Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1366498
T here's so much to look forward to this month. That's a sentence you didn't hear in May 2020. So much can change — in either direction — in the space of a year. In May 2021, we're looking forward to Texas Design Week Houston, May 17-21; see the roster of celebrated designers — Mark D. Sikes, Celerie Kemble, Christopher Spitzmiller, etc. — flying to Houston for talks, book signings, and cocktails (pages 64-65). This flying about certainly didn't happen last year. On pages 36 and 38, read about an extraordinary couple, Carol and Robert Straus, who built the first modern home in River Oaks — mail addressed to Modern House, Houston, Texas, made it to its destination. It was that well-known, or perhaps renowned. The Strauses had the courage and foresight to hire post-war modernist designer T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings to design the interiors. Robsjohn-Gibbings' furniture for the Straus house hit the auction block in April at New Orleans Auction Galleries — and frenzied bidding ensued (pages 36 and 38). We wring our hands over the beautiful historic homes and buildings continually torn down in Houston, which is why we're so thrilled about the Hines-Zimmerman project. The 1923 La Colombe d'Or Hotel, once the Fondren Mansion, was saved 40 years ago by Steve Zimmerman and refurbished as a hotel. This month, the beautiful Residences at La Colombe d'Or opens in the shadow of the hotel, connected by an airy canopied walkway. And tucked just behind the 34-story Residences tower is a WWII- era apartment complex of nine units that was also saved thanks to the efforts of Hines and Steve and Dan Zimmerman, and reimagined by designer Gin Braverman. See pages 76 though 83. We also have two destinations that could not be more dissimilar. The redesigned Colony Hotel in splashy Palm Beach — a chinoiserie wonder with custom de Gournay pink wallpaper murals, acres of wicker and rattan, and a massive pagoda mantel — is a must see. And, dear to our hearts, the new young hotel owners have brought back our favorite Upper East Side NYC eatery Swifty's and resurrected it poolside at The Colony, pages 40-41. On the other side of the world, Amber Venz Box and Baxter Box have built five yurts on 392 acres near Terlingua, Texas, 10 miles from the ghost town. Equipped with telescopes for stargazing and Sferra linens, The Last Chapter is the last word in off-the-grid chicness, pages 84-85. Holly Moore Editor in Chief holly@papercitymag.com HUNT SLONEM 12