No one forgets an Edwin Lutyens house. And no one who attended the MILIEU Showhouse last June forgets the rooms they occupied in a Houston house designed and built by Jennifer Hamelet of Mirador Builders that was meant to evoke the style made famous by the British architect Lutyens (1869–1944).

As for first impressions, visitors who arrived at the residence on Del Monte Drive in the city’s River Oaks neighborhood found a structure that exemplified many of the details Lutyens incorporated in the substantive houses he designed throughout England. Projecting bays, a sculpted entrance portal, towering chimneys, multipaned cornered windows, undulating rooflines, and vigorously articulated brickwork, all hallmarks of a Lutyens Arts and Crafts–style house, were on display here, too. “When conceiving a new house, I always look to see what’s already there in the neighborhood,” says Hamelet. “In this River Oaks neighborhood, the houses dates from the 1920s and reflect a variety of traditional styles.”

Apart from the evocations of Lutyens, though, Hamelet insured that the interiors of this Houston home bespoke a different era: today. MILIEU hosted its Showhouse in this new, speculative residence because it was bright with natural light and it seemed, almost, as if certain rooms had been tailored for specific designers. While it is difficult for even the most talented interior designer to achieve a harmonious look throughout a home, here the resulting work of eleven designers resulted, uncannily, in a singular vision.

This story appeared in the Fall 2020 issue of MILIEU. To read the complete story or to see all photos, visit the MILIEU Newsstand to purchase this issue in print or visit Zinio.com to purchase this issue in digital format.

INTERIOR DESIGN BY DARRYL CARTER, KATHRYN IRELAND, COLETTE VAN DEN THILLART, NICKY HASLAM, LISA FINE, ELEANOR CUMMINGS, CAROL GLASSER, BECKY COOPER, SHANNON BOWERS, JENNIFER VAUGHN MILLER, and PAMELA PIERCE

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LAURA RESEN

WRITTEN BY DAVID MASELLO