Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1521218
As a retailer, Merry Vose travels frequently to buy for her trio of stylish clothing boutiques, Cabana, Canary, and Clover. She's in Paris at least four times a year, often accompanied by her close friend, interior designer Julie Hayes, who shops the flea markets and antiques stores for clients. "Julie goes off and does her thing, and I do mine," Vose says. At the end of the day, Designer Julie Hayes transforms a contemporary house in Dallas for Merry and Chad Vose into a vibrant entertaining haven. By Rebecca Sherman. Photography Richard Powers. Portrait Tony Krash. Architecture Lewis Graeber III. Interior design Julie Hayes, Simms Hayes Design. Renovation Weldon Turner, Turner | Boaz Architecture. they regroup at the clubby Bar 228 at Le Meurice, the iconic 19th-century hotel on the rue de Rivoli, where they always stay. Over cocktails, the phones come out. "We go through our pictures, and I show her all the beautiful clothing I saw that day. And she shows me the beautiful furniture she found," Vose says. "We have a little show-and-tell." Occasionally, Hayes tags along to Vose's appointments with some of the designers whose labels she carries at her stores, such as Emilia Wickstead, Erdem, Roksanda, and Mira Mikati. "During Fashion Week, the designers rent extraordinary Parisian apartments and create these beautiful atmospheres," Vose says. Many of the dreamy apartments are located on the Right Bank, famous for its Napoleon III-era traditional Haussmann-style architecture with interiors that feature high ceilings, intricate moldings and millwork, and hardwood herringbone pattern floors. "Julie was so inspired by the architecture and the scale of those rooms," Vose says. "She was always telling me, 'We need to build you a Paris apartment in Dallas.'" The two became friends 20 years ago, about the same time Vose was unofficially running a boutique out of the backyard cabana of her house near University Park. Hayes says, "Merry hired me to do her house, and our working relationship became a great friendship." The city eventually shut down her shop for zoning violations, but in 2006, Vose reopened Cabana in a small house on West Lovers Lane, which Hayes also decorated. Since then, she's done the interiors for Vose's other stores, along with her vacation homes in East Texas and Montauk. In 2019, Vose purchased a new house with her husband, real estate investor Chad Vose. Hayes dropped by to take a look. The one-story contemporary in Preston Hollow might be centuries removed from Haussmann's grand 19th-century residences, but Hayes was delighted by the fine millwork, beautifully scaled rooms, and high ceilings. As French designer Jacques Grange once said of interiors that boast enormous volume, "Le luxe is the space" — space is luxury — and this house has plenty of both. Vose recalls, "Julie walked in and said, 'Oh, my word, this is your Paris apartment.'" B uilt for previous clients in 2004 by noted Mississippi architect Lewis Graeber III, the house is set on two secluded acres with a creek running through the property. "The yard checked all of Chad's boxes, and the interiors checked all of mine," Vose says. The couple has three grown sons, so the house really just needed to function for entertaining. Architect Weldon Turner and builder Rusty Goff were enlisted to carry out a handful of renovations including the kitchen, now a light and airy space with the charm of a French patisserie. They raised and vaulted the ceiling, painted wood beams white, and laid parquet wood floors based on designs Hayes had admired in Paris. The City of Light is known for its many domed buildings, and the stylized flower pattern The gallery's French settees are from Casa Gusto in Palm Beach with Serena Dugan upholstery from James. Marble bird sculpture from JED Interior Design and Antiques in East Hampton.