An Off Beat Piece of Austin, Texas With A French Flavor

Traditional Homes magazine came out with a Classical Homes addition in 2006. One of the featured homes was that of interior designer, Fern Santini and her contractor husband, Jerre. The photos were taken by Fran Brennan. The home the couple purchased was close to downtown Austin and needed to be enlarged as well as gutted and re-done. Being her own client, Fern wanted to go all out and take risks in her remodel. A good example of this is in the flooring she chose to use. The pine floors came out of a river where they had been buried since before the Civil War. She had local art throughout the home and in the living room mixed it with a Hans Wegner folding chair and a mirrored 1930's French table, Parisian floor lamps and an angora rug.

They purchased the 1939 farmhouse in 2000 loving the beautiful old neighborhood close to the University of Texas. They added a second story master suite and built guest bedroom, family room, powder room and a library downstairs and enlarged the kitchen and dining room. They also added a central hall which was an open air gallery.

     

The dining room  below, sports an antique pine French farm table and a shed roof ceiling in beadboard that keeps the feeling of the original porch.

Fern gravitates toward rich colors as can be seen in the living room.

Boxwoods and pea gravel add a sculptural look to the front of the house. Since there was only one small window in the kitchen, they used iridescent glass tiles to cover the counter tops and backsplashes to bring in more light. Fern blended textures of animal prints, silk pillows and roses.

 

Fern's favorite room was the library and it was filled with her designer books.

The master bedroom was filled with pieces Fern already owned.

 

Rosebud, a Brussels Griffon painting hangs over the bath tub. The columns in the corners were salvaged from a Paris apartment. It took 13 months to complete the renevation and the last appliances that were installed on Christmas Eve, shorted out. But the couple went on to serve 30 people Christmas dinner!

later.