Inside a Sophisticated, Art-Filled Family Home in Dallas

Paola Singer
·6 min read

Damon Liss had barely finished renovating a Tribeca loft for a family of five when they called him to say they were moving to Dallas and wanted his help. The designer was faced with an unusual challenge: transferring the contents of an edgy New York apartment—one with exposed pipes and quirky alcoves—into a fairly traditional Texas house, one with a central staircase and neatly rectangular reception rooms. “When we take on a new project, we’re almost always starting from scratch, but in this case we had all these recently acquired pieces,” says Liss, who established his namesake Manhattan studio more than a decade ago. “There was no mandate to use everything, but it made sense to keep a lot of the furniture.”

It helped that Liss knew his clients’ inventory by heart, which made the task of rejiggering the puzzle a little bit easier. There was, for example, a rare 1960s bronze coffee table by Philip and Kelvin LaVerne, a 1950s brass-and-mahogany bench by Harvey Probber, a contemporary dining table from BDDW topped with a stunning walnut slab, and a collection of whimsical vessels by the Haas Brothers, an L.A.-based design duo. Liss was also familiar with their impressive collection of contemporary art, which includes works by Yayoi Kusama, Ellsworth Kelly, and Andy Warhol. A Kusama painting with blue-gray dots populating an off-white background served as a foundational piece in the living room. Inspired by Kusama’s cloudlike composition, Liss bathed the space in soothing hues: Walls were painted creamy beige; curtains were made of light gray wool bouclé; and a silk rug, featuring the same shade of muted blue as the painting, graced the floor. “It looks like it was made for this home,” Liss says of the artwork.

Four Andy Warhol screen prints, from a series called Camouflage, hang in the dining area of the kitchen. The resin-topped pedestal table, with a custom lazy Susan, is from Wüd, and the leather-backed chairs are from BDDW.

While many of the pieces in the 7,000-square-foot, five-bedroom residence, located in the Park Cities enclave within Dallas, came from the family’s previous home in Manhattan, Liss added a number of new purchases. In the formal dining room, he paired that BDDW walnut-slab table with eight of Sergio Rodrigues’s Cantu chairs in ebonized wood and tan leather, and found a vintage Franco Albini cabinet to complete the sophisticated yet earthy look of the space. He commissioned a striking, sculpted plaster chandelier from Alexandre Logé.

“Damon helped us reprise the majority of the furniture we had in New York, and he also made minor tweaks that were major,” says the client, mentioning things like a sleek new railing on the staircase and sculptural new lighting throughout the home. “He had a really smart approach to the project, and now the house feels like it really belongs to us.”

Inside a Sophisticated, Art-Filled Family Home in Dallas

Manhattan-based interior designer Damon Liss helped his clients, a family of five, move the contents of their Tribeca loft, an edgy space with exposed pipes, into their new home in Dallas, a 7,000-square-foot chalet with a traditional layout.
Manhattan-based interior designer Damon Liss helped his clients, a family of five, move the contents of their Tribeca loft, an edgy space with exposed pipes, into their new home in Dallas, a 7,000-square-foot chalet with a traditional layout.
The designer used one of the contemporary artworks in the couple’s collection, a blue-gray abstract painting by Yayoi Kusama, as the living room’s foundational piece. He then proceeded to mix and match various furnishings to fit the soothing palette of the space. A set of custom sofas made by J.C. Landa and a vintage bronze coffee table by Philip and Kelvin LaVerne, which had been in the loft’s main reception area, were paired with a Chinese silk rug from Fort Street Studio and a pair of sculptural bronze-legged stools by Alexandre Logé, which had been in the loft’s den.
The home’s central staircase, which features new iron railing chosen by Liss, features a Harvey Probber bench in mahogany and brass, set under a Mark Gortjahn drawing, purchased at Pettit Art Partners. The striking ceiling light is a custom piece by Jeff Zimmerman from R & Company.
In the formal dining room, Liss paired a walnut-slab table from BDDW with eight Sergio Rodrigues Cantu chairs, and found a vintage Franco Albini cabinet (at New York’s Donzella) to complete the space. A wall vitrine, also by Albini, shows a collection of vessels by the Haas Brothers. The Nuage chandelier, a distinctive design in sculpted plaster, was custom made by Alexandre Logé.
In the family room, in which cabinetry was custom designed to fit a triangular painting by Ellsworth Kelly titled Green Panel, a large square sectional from Dmitriy & Co. sits behind a 1960s Spanish console from Morentz. “It was a beautiful find,” says Liss. “It really works with the rustic beams and balances the modern nature of the millwork.”
The spacious eat-in kitchen of the newly built house didn’t need a major renovation. Liss simply changed some of the cabinet hardware and added new flush-mounted fixtures from Urban Electric Company. The Astania bar stools are from Espasso.
Four Andy Warhol screen prints, from a series called Camouflage, hang in the dining area of the kitchen. The resin-topped pedestal table, with a custom lazy Susan, is from Wüd, and the leather-backed chairs are from BDDW.
This outdoor deck gets year-round warmth thanks to an electric heater installed on the ceiling and a wood-burning fireplace (not pictured). The stone-topped round table and the teak chairs with woven backs are from Roda via 1stDibs.
In the main suite, Liss divided the space with a custom-designed cabinet that includes a rotating TV stand. “[The room] was 25 feet long, which is almost too much for the space to function properly,” says Liss. “We created a seating area that feels separate.” The upholstered BDDW bed came from New York, as did the bronze nightstands.
The main bath features a ceiling light from Blueprint Lighting and LED sconces from Roll & Hill.
The main bath features a ceiling light from Blueprint Lighting and LED sconces from Roll & Hill.
In this bedroom, decorated for the couple’s preteen daughter, a patterned wallpaper from Hygge & West with copper hues is softened by a pale pink rug from Joseph Carini Carpets. The white iron bed is from Room & Board.
This son’s bedroom occupies a cozy attic space. “He wanted green walls,” says Liss. “The ceilings were so low that we decided to paint them green too, and created geometric shapes.” The designer used Sherwin Williams’s Envy and Relish shades.
This son’s bedroom occupies a cozy attic space. “He wanted green walls,” says Liss. “The ceilings were so low that we decided to paint them green too, and created geometric shapes.” The designer used Sherwin Williams’s Envy and Relish shades.

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest