The Austin-based designer Avery Cox recently undertook a four-year project to revitalize her childhood house while maintaining its historical notes as a rare 1930s Art Moderne home in the affluent Dallas neighborhood of Park Cities.
The renovation gave the property a new lease on life, adding creativity and fun to its distinctive white facade, rounded corners, long horizontal lines, steel windows, and spacious rooms.
Cox runs Avery Cox Design. Her custom interior design concepts have revamped a bungalow in Austin, cabins in Washington, and a 1920s craftsman bungalow in Atlanta.
Still, there were many hurdles to the redesign, starting with Cox having to convince her family that she was the right designer for the job.
“They made me interview for this job,” Cox explained, according to Architectural Digest (AD).
“Obviously I wanted to be the one to help do this, but it would also be a huge emotional lift — recreating it for my dad and my stepmom and still honoring the architecture and spirit of the home,” Cox said.
Preserving the historical legacy of the house by honoring its architectural beauty was key. Cox immersed herself in Art Moderne principles from the 1920s and 1930s.
“Avery did deep research and found unique fabrics, pieces of furniture, and quality artisans,” Cox’s stepmother, Sherry Tucker Cox, said to AD.
Cox devised a design language rich in organic silhouettes, saturated color, and reflective materials against neutral fields to highlight the home’s period-specific features.
Aiding her in the process was a family friend and architect, William Curtis, founding principal of the Houston-based firm Curtis & Windham Architects.
“The whole project was more of an interior reclamation of capturing the house and taking it back to an honest point when it might have been done originally,” Curtis told AD.
Benefiting from knowing the house’s residents intimately, Cox drew a distinction between the upstairs and downstairs, one being a private, peaceful, and practical space for the older couple and the other an energizing and vibrant area for hosting guests and throwing parties.
Downstairs, Cox installed a navy blue wet bar connecting the living room and pantry and improved access to the kitchen.
A peachy-hued ceiling, a vintage purple B&B Italia daybed, and textiles in shades of blue-green gave the space some bold personalized accents.
Cox knocked down several walls upstairs to turn the main bedroom into a single space filled with natural light. A dressing room with cozy Art Deco swivel chairs and a main bathroom accented by viola marble are nods to the home’s history.
Ultimately, the residents, the designer, and the architect were satisfied with the end result.
“The most important thing is the unpretentious nature of the home, the honoring of the architecture, the playfulness, and the spirit of the residents,” Cox said to AD. “It feels very welcoming.”