Fredericksburg is home to House Beautiful magazine’s 2021 concept house, open for home tours in October
FREDERICKSBURG – Texans can see the new House Beautiful concept house firsthand – well, houses. The Craftsman style farmhouse complex features a newly built two bedroom main house and two bedroom guest house in the Hidden Springs subdivision.
It will be open to the public Thursday through Sunday from October 2nd to October 23rd.
The complex has several personalities – not in the sense of “Sybil”, but in the form of eight different designers who each decorate a room. But somehow everything works, the individual parts usually merge into something exciting and unique.
The project, which was completed in August after a five-month construction period, will be featured as the 2021 House Beautiful Whole Home Concept House on the cover of the October / November issue of the magazine. This is also the 125th anniversary edition of the publication, which, like Express-News, is owned by Hearst.
The property is also featured in Blank Slate, House Beautiful’s new home renovation series on YouTube.
The home is located at 120 Fabulous Circle, Fredericksburg, and is open to the public Thursday through Sunday, 10am to 4pm, October 2-23.
Tickets for $ 25 can be purchased through Eventbrite.com (search for “2021 Whole Home Concept House”).
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Every year the magazine picks a different market for building a whole home concept house. The Fredericksburg project was built by Agave Custom Homes of Johnson City and is already under contract for $ 2.2 million with no facility.
For Agave owner Tyler O’Brien, coordinating the efforts of eight different designers has been a challenge at times.
“All the designers cared about was their only space because they were all vying to get the magazine editors to choose their space for the cover,” he said. “But I built the house, so I had to take all of your designs, lay them out, and see if the result was consistent and would flow properly.”
Sometimes that meant saying no.
For example, a designer wanted to make a pink blanket. But the house was already so much paint, said O’Brien, that he vetoed it. Ultimately, he had to be able to sell the house, and he didn’t want to scare off potential buyers by making it look like a bag of cones.
Stephanie Sabbe of Sabbe Interior Design in Nashville chose to center the kitchen with a wooden dining table big enough for six, rather than a flagstone island. Leaf wallpaper, wing chairs and blue-green lacquer on the furniture give the room a classic kitchen feel.
Stephen Karlisch / Haus Schön
Visitors enter the house through a narrow foyer with a cement floor. “I hate that you walk through the front door of a lot of houses and are right in the family room,” said O’Brien. “So we built this little foyer, which is separated by a paneled opening to give you access to the rest of the house.”
The entrance was designed by Emilie Munroe of Studio Munroe in San Francisco, who also designed the living room with a 22-foot vaulted ceiling made of cedar and pine and a wall of glass doors overlooking the rolling hills beyond.
One end of the room is dominated by a massive, ink-black painted brick fireplace, flanked by bespoke wallpaper depicting clouds at sunrise. The palette of the room is further expanded by splashes of color from rich blue walls, purple side tables and a yellow coffee table.
The master bedroom of Virginia Toledo and Jessica Geller of Toledo Geller in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey is surprisingly soothing, with mustard-colored linen and paper wallpaper that includes subtle shades of brown, cream, and pink, and a vaulted ceiling of lightly whitewashed ship’s rag with darker bars as a contrast.
“People want vaulted ceilings for the drama and because it makes a smaller room feel bigger,” said O’Brien. “This master bedroom is only about 15 by 15, but the high ceiling makes it feel bigger and gives it the wow factor.”
In the main bathroom, designed by Toledo Geller, the striking flooring consists of large squares of black, white and Carrara marble. The vanity was built to look like a piece of furniture, with white oak cabinets, recessed doors, a quartz countertop, and wall-mounted taps.
In a short hallway is the owners’ den, a room that can also serve as a guest room due to the private bathroom. New York designer Mikel Welch’s room has another vaulted ceiling, about four feet high, a brick accent wall, and custom checked grass wallpaper.
In the kitchen, Stephanie Sabbe from Sabbe Interior Design in Nashville did without the traditional island with a stone top for a large wooden table with six seats. The room has an English country house feel to it, with brick floors, yellow leaf-patterned wallpaper, blue-green cabinets, and pine beams that run perpendicular to a bulbous board ceiling.
Between the main house, the three-car garage, and the guest house, the easy passageway path was redesigned by Jean Liu of Jean Liu Design of Dallas as an outdoor dining area with a view of the nearby hills. Motorized retractable screens at either end can be easily lowered to keep pesky bugs out while allowing the prevailing breeze to pass through.
The back yard of the Whole Home Concept House 2021 in Fredericksburg, designed by Linda Hayslett of LH.Designs of Los Angeles, was built around the pool and features a conversation area, fireplace, seating and adult-friendly swings. There’s also an outdoor pool table, massive wood fire pit, and outdoor shower.
Stephen Karlisch / Haus Schön
Liu also designed the small lounge area that opens up to the media room and the office in the guest house. It has a comfortable bench and a custom-made wine cabinet made of brass dowels and burgundy leather to display almost 24 bottles. A small linen cupboard is hidden behind the cupboard.
The office that adorns the cover of the magazine was created by Baltimore designer Laura Hodges of Laura Hodges Studio. It’s the ultimate flex space with a desk that easily converts to aerobic steps for exercising.
“The vision for this space was functionality,” said O’Brien. “You can work with it and then relieve stress by exercising, meditating, whatever.” The room also has a vaulted ceiling and large windows that are flanked by built-in shelves.
The other room, set up as a media room by Heather and Matt French of French & French Interiors in Santa Fe, has deep green, glossy walls and ceilings, as well as eye-catching patterns and textures like the lattice-clad cabinetry. There is even a rollaway bed with curtains if the room has to be used for overnight guests.
At the back, the pool area offers a completely different living space. The 30 x 14 foot pool has a tan bar with bubblers. The well-equipped outdoor kitchen by the Los Angeles-based designer Linda Hayslett from LH.Designs has a gas grill, sink, double freezer, kegerator, beverage and wine coolers and a beer cooler.
From the party personality of the pool area to the relaxing retreat of the master suite, there is a room for every mood.
rmarini@express-news.net | Twitter: @RichardMarini
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