With Texas Design Week Houston Here, We Sit Down With 11 Of The Designers and Architects Appearing To See What’s New, What’s Next in Their Worlds
Some Of The Most Celebrated Designers and Architects Working Today Will Be In Houston
BY Caitlin Hsu // 04.09.25
Aerin Lauder
Some of the most celebrated designers and architects working today will be in Houston Monday, April 14 through Thursday, April 17 for Texas Design Week Houston, in a stellar lineup of salon talks, panel discussions, book signings and cocktails. Here, we query Aerin Lauder, Mark Sikes, Alfredo Paredes, David Kleinberg, Timothy Corrigan, Hudson Moore – Frederic magazine, Bill Curtis and Russell Windham – Curtis & Windham Architects, Ann Wolf and Ashley Holden – Wolf Holden Design Studio and Marcus Mohon, about their favorite rooms, design books and what’s next.
Texas Design Week is a ticketed event. For the complete schedule and tickets, go here.
Aerin Lauder
Aerin, NYC
Favorite room designed by anyone at any time.
My living room in Palm Beach, which was designed by Stephen Sills.
Vintage design books in your library.
Jayne Wrightsman garden books.
Easter Tabletop
Gardens or historical homes design fans must tour.
Houghton Hall in Norfolk, England.
Movie you love for the design element.
To Catch a Thief.
Favorite design shop.
Soane Britain.
Favorite design podcasts.
Architectural Digest, Mark D. Sikes.
Home scent.
Aerin Uzès Tuberose.
What’s next.
A book tour for my newest book, Living with Flowers (Rizzoli) and the launch of an exciting new fragrance later this year.
Aerin Lauder and Mark D. Sikes salon talk and book signings at JAMES Showroom, moderated by Chesie Breen, Monday, April 14, 2 pm. For tickets and thr schedule, go here.
Mark D. Sikes
Los Angeles
Dream collaboration.
I’d like to decorate for the British Royals.
Gardens or historical houses one must tour.
Villa La Fiorentina in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat.
Watch or iPhone.
Patek Philippe watch.
Top vintage design book in your library.
The Givenchy Style.
Favorite antiques shop in your city.
Philip Stites, Los Angeles.
Favorite shop anywhere in the world.
Gerald Bland, New York City.
Movie you love for the design element.
I Am Love.
You collect.
Books, boxes, lapis, magazines, baskets.
Home scent.
Trudon mandarin room spray.
New for you.
New collections with Samuel & Sons and Chesneys; line expansions with Hudson Valley Lighting, Schumacher, and Chaddock; my personal project, Orange Hill Farm, being built in Ojai, California.
Mark D. Sikes and Aerin Lauder salon talk and book signings at JAMES Showroom, moderated by Chesie Breen, Monday, April 14, 2 pm. For tickets and the schedule, go here.
Alfredo Paredes
New York
Favorite room designed by anyone at any time.
Coco Chanel suite at the Ritz Paris.
Top vintage design books in your library.
Bill Willis Designing the Private World of Marrakech. Michael Taylor: Interior Design. Rose Tarlow: Three Houses.
Gardens or historical homes one must tour.
Jardin Majorelle, the Yves Saint Laurent garden in Marrakech.
Movie you love for the design element.
Auntie Mame.
Favorite design shops anywhere in the world.
Vintage and antique shops Beall & Bell in Greenport, New York; Jamb in London; Galerie Half in Los Angeles; Obsolete in Culver City for art and sculptural pieces; and König Gustav Antiques in Germany for antique photographs.
Favorite design Instagram feeds.
@lecrime_, @MissMissyPhilly, @BeallandBell, and @stanclothing.
Home scent.
The signature scent in my Locust Valley residence is the Flamingo Estate candle called Ancient Agrigento Olive Tree.
What’s next.
On the radar is an upcoming collaboration with Patterson Flynn, which I’m very excited about. I’m designing Latuli, a restaurant in Houston set to open soon. As this is the first restaurant I’ve designed in Houston, inspiration is pulled from the city’s global influences and cultures for a space that’s grounded in sophistication and feels timeless.
Alfredo Paredes salon talk and book signing at Patterson Flynn showroom, Tuesday, April 15, 10 am. For tickets and schedule, go here.
David Kleinberg
David Kleinberg Design Associates DKDA, New York City
David Kleinberg is one of the great deans of decorating, with a 38-year career that began at the venerable Denning & Fourcade, followed by 16 years at the great firm of Parish-Hadley Associates, which launched countless formidable designers. He opened his own firm David Kleinberg Design Associates in 1997.
As Architectural Digest West Coast editor Mayer Rus writes in the introduction to David Kleinberg: Interiors (Monacelli), “David Kleinberg is the exemplar of what it means to be a proper American interior designer. He embodies the increasingly vanishing virtue of building a room not by shopping but by thinking, not by ‘Like’-ing but by looking. He is a designer of the old school in the way that makes the new seem pallid and staid, a designer attuned to the enduring vivacity of beauty that is bone- rather than skin-deep. “
This is the designer’s second monograph, published in March, with foreword by Thom Browne and Andrew Bolton. Kleinberg, who has projects around the world, is a member of the Interior Design Magazine Hall of Fame and has been honored with the Albert Hadley Lifetime Achievement Award by the New York School of Interior Design. He was first named to the Architectural Digest AD 100 list in 2012 and has been a member of Elle Decor A-List since 2011.
David Kleinberg illustrated talk and book signing at Kravet, Decorative Center Houston, Tuesday, April 15, noon. For tickets and schedule, go here.
Timothy Corrigan
Los Angeles
Dream collaboration.
I would very much like to do a lighting collection for someone, because I don’t feel there are enough good flush-mount ceiling fixtures or smaller floor lamps that are good for reading. I’m an intensely practical designer, and I find that many lighting fixtures are more about form than function.
Gardens or historical houses one must tour.
I’m crazy for house museums and make a point of visiting them. Favorites include: The Mount, Edith Wharton’s home in Lenox, Massachusetts; Hillwood Estate, Marjorie Merriweather Post’s home in Washington, D.C.; Vizcaya Museum & Gardens in Miami; and the Lotusland gardens in Montecito. In Europe, must visits include Syon House and Osterley Park and House in England, Sanssouci in Germany, and Musée Nissim de Camondo in France.
Top vintage design books in your library.
Les Pavillons, French Pavilions of the Eighteenth Century by Cyril Connolly and Jerome Zerbe, 1962. The Elements of Style: A Practical Encyclopedia of Interior Architectural Details from 1485 to the Present, 1997. Mastering Tradition: The Residential Architecture of John Russell Pope, 2004. Les Décorateurs des Années 40, 1999.
Favorite design or antique shop in your city.
JF Chen is such a wonderful Ali Baba’s cave of great treasures, and Joel has one of the best eyes in the business.
Favorite design shop anywhere in world.
David Duncan in New York for his great mix of interesting lighting. In Paris, I spend hours in the Carré Rive Gauche antiques district, exploring the 70 different galleries.
Movie you love for the design element.
So many. . . From classics such as Barry Lyndon and The Wings of the Dove to Christopher Nolan’s mind-blowing sets for Inception.
Great design podcasts.
The Business of Home with Dennis Scully, The Chairish Podcast with Michael Boodro, and The Grand Tourist with Dan Rubinstein.
You collect.
Portraits, porcelain dinner services. . . and châteaux.
Home scent.
La Vie de Chateau by Timothy Corrigan Home.
Next for you.
A royal palace in Morocco, a new furniture collection for Sutherland.
Timothy Corrigan salon talk and book signing at David Sutherland Showroom, this Monday, April 14, 10 am. For tickets and schedule, go here.
Caroline Gidiere
Birmingham
Favorite room designed by anyone at any time.
Hubert de Givenchy’s salon at Rue de Grenelle.
Top vintage design books in your library.
Frances Elkins. Billy Baldwin Decorates. Givenchy auction catalogs. Madeleine Castaing.
Gardens or historical homes one must tour.
Villandry in the Loire Valley. La Foce in Tuscany. George Wythe House and Governor’s Palace in Colonial Williamsburg.
Movie you love for the design element.
I Am Love by Luca Guadagnino.
Favorite design shops.
Meg Braff’s shop in Palm Beach. Stephanie Lynton’s Clemontin in Birmingham.
Favorite design podcasts.
Business of Home’s The Thursday Show.
Home scent.
Prolétaire by Cire Trudon
What’s next.
Book tour and work.
Hudson Moore
Senior Design Editor, Frederic magazine, New York City
Gardens or historical houses one must tour.
The Alhambra. I had the opportunity to photograph this beautiful monument in Spain for Frederic, and I was moved to tears by its intricacy and scale.
Watch or iPhone.
I’d rather not know what time it is at all! It’s the greatest luxury.
Top vintage design books in your library.
Norma Skurka’s The New York Times Book of Interior Design and Decoration and Around That Time: Horst at Home in Vogue.
Favorite design/antique shop in your city.
Gerald Bland in New York City. There’s no one I respect more in the antiques business, and his showroom perfectly captures his unmatched style.
Favorite design shop anywhere in world.
Formations in Los Angeles. I love this store for its simplicity and connection to nature — from the sunlight streaming in the big windows to the fountains and the garden. It’s perfect!
Movie you love for the design element.
A Single Man. I recently watched this movie, directed by Tom Ford in 2009, and I can confidently say I’ve never been so impacted by a movie set before. I walked away wanting to move into a John Lautner glass home in Los Angeles immediately.
Great design podcasts.
Every time I try to listen to a podcast, my mind wanders. I just can’t focus without a visual element.
You collect.
Scents. I’m always on the hunt for something new. It’s a simple pleasure.
Home scent.
Karat EG from Maison d’Etto. I know these things are subjective, but it’s perfect — trust me.
Next for you.
My schedule is full these days styling shoots for Frederic, and I couldn’t feel more lucky! It’s my favorite part of the job.
Hudson Moore, Caroline Gidiere, Paloma Contreras, Benjamin Johnston, Marie Flanigan salon talk and book signings at Visual Comfort & Co., Wednesday, April 16, 10 am – noon. For tickets and schedule, go here.
Bill Curtis and Russell Windham
Curtis & Windham Architects, Houston
Favorite room designed by anyone at any time.
Bill: I always appreciate rooms that have appropriate scale and proportion to their purpose. The library at Kenwood House by Robert Adam comes to mind with its Roman-inspired architecture and beautifully colored decoration.
Russell: I love the main room at Syon House by Robert Adam, because of the perfect geometry that’s elaborated upon to the smallest degree. It’s just about perfect architecturally.
Top vintage design books in your library.
Bill: Russell and I have collected books for 33 years, both of us having learned the importance of an architectural library from the practices where we apprenticed. While we have many copies one would expect in our library — Palladio, Adam, Soane, Lutyens, as well as the American greats McKim, Mead & White; Goodhue; Platt; Mellor, Meigs & Howe; and, of course, our own John Staub — we also are not limited to architecture. Books on gardens and decoration and curious texts are also useful: gentlemen’s clubs of London, stables and kennels, golf-club structures, and small Italian farmhouses.
Russell: We have an original set of McKim, Mead & White, of course. The set on Lutyens’ work, Percier and Fontaine’s original set, John Staub, John Russell Pope, and the list goes on. This question is like who to thank if one were to win an Oscar. The list is too long!
Gardens or historical homes one must tour.
Bill: I always try to see gardens, homes, and buildings whenever I travel. Recently, I visited the great sculpture garden landscape of Storm King Art Center in Upstate New York — a great creation for many reasons. But The Wave Field by Maya Lin is a phenomenal vision and beautiful execution of ocean-like waves of earth and grass.
Russell: To do what we do, one must have visited as many of Lutyens’ works, where the gardens were designed by Gertrude Jekyll, as possible.
Favorite design shops anywhere in the world.
Bill: Pimlico Road, with many of the great English design shops, is a favorite.
Russell: Jamb is a great one. The old one that was a must-see, at least twice a year, was Guinevere in London. Unfortunately, it closed this year.
Favorite design/architecture podcasts.
Bill: I am not yet a podcast listener. I know. . .
Russell: Vitruvius and De Architectura by the BBC’s In Our Time.
Home scent.
Bill: I like the comfort of the smells emanating from the landscape. The desert of Arizona smells its own way, just as the rainforests of North Carolina have their own scent.
Russell: Jo Malone.
What’s next.
Bill: We’ve just put the finishing touches on our new book, Building on Tradition (Rizzoli), coming out this fall. We’re excited to travel to design events this winter where we’ll have the opportunity to share the work with friends.
Russell: More great work around the country and abroad. We’re doing more diversified work in terms of style and type, and that sort of change is exhilarating. We’re working on our new book. These sorts of endeavors are good for the soul.
Bill Curtis and Russell Windham, with Ann Wolf and Ashley Holden, in conversation at Matt Camron Rugs & Tapestries, Tuesday, April 15, 2 pm. For tickets and schedule, go here.
Ann Wolf and Ashley Holden
Wolf Holden Design Studio, Houston
Favorite room designed by anyone at any time.
Ann: I continue to be gobsmacked by Gloria Vanderbilt’s 1970 bedroom, as photographed by Horst P. Horst.
Top vintage design books in your library.
Ann: The Making of the Royal Pavilion Brighton (1984), Mark Hampton on Decorating (1989), and Billy Baldwin Decorates (1972).
Gardens or historical homes one must tour.
Ashley: The Crane Estate in Ipswich, Massachusetts, and Beauport, the Sleeper-McCann House in Gloucester, Massachusetts.
Movie you love for the design element.
Ann: I am Love with Tilda Swinton, filmed at Villa Necchi Campiglio in Milan.
Favorite design shops anywhere in the world.
Ashley: La Tuile à Loup in Paris. Sage Street Antiques in Sag Harbor. The London Silver Vaults.
Favorite design podcasts and Instagram feeds.
Ashley: Instagram: @torimellott and @_stay_inside. Podcast: Business of Home.
Home scent.
Ashley: Santa Maria Novella candles.
What’s next.
Ann: The renovation of a beautiful John Staub home in Houston.
Ann Wolf and Ashley Holden, with Bill Curtis and Russell Windham, in conversation at Matt Camron Rugs & Tapestries, Tuesday, April 15, 2 pm. For tickets and schedule, go here.
Marcus Mohon
Austin
Favorite room designed by anyone at any time.
Bobby McAlpine’s living room in Montgomery.
Top vintage design book in your library.
Mark Hampton on Decorating.
Gardens or historical homes one must tour.
Lotusland in Montecito and the Biltmore estate and gardens.
Movie you love for the design element.
The kitchen in The Taste of Things with Juliette Binoche.
Favorite design shop anywhere in the world.
Lutra By Liora Taragan in Tel Aviv.
Favorite design podcast.
Business of Home.
Home scent.
Bougie Apothicaire Spirituelle.
What’s next.
A rug collection with one of my favorite rug sources.
Marcus Mohon, Garrow Kedigian, Doniphan Moore, Chad Dorsey salon talk and book signings at Hästens, Wednesday, April 16, 2 pm to 4 pm. For tickets and schedule, go here.
