ABOVE: The Eastwood home artist/designer/architect Roberto Cervantes exhibits clever creative touches at every turn. The arched built-in cabinet is original to the kitchen, which is painted a wasabi-like green. The colorful objects on the shelves complement the striped table, designed by Roberto.
OPPOSITE: The stair landing was added during renovation, replacing a small doorway that opened to steep attic stairs. A new stairway was also constructed in order to match the original oak wood floors throughout and to make the steep angle less severe. The painting is by Ryan Gieger.
Craftsman with a Twist
Houston designer creates a nature-inspired bungalow redo Story & Photography by SARAH GANDY
Back in 2006, designer Roberto Cervantes decided to buy his 1920s bungalow in Eastwood for practical purposes as much as anything. “The house had been renovated in 2005 and all the electrical and plumbing had been redone,” says Roberto, “That meant I could get an inspection on it, get a mortgage approved and move right in.” All of these were essential elements for Roberto who was looking to move not only his home, but also his business from of a rented loft space. Another key characteristic of the property: there was ample space in the backyard for Roberto to build a separate studio for his multi-faceted design business. “There was nothing wrong with the house,” says Roberto. “Most peo70
ple would say it was fine.” And yet, for the designer and artist, best known publicly for his restaurant interiors, such as Barnaby’s, T’afia, Coppa, and Brasserie 19, the home still needed some refinements. Though the ideas for the house would start flowing quickly, any renovations would have to wait. “I moved in and decided to stabilize my business in the home first,” says Roberto. “Meanwhile I designed and built the studio behind the house, paying for that as I went along. Once that building was complete I was able to move my business there and begin work on the house itself. I didn’t do any renovations until 18 months after I moved in.”
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“We decided to open the kitchen to the dining room in order to make it a more livable space for today.” Ideas in Motion When the time came for the home redo, Roberto collaborated on the design with Ben Johnston (at the time the two had a design business together, but each now owns separate companies—Roberto owns Archi-Arts and Ben owns Avondale Design Studio). One of the most dramatic changes came in the kitchen area which had been chopped up with pantry spaces and doorways. “People during that time period tended to break up homes into compartments,” says Roberto. “But we decided to open the kitchen to the dining room in order to make it a more livable space for today.” To make sense of the new open floor plan, Roberto and Ben designed a Craftsman-inspired partition wall with an arched opening which helped delineate the kitchen from the dining room. “We also decided to paint the rooms different colors—green for the kitchen and orange for the dining room—in order to define the spaces separately.” Another minor floor plan change that created significant visual impact was the decision to open the attic stairs to the main living area. When Roberto bought the house a small door closed off the stunted set of stairs leading upstairs. “The stair landing didn’t exist and the stairs were extremely steep,” says Roberto. “So we got rid of the door, replaced the stair treads with oak to match the rest of the house, and made the slope of the stairs less severe. We designed a new stair landing to come out into the space, which also created a nice focal wall for art or family photos.”
RIGHT: In the dining room, a large painting by Houston artist Seth Alverson over looks the old zinc-topped dining table made by Noir. Roberto and architect Ben Johnston designed a Craftsman-inspired wall to provide a distinct boundary between the rooms, yet allow the two rooms to feel connected. The chairs are goatskinbacked Tyler Chairs by Oly, while the shell chandelier uses naturally occurring holes in the shells to string them together.
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“A lot of people are into neutrals, but I wanted something richer. The colors I used are saturated, but not unnatural.” Smoother Surface Among other issues were some aesthetic choices that previous owners had made. “The walls were all textured; the ceiling had been troweled,” says Roberto. “So we smoothed out all of those surfaces and added wood trim in order to be more consistent with the time period.” Some of the more intricate trim work occurs on the living and dining room ceilings, where stained wood is applied in a Craftsman-derived pattern. “It’s the look of a coffered ceiling, only flattened,” says Roberto. “It’s an embellishment to the room that brings a deep, rich color without lots of contrast. It’s actually a modification of what would be typically seen.” When it was time to pick colors for the home, Roberto drew inspiration from the home itself and its surroundings. “A lot of people are into neutrals, but I wanted something richer. The colors I used are saturated, but not unnatural,” says Roberto. “The orange is a terra cotta color and it’s found in the tiles on the front porch. The green is a compliment to that orange. The orange you could get through rust, the green comes from a copper patina—they’re still colors found in nature.” Likewise, Roberto kept a natural, but visually stimulating palette when it came to furnishing the home. “Throughout the house I’ve used wood, metal, and hides,” says Roberto. “These are all nonsynthetic ways of showing color, pattern, texture, and patina.”
RIGHT: The generously sized chaise, covered in fabric by Kravet, sits opposite a matching sofa. The patchwork rug is handmade and available through Archi-Arts. The sconces above the fireplace are antiques from Canada, while the copper pendants are from Rejuvenation Lighting and Hardware.
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BELOW: Piano is a Helpinstill Roadmaster, which was marketed in the 1970s as a portable piano that entertainers could easily take on the road. It was invented by Charles Helpinstill, who still performs in Houston under the name Ezra Charles. Roberto bought the iconic piano twelve years ago through and ad in the Greensheet.
ABOVE: Roberto chose a soft grey paint for the office to provide a visual break from the other color-saturated rooms. Custom wood tables were made by a Houston-based craftsman from Texas pecan trees. The large painting and the comic strip installation art are both by Roberto Cervantes. The handmade patchwork rug is available through Archi-Arts.
Whether it’s ceiling trim, goat hide chairs, or light fixtures, Roberto isn’t afraid to twist the inspiration from the past in order to create his own unique space. Musing on the two lighting pendants in the living room, Robert notes, “Light fixtures from (the 1920s) were pretty clunky and actually not very beautiful, so sometimes you have to take departures in your decorating. The living room fixtures are more of a ’50s style, and when they were shown in chrome in the catalog they indeed look very ’50s. But in a copper finish they take on a completely different look—and suddenly they work with this space.” Out the back door, Roberto’s new 900-square-foot studio also shows that different decades of design can live in harmony. The studio stands in contrast to the brick bungalow—it’s a modern construction with flecks of color throughout the grey façade. The two buildings, says Roberto, exemplify his philosophy: “I appreciate modern design, but I also appreciate past designs—and ultimately that’s where all modern design came from. It all draws inspiration from the past.”
OPPOSITE: A painting by artist Ryan Gieger hangs above an Italian Deco antique dresser in Roberto’s peacock-hued bedroom.
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RESOURCES K I T C H E N FA U C E T: Hudson Faucet by STROM PLUMBING, www.signofthecrab.com
INTERIOR DESIGN: ROBERTO CERVANTES, Archi-Arts, 281.974.2999, www.archi-arts.com
CUSTOM HEXAGONAL E N D TA B L E S : IRON ACCENTS, 713.942.8676
A R C H I T E C T: BEN JOHNSTON, Avondale Design Studio, 713.876.0432, www.avondalestudio.com GENERAL CONTRACTOR: COMPLETE REMODELING SERVICES, 713.890.1043
F I R E P L A C E H E A RT H T I L E : SYZYGY TILEWORKS, www.syzygytile.com B AT H A C C E S S O R I E S : RESTORATION HARDWARE, www.restorationhardware.com
LIGHTING: REJUVENATION LIGHTING AND HARDWARE, www.rejuvenation.com K I T C H E N C O U N T E RT O P : Michelangelo Marble sourced from ARIZONA TILE, 713.468.0511
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