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JULY/AUGUST | PAGE 45 | 2016 Clockwise from top right: In the master bedroom, circa-1870 bronze-and-gilt Gloria Victis figure and clock by Antonin Mercié. Kent Dorn's Death Valley Daze, 2012, from McClain Gallery. Rob Fischer's Blue Luggage, 2014. In the master bedroom, from left, Nobu Fukui's Wonder, 2014, and Val Britton's Unfolding Field, 2013. Minotti credenza and bed from Internum. Design Within Reach bedcovering. Vintage Finn Juhl Chieftain chair by Baker Furniture from Wright auction house in Chicago. Custom rug from Masland Carpets & Rugs. Poul Henningsen lamp from Lesco. Hand-carved wooden sculptures by Richard Senoner, Italy. In the guest bedroom, Art Deco bronze sculpture by Demétre Chiparus. Shaker-style table and Ward Bennett chair, both vintage. Wood-turned vessel found in Alaska. Taipei carpet. Marfa artist Nick Terry's Untitled. In the master bath, a resin tub by Blu Bathworks, Vancouver, and Caesarstone sink with hidden pipes from Australia. Dornbracht fixtures. was interested in the geometry of basket weaving," Braun says. "I visited her at her studio and bought it. It's one of my favorite pieces." Other art obsessions include figurative cast bronzes from the late 19th century through the 1920s and 1950s. "The castings are so beautifully done; the sculptural technique and the images are less intellectual than most art, so it's more about the craft." For that reason, he was also attracted to contemporary artist Christopher Smith's 14 aluminum-infused cast resin nude sculptures, which are mounted in the stairwell, and English artist Nick Hornby's 2011 angular, stylized bronze profile of Jane Austen. Braun's art and furnishings are all highly personal collections — even the architecture he created for the house speaks volumes about the man. "Spaces should be uplifting," he says. "I spend most of my time on the first floor, on the sofa, looking outside, reading or sketching. I come down in the mornings, slide open the doors, shut off the air conditioning and have coffee. It's so fine to look out at plants and trees, to be a part of nature."