Texas Design Week Dallas — Ken Fulk

The Movie in His Mind

BY Anne Lee Phillips // 09.09.22

photography Douglas Friedman

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A storybook Tudor estate on five acres in Silicon Valley was built in 1921 as the country estate of a prominent San Francisco family. A century later, it’s been reimagined by Ken Fulk as a full-time family home and injected with a heavy dose of fashion and rock-star details. Woven leather, embossed metal, and high-gloss lacquer live alongside collectible objects and artworks by Picasso, Cindy Sherman, Basquiat, and Barbara Kruger. (Photo by Douglas Friedman)

The Barclays Center's most exclusive experience, The Crown Club, which opened last year, is exclusively for Crown season ticket holders during Brooklyn Nets games. ( (Photo by Douglas Friedman)

Ken Fulk's Carbone design. (Photo by Douglas Friedman)

A great American house in the making designed by Ken Fulk, Sunfield Manor in Texas is epic in every sense of the word. Bold and elegant plaster details are paired with saturated color and graphic patterns. (Photo by Douglas Friedman)

Carbone Miami designed by Ken Fulk. (Photo by Douglas Friedman)

Ken Fulk will speak and sign books at The Rug Company during Texas Design Week Dallas (Photo Brendan Mainini)

Ken Fulk signs his book "Ken Fulk: The Movie in My Mind" (Assouline)

Kips Bay Dallas 2021 designed by Ken Fulk. (Photo by Douglas Friedman)

Casa Grande is a 30,000-square-foot Technicolor dream conceived in partnership with Legoretta, the legendary Mexican architecture firm. (Photo by Douglas Friedman)

Another view of Casa Grande. (Photo by Douglas Friedman)

Ken Fulk will speak and sign books at The Rug Company during Texas Design Week Dallas (Photo Brendan Mainini)

A storybook Tudor estate on five acres in Silicon Valley was built in 1921 as the country estate of a prominent San Francisco family. A century later, it’s been reimagined by Ken Fulk as a full-time family home and injected with a heavy dose of fashion and rock-star details. Woven leather, embossed metal, and high-gloss lacquer live alongside collectible objects and artworks by Picasso, Cindy Sherman, Basquiat, and Barbara Kruger. (Photo by Douglas Friedman)

A great American house in the making designed by Ken Fulk, Sunfield Manor in Texas is epic in every sense of the word. Bold and elegant plaster details are paired with saturated color and graphic patterns. (Photo by Douglas Friedman)

No one infuses a space with personality quite like Ken Fulk. He brings cinematic oeuvre to his layered interiors, be they in a home, a hotel, restaurant, members-only club, or private plane. Fulk, who’s based in San Francisco and is known as much for his unforgettable parties as for interior design, says he starts each project with a story resembling a film in his head — a concept explored in his new book, Ken Fulk: The Movie in My Mind (Assouline 2022).

Fulk, a member of the Architectural Digest AD100 and Elle Decor A-List and a two-time James Beard Design Award nominee, reveals his inspiration and intent while working on a Napa Valley farmhouse, a dramatic Texas home, and luxe Carbone restaurant in Miami, among others. Fulk is the founder of Saint Joseph’s Arts Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting local artists at revitalized historic landmarks in San Francisco and Provincetown.

Design advice: “As someone who lives in historic houses and has had the great privilege to be the steward of several iconic buildings in my career, I consider it an obligation to honor the original spirit of a place. Our goal is to reimagine these homes and destinations as better versions of themselves, amplifying the decrepit grandeur or enhancing the integral character for the next generation of storied lives.” — Ken Fulk

What, When, Where: Cocktails, illustrated talk, and book signing with Ken Fulk, Friday September 23, 5 to 7 pm, at The Rug Company, 1626 Hi Line, Suite B, Dallas Design District.

Texas Design Week Dallas is a ticketed event. For the complete schedule and to purchase tickets, go to TexasDesignWeek.com.