Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/221571
Sunday Drive. Stephen wears a refreshing green gingham to take a drive in his vintage Mercedes-Benz. Betty bids him adieu in a custom skirt by Greg Fourticq for À Bientôt, and private-label cashmere sweater. BETTY STEPHEN + BY KATE STUKENBERG. ART DIRECTION JENNY ANTILL. PHOTOGRAPHY JACK THOMPSON. N HAIR AND MAKEUP CAROL WAGONER FOR LOVETOMAKEUP.COM ow, Betty and Stephen Newton are not like the Tenenbaums — as in Royal — because they are functional, not dysfunctional. No one has a terminal illness or is on the brink of a nervous breakdown. But certain scenes do remind one. Betty would wear furs like Gwyneth. Stephen has a passing resemblance to Luke Wilson, minus the beard, but the prep style is in check. And the storybook home? It's rich in books, art, collections and stories. That's Royal Newton. Our story opens in the Newtons' circa-1934 home on stately Brentwood Drive in River Oaks — the exact home where Betty's grandparents, Colonel W.B. Bates and Mary Dorsey Bates, once lived. It was Colonel Bates who commissioned architect Stayton Nunn to design the house. Betty's father, architect Kenneth E. Bentsen, remodeled it for the Newtons in 1995. Betty Newton owns À Bientôt, the delightful, prodigiously preppy store facing River Oaks Boulevard where one can purchase monogrammed, hot-stamped and embossed most-anything; Jack Rogers sandals; and jeweled accessories. It's definitely a "When Your Own Initials Are Enough" moment in fashion, laughs Betty. Stephen is a headhunter for Russell Reynolds Associates with a penchant for bow ties and horn- rimmed glasses, khaki suits and TOMS. You'll find Betty in shifts, cardigans and twin sets, with an armload of bangles from her emporium. Together, they are Houston's quaintest couple. Your fondest memory of growing up in this house? Betty: Playing with my siblings and cousins in the backyard; eating in the kitchen, which was totally different; and being with my grandparents. Three things in Houston that have not changed since you were a child. Betty: A very difficult question! Baskin Robbins, The San Jacinto Monument and my friends.