Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1484759
37 A n intimate new lounge inside Hotel Lulu's Il Cuculo bar brings Morocco-meets-Persia to Round Top. The 825-square- foot room, provocatively tucked behind rust-colored velvet curtains, reveals designer Dennis Brackeen's magic: intricately patterned walls with hand-painted panels from Iksel Decorative Arts' Aleppo Rumi collection, which were inspired by a storied room in Beit Wakil, a 17th-century house in Aleppo, featuring rich scenes of Persia and Ottoman motifs. The original panels are now housed in Berlin's Pergamonmuseum. The ceiling is papered in Jim Thompson's Malachite from the Tony Duquette collection, with cinnabar-hued lacquered millwork and velvet seating in luscious citrus greens and brick reds. A heady mix of turn-of-the-century and rare mid-century objects includes 1970s Brutalist wall sconces by Gilbert Poillerat and a vintage Italian mirror with lounging cat. Taking cues from Round Top's concentration of antiques from cultures around the globe, Brackeen created the lounge's maximalist interiors, along with a refresh of Il Cuculo's main bar area. "I wanted the new addition to feel historic, yet simultaneously fresh and modern," says Brackeen, whose Houston store, Moxie, is a cabinet of curiosities brimming with unusual antiques and quirky accessories. "I also wanted it to be a space that's a little moody, and where people feel warm and special." Cinda Murphy de Palacios and her husband, Armando Palacios, unveiled Hotel Lulu — a compound of charming historic bungalows in the heart of Round Top's town square — in 2021. The casbah is open to guests of the hotel and patrons of the bar and restaurant, and for private dinners seating 20. Il Cuculo at Hotel Lulu, 204 E. Mill St., Round Top, hotellulutx.com. By Rebecca Sherman. Photography Pär Bengtsson. Interior design Dennis Brackeen. Casbah WELCOME TO THE