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Camelot When Fort Worth oilman Kelly Young saw the classical house that Michael Morrison designed for renowned philanthropists Ben and Kay Fortson, he wanted one like it. Morrison obliged with Corinthian columns and a soaring, curved glass entryway — his spin on Andrea Palladio's seminal Villa la Rotonda. Classical architecture suited Morrison's understated, quiet demeanor, but he also knew how to make a glamorous statement. Before starting his own firm, Morrison worked for legendary Hollywood decorator William Haines, whose clientele included Joan Crawford, Frank Sinatra, and Betsy Bloomingdale. Like the lengthy buying sprees of Sir Joseph Duveen and his client Anna Dodge, Morrison took Kelly and Connie Young on extensive treasure- hunting expeditions across Europe. There, they acquired 17th- and 18th-century furniture — much of it signed — along with antique marble fireplaces and fountains, Chinese wallpaper, and Aubusson rugs. At a Sotheby's auction of the contents of Mentmore, Baron Mayer de Rothschild's English country estate, they purchased several large urns, an 18th-century ormolu commode, and Italian dining-room chairs so big and ornate that Morrison later deemed them unusable. On a shopping trip to Italy, they bought a Roman fountain for the entryway. The house's pinky terra-cotta exterior took inspiration from an Italian villa Connie had admired; she snapped a picture of it and showed it to her good friend, the late heiress Anne Burnett Tandy, who raved about the choice of color and helped her refine it. In 1976, Morrison arranged for a tour of Rose Terrace ahead of a pre-demolition architectural sale to be held by Detroit property auction firm Stalker and Boos. The vast estate had been empty since 1971. When the sale ended, the Youngs were the owners of a large trove of Rose Terrace embellishments. Their contractor, Bill Taylor, who had worked on some of Westover Hills' best houses — including Sid and Anne Bass' Paul Rudolph- designed masterpiece — was on hand to pack it all up. In the end, six trucks headed to Texas loaded down with antique stone pilasters and balusters; miles of French 18th-century molding and paneling from the Oak Room and Anna Dodge's beloved Music Room; a half-dozen rock-crystal chandeliers; 20 pairs of antique French doors; hardware handmade in the 1930s by P.E. Guerin; and a marble tub and sink from Dodge's private bathroom. The Youngs hosted elegant parties in their new pink palace, attended by Fort Worth society. "Connie and Kelly were quite popular," one longtime friend told me. "She was pretty and glamorous, and he was rich and powerful." A Fort Worth Star Telegram society columnist who covered a reception in the early '80s noted its "interesting combination of antiques and contemporary art," with a series of Matisse cutouts in the entry complementing the Roman marble fountain, in which pink blossoms floated. Connie, a former flight attendant from Arkansas, had come a long way from her small-town roots. There were several portraits of her by Andy Warhol and a large work by Frank Stella in the library; a Helen Frankenthaler hung in the Music Room. New York artist Aaron Shikler — who famously captured the likenesses of President John F. Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy — painted a two-sided portrait of Connie, which she prominently displayed in the Oak Room. On one side, it featured the flame-haired beauty in a green Lanvin evening gown, one bare foot peeking daringly from the hemline and her face in profile — a pose Shikler A rare, centuries-old Roman fountain in the foyer. Below: Interior designer Carla Fonts, center, with her Dunbar Road design team: from left, Eugenie Gallinghouse and Lexi Aitken. Paneling and molding in background salvaged from the Music Room at Rose Terrace. 104