IN LIVING COLOR
Houston interior designer’s contemporary home makes a stunning splash in Tanglewood
Courtnay and Mark Elias almost missed out on their dream house — twice.
The couple were just starting out on a house hunt seven years ago when Courtnay fell in love with an unusual contemporary home in Tanglewood. Designed by Albert Pecore in 1982, the starkly modern white exteriors set it apart from the traditional homes lining the rest of the block.
“We call it the ‘Sesame Street’ house,” said Courtnay Elias, an interior designer and the owner of Creative Tonic design studio. “One of these things is not like the others.”
The Eliases put in an offer, but twice found themselves on the losing end of a bidding war until the house’s quirks turned off the winning bidders. For one thing, it has two sets of piers in the foundation due to an error during construction. For another, the original owner, an oil man, was worried about gas explosions, so the house has no gas connections at all. Neither dissuaded the Eliases, nor did the fact that the 4,800-squarefoot house had only two real bedrooms while they have three sons.
Courtnay Elias names her mother as her greatest inspiration, and that includes growing up in a series of houses that were always under construction or renovation. Accordingly, when they moved into their home, she revamped the rooms upstairs, enclosing a balcony that faced the backyard pool and creating two new bedrooms out of the large playroom.
Downstairs Elias opened up a wall covering the wet bar near the entrance, creating one uninterrupted open living space. Years later, a burst pipe in the kitchen gave the designer an excuse to revamp the kitchen area, upgrading the large island with a striking gray and white striped “mink” marble.
“Things are constantly rearranged. I’m constantly moving, like a whirling dervish. I just have to be visually stimulated,” said Elias.
Her latest update is on the bookcase in a corner
of the formal living room that serves as a library and study nook. Beneath two of the home’s many clerestory windows, the bookcase was originally painted green to mirror the views of the treetops above. Elias had recently discovered a new marinegrade paint, though, and thought the shelves were the perfect guinea pig project, eventually painting them a custom plum shade.
“For what my business is and what I do, I have to experiment here. I had never used these marinegrade finishes, so I taught my painters how to use them,” said Elias. “What I love is how it almost looks wet. The darker it is the more it pops.”
The bookshelves are just one of several pops of purple throughout the living room, chosen in part because it’s Courtnay’s favorite color and also to match the hues in a large painting over the sofa by New Orleans artist Amanda Talley. The royal hue is the perfect foil for the Eliases’ collection of ornate gilt furniture and accessories, including more than one crown.
Elias herself once worked at Sotheby’s in London and is involved in the decorative arts committees at Rienzi and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston — her love of historical objects is further represented by a pair of Gregorian chants framed and displayed in the entryway, as well as in her collection of antique Victorian silver objects stored in a display case in the master bedroom.
In the living room, the classical pieces blend in with modern touches — sleek glass nesting tables are topped by luxe lavender horsehide lamps, a tulip table covered in design books sits in a corner behind an extravagant fireplace mantel, and even the recomier that Elias inherited from her mother is covered in a subtle yet unexpected print of fossilized ammonite seashells by Rusty Arena.
Framed by floor-to-ceil- ing windows with a view of the courtyard and pool, the family room is decidedly more casual, with a custom sectional and a vintage document flat file found in Round Top that was converted into a coffee table. The room is also where the Eliases keep their formal dining table, an antique gifted to them for their wedding surrounded by Mart Stam-style cantilevered chairs in buttery leather.
The art in the family room is themed around pools and water, with turquoise hues bouncing off the walls (and in the pool’s reflection on the ceiling) balanced by bright orange throw pillows and fabrics.
“The background is very neutral but I have to have color around me,” said Elias. “I was brought up with color and an amazing, inspiring, beautiful mother who was a docent at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston forever and a very colorful dresser. She’s the last of a dying breed.”
Much of the color around the house does come from the Eliases exuberant and eclectic art collection. There are several works by Talley, in addition to a watercolor and a pair of nude sketches by Elias’s late friend Christine Bruni Fondren. Mark works in private wealth management for UBS, one of the sponsors of Art Basel Miami Beach, so there are several pieces from the art fair, as well. But one of Courtnay’s favorite pieces is a small nude painted from the perspective of an observer outside a window, which was acquired much earlier in the couple’s relationship.
“When my husband and I first met, we went on a date to Meredith Long’s gallery, which was having a William Anzalone show,” said Courtnay. “I freaked out over this painting because it was unusual for (the artist), I thought it was so sexy behind the blinds. A couple weeks later he invited me to come over and (Mark) had this painting for me.”