Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/562658
BY REBECCA SHERMAN. ART DIRECTION MICHELLE AVIÑA. PHOTOGRAPHY CHRIS PLAVIDAL FOR SISTER BROTHER MANAGEMENT AND JENNY ANTILL CLIFTON. EXTERIOR PHOTOGRAPHY MAX BURKHALTER RICHLY A In the entry of the home of Fred Smith and Jose Núñez, a French Empire-era mirror, clock, console and sconces. The geometric vinyl rug is from Gilt. LIVED LIFE As a decorator, lighting designer, space planner and art advisor, it's Fred Smith's job to create houses where his clients love to spend time. "It's really more of a lifestyle thing," says Smith, of Houston-based Frederick M. Smith Interior Designs. "I help people create livable, gracious interiors. If you're spending $15 million on your house, you don't want to end up with the kind of weird, uncomfortable spaces you sometimes get with architects who are focused mainly on the exterior architecture." He has clients across the globe, from New York to Istanbul, Turkey, Paris and London. He recently finished the spatial design for a 15,000-square-foot house in River Oaks, a four- year project that includes a large art installation in the living room by celebrated Houston artist James Turrell, whose dramatic works are primarily concerned with light and space. Last year Smith and his partner of 33 years, Jose Núñez, an international healthcare marketing consultant, purchased and began renovating a 1926 house in Houston's Southampton neighborhood. Smith may have worked his magic on the house a little too well. "It's the kind of place where people tend to hang out late and never want to leave," he says, laughing. "We entertain small groups of eight or 10 — a lot of them are close friends who live on a much grander scale than this." But they tend to gravitate to the 3,200-square-foot house, he says. It took a lot of planning to whip the 89-year-old