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The garden room and sunroom are separated by stained glass with an ivy pattern, which may have been an early addition to the house and possibly made by Tiffany Studios (so far unconfirmed). The chairs, upholstered in pale blue leather, are from a historic hotel in Belgium. L ess t h a n f o u r y e a r s a g o , 20-something Lily Barfield launched her Instagram account Lily's Vi n t a g e F i n d s to showcase and sell the treasures she found scouring estate sales, antique malls, and consignment shops. In that short time, she amassed nearly 50,000 followers, made multiple sourcing trips to France, and sold houses' worth of antiques and vintage decoratives, with her loyal fans serving as a resounding rebuttal to the notion that Millennials and Gen Z don't appreciate old things. Barfield has now made her biggest commitment yet to her love of old things by acquiring a 1910 Neoclassical- style home in the Avondale Historic District in Montrose, which she and her husband, Thomas Barfield, spent more than a year planning and renovating, and have now opened as an inn called The Marlene. The boutique nine-bedroom property, with rates starting at $290 a night (French Provençal-style breakfast included) is, naturellement, filled with antiques and vintage pieces, with multiple living and dining areas including a tree-canopied patio in the garden, all designed for lounging and savoring. The inn is named after Barfield's trailblazing grandmother, and each of the suites is dedicated to an important woman in Barfield's life. She grew up going to estate sales in Louisiana with her mom, Tracie Aguillard — a beloved fixture on the LVF Instagram page known for her great taste, sense of humor, and uncanny ability to disappear when it's time to pack up a coveted 72-piece set of Limoges china. Aguillard joined her daughter on multiple sourcing trips to France to select furnishings for the inn. Always about the mix, Barfield also secured items in Round Top and locally at The Guild Shop and The Blue Bird Circle. One artwork sourced in the south of France is a nine-foot-tall Virgin Mary wooden cutout that once graced the walls of an Italian church (since decommissioned) in the mid-1800s — just one wink in the serendipitous journey of opening The Marlene. Barfield imported the work to the States with the By Anne Lee Phillips. Photography Julie Soefer. The Marlene Checking into The New Guard of Old Things Opens a Historical Houston Inn. 38