evoking farm houses from another era. To maintain the house's laid-back feel, the dark-stained oak floors were stripped to their natural wood, and the original windows were left Round Top In the TV room, Kelly Wearstler pendant from Visual Comfort. Chairs from Wildflower Organics, Austin. Table from Area. Leather chairs from Paul Michael Company. Sisal rug, Creative Flooring Resources. Hunter Douglas woven raffia shades. Ralph Lauren lamps from Shabby Slips. 73