By Sarah Rufca | May 15, 2013 | Updated: May 20, 2013 11:05am
https://www.chron.com/life/style
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Photo By Michael Hunter Photography
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If you go, The 2013 ASID Texas Gulf Coast Riverstone Show House is at 22 Ivy Bend Lane in Sugar Land. Tours are daily through May 27; tickets are $15 at the door or $12 online at asidtgcc.org.
Walking in through the custom, 17-foot wrought iron front doors, it’s obvious there’s nothing cookie-cutter about Vista Fontana, a 6,682-square-foot home in Fort Bend’s Riverstone community. Through May 27, Vista Fontana is the site of the 2013 American Society of Interior Designers show home tour, putting the skill and creativity of local Houston and Fort Bend designers and craftsmen on display.
To create the one-of-a-kind Tuscan villa, 20 top local designers including Kelly Gale Amen, Donna Vining and Diana Walker worked with builder Teramore Custom Homes, as well as homeowners Rodney and Tiffany Winkler, to install unexpected features such as a layered tile border around the fireplace in the family lounge, a countertop steamer in the dramatic two-story kitchen, and elaborate detailing on the built-in shelves in the study.
“There are so many talented people here,” said participating designer Sharon Staley. “It’s everybody working together, that’s the beauty of the whole thing. You learn from everybody.”
For the tour, the designers also worked to furnish each room with their own take on “Italian farmhouse” style. In the brick-ceiling dining room, that meant Debra Sabrsula combined Old World antiques with contemporary Italian furnishings, while others, including Blake Woods and Deborah Rivera, were inspired by the Winklers’ African honeymoon in their furnishings.
Visitors should be sure to check out the expansive patio area, not only for the fountain views but also to eye designer Kelly Gale Amen’s décor, which combines whimsical and practical with a mobile by Houston artist J. Antonio Farfan and paint-splotched furnishings created by Amen and kids from the Zina Garrison Academy.
“We tried to get vendors who are really supportive of Houston and we combined those vendors with my metalwork,” said Amen. “It’s flat, it’s stupid, it’s crazy, it’s fun, it’s playful, it’s all about laughing.”
