E D I T I O N 35
LIFESTYLE & REAL ESTATE
ZANG!
Tulsa to
NYC
LUKE LEIFESTE ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR GQ & ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST
HOUSE OF TOI
TULUM WITH LOVE
C I R C P I L AT E S JUILLIARD TO OKC
KIM GARRETT THE POWER OF “WE”
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BEYOND THE MAGAZINE
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INSIDE THIS EDITION
CONTENTS
50
DESIGN: THE ANCIENT ART OF NEW RAVENNA
A small town in Virginia is home to a creative revival of an ancient art form; go inside the dazzling, intricate world of bespoke mosaics. S T O R Y BY C H R I S T I N E E D D I N G T O N
20 WELLNESS: CIRC AND THE POWER OF PILATES After COVID convinced her to leave New York, Carrie Kenneally brought her authentic, individual-focused Pilates studio Circ to Midtown. S T O R Y BY M I C H A E L K I N N E Y
42 TRAVEL: TULUM, WITH LOVE A bit off the beaten track with an easygoing vibe all its own, the Caribbean coastal town of Tulum, Mexico, makes a blissfully relaxing getaway. S T O R Y BY L A U R A N A N C E
ON THE COVER BACKSTORY: LUKE LEIFESTE’S NYC ADVENTURE
From the halls of Booker T. Washington to the masthead of GQ, Tulsa native Luke Leifeste is living the dream while appreciating his roots. S T O R Y BY C H R I S T I N E E D D I N G T O N
16 WOMAN OF INFLUENCE: PALOMAR’S KIM GARRETT Victims of violence and abuse needed help, so Kim Garrett successfully spearheaded the drive to create the nonprofit Palomar Family Justice Center. S T O R Y BY C H R I S T I N E E D D I N G T O N
24 FASHION: GLAMOUR FROM THE HOUSE OF TOI Designer Zang Toi is ready to get back to glamorous, colorful fashion — and he’s bringing his Palm Beach-inspired spring collection to OKC. S T O R Y BY L A U R A N A N C E
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3 2 Art: The Grande Dame of Abstract Painting | 3 8 Business: Interview with Guernsey CEO Jared Stigge | 6 8 Home: OKC’s Wheeler District | 7 5 Luxiere Property Portfolio: Oklahoma’s Exclusive Real Estate
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CUSTOM CLOTHING Lauren Warkentine | lauren@williamandlauren.com 701 N Hudson Ave, Suite 100, OKC, OK 73102 Schedule an appointment at www.williamandlauren.com
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photo by Shevaun Williams
PHIL CLAYTON | OWNER, TSO OPTICAL
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A P P A R E L
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A C C E S S O R I E S
/
S H O E S
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B E A U T Y
TRUNK SHOW MARCH 3 – 5 PERSONAL APPEARANCE BY ZANG TOI 6 4 4 3 Av o n d a l e D r i v e , N i c h o l s H i l l s • w w w. b a l l i e t s . c o m LUXI E R E 9
L U X I E R E M AG A Z I N E
A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER A
re we there yet? It’s a question the exceptional creative team at Luxiere asks ourselves constantly, and our answer is always a glorious “No!” For us, our quest never ends. We want to explore and celebrate the state of mind that defines Luxiere. We’ve spent decades in the community doing just that. We’re interested in the rare finds, the most interesting people, the moments that move us. And we march unabashedly to the beat of our own drum. In this issue we are so pleased to introduce you to Luke Leifeste, a Tulsa native whose role as creative director for two of Conde Nasts’s flagship publications, Architectural Digest and GQ, frequently means collaborating with the biggest names in popular culture and design. Although he now divides his time between New York City and Los Angeles, he returned to Tulsa during the first year of the pandemic and reaffirmed something he’s always known: Oklahoma is a special, uniquely creative place. You’ll meet international fashion designer Zang Toi, whose decades of creative genius began in a startlingly humble way, with the help of someone who saw his talent early on. We’ll also make our way to one of Mexico’s grooviest little cities, Tulum. Its arty, hippie vibe is just what we need in this moment. Closer to home, we’ll take you behind the scenes in the making of a community within a community, the Wheeler District, whose star continues to rise. As Palomar Family Justice Center
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celebrates its fifth anniversary, we’ll introduce you to its founder and CEO Kim Garrett. You’ll also meet former Broadway dancer and performer Carrie Kenneally, whose Circ Pilates Studio is the perfect place for one-on-one and small-class experiences with a true maestro of her art. There’s a subjective distinction between noise and music, between ignorance and art and between the common and the rare. Contrary to what you may have heard, it’s not always a matter of money. The key for us is purpose. It’s a fascinating balance to explore, and we’re never more intrigued than when we can’t quite tell. That’s when we know we’re on to something worth a second look. We love hearing from our readers that you’re fascinated by those stories, too. Until next time,
Stacy D. Johnson Publisher, Owner @luxieremagazine luxiere
/luk-zhur-ee/ A state of abundance, beauty, ease and comfort that is unique to each individual.
A WALKABLE, BIKEABLE, CONNECTED COMMUNITY IN THE CITY, ON THE RIVER, MADE FOR PEOPLE.
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L U X I E R E M AG A Z I N E
CONTRIBUTORS EDITION NO. 35
LIFESTYLE & REAL ESTATE
KENNON BRYCE
Photographer
STACY D. JOHNSON owner/publisher JOSH WELCH
Photographer
DESIGN | Brandlink Media ON THE COVER | Luke Leifeste Photography by Riley Taylor
JORDAN MOBLEY
KATI HANNA
MICHAEL KINNEY
Photographer
Writer
Writer
CONTRIBUTORS Special thanks to all of our Luxiere Oklahoma vendor partners for your contribution of time and talent to make this extraordinary resource.
LUXIERE MAGAZINE CORPORATE OFFICE
2123 N Classen Blvd Oklahoma City, OK 73106 info@luxiere.co www.luxiere.co
Luxiere Oklahoma is published bimonthly, direct-mailed to a curated readership and distributed at select retail locations free of charge for individual use. Additional copies are inserted and mailed to the subscribers of The Wall Street Journal. To request copies, please contact the publisher. For more information, visit www.luxiere.co.
ADVERTISING INQUIRIES CHRISTINE EDDINGTON
RILEY TAYLOR
Editor
Photographer
email: stacy@luxiere.co phone: 405.808.1332
© Copyright 2022 by Luxiere Magazine. All rights reserved. Advertising claims and the views expressed in this magazine by writers do not necessarily represent those of Luxiere Magazine. No responsibility is assumed for unsolicited materials. Originals of manuscripts, photographs, artwork or other materials should not be sent to Luxiere Magazine unless specifically requested to do so in writing. Luxiere Magazine is not responsible for the return of any manuscripts, photographs, artwork or other materials submitted. Luxiere Magazine shall have no liability for errors, omissions or inadequacies in the information contained herein or for interpretations thereof. Luxiere Magazine shall have no liability for any infringement of copyright or other arising out of publication thereof. Luxiere Magazine reserves the right to edit submissions before publication. Reproduction in any form without prior written permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited. All requests for permission and reprints must be made in writing to Luxiere Magazine, c/o Legal, 2123 N Classen Blvd Oklahoma City, OK 73106.
STEVE GILL
VALENTINA GUTIÉRREZ
Copy Editor
Videography
COOPER ANDERSON
TJ EVERET T
LAURA NANCE
Website
Graphic Designer
Writer
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PHOTO: ELY FAIR PHOTOGRAPHY
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DESIGN
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DESIGN
BESPOKE MOSAICS:
THE ANCIENT ART OF NEW RAVENNA
BY CHRISTINE EDDINGTON
I
n the tiny, historic town of Exmore on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, farm roads and driveways are laid with sparkling crushed Italian marble, and folks are as likely to work as mosaic makers as any other profession. This seeming incongruity of geography and art delights the woman whose own creative prowess makes much of it possible. Cean Irminger, creative director and master mosaicist at New Ravenna, Exmore’s largest private employer, laughs as she thinks about the confusion this will all cause some future archaeologist, trying to figure out how these dense deposits of beautiful marble turned up on a barrier island on the East Coast of the United States. “We give our leftover materials to our employees,” she says. “They use our stone in their driveways, but also for their own art projects. There’s quite a cottage art industry booming.” New Ravenna arrived in Exmore in 1991, founded by artist and designer Sara Baldwin on her kitchen table. Baldwin grew up in the area, left for college, returned and launched her company. A painter by degree, Baldwin had no mosaic-making training, and taught herself the artform while camped out in a rental property on her parents’ land. They gave her a $5,000 loan and one year to either start making a living with mosaics or find another career. By 2012, New Ravenna employed about 100 local people and had taken the design world by storm.
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DESIGN
Irminger joined the company around that time, another local who’d gone away to school and returned home looking for a job. She’d gone to the other side of the state to study drawing and painting at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, and thought she’d give mosaics a try. “I learned everything I know on the floor,” she says. A self-proclaimed history nut, she loves the legacy of mosaics, which can last 4,000 years. “We are preserving an ancient craft. The tools we use today are similar to the tools used in ancient Rome. Mosaics are functional art, and each piece had to be placed by hand, which is mind-boggling.” Irminger tells terrific stories about unusual bespoke tile projects. The first large commission she oversaw was a five-foot tall rabbit, which a client wanted for the bottom of a swimming pool. Another project, a glass-tile mosaic, was painstakingly crafted and shipped out to become the interior of a hot tub/spa. All well and good. Except glass tile is really sharp, and when the mosaic was installed, the edges were slightly out of alignment … which made that spa a distinctly un-relaxing experience. So the piece was ripped out and the mosaic recreated and reinstalled. Irminger is proud of New Ravenna’s practice of hiring and training local people to become master mosaicists. “Our local area people are all world-class,” she says. “This was such a small company when I started, and it’s a truly homegrown, rural American project.” One in 10 people in Exmore is employed by New Ravenna. To make a custom mosaic, one of the team’s designers prepares a preliminary drawing. After it’s refined and approved, the next step is
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DESIGN
sourcing the stones that will be used. A sample of the mosaic is created and sent to the client, and after any refinements, the meticulous process of hand nipping and placing each stone begins. “We use face tape to tape the top and hold the design together. Then we cut it apart and ship it, along with a map of the mosaic to guide the installation,” explains Irminger. Inspiration for mosaic designs comes from everywhere: nature, ancient mosaics, textiles and
travel are all tapped for their artistic fodder. A new collection, “Gracie,” was created in collaboration with the venerable hand-painted wallpaper company by the same name. Founded by Charles R. Gracie in 1898, the New York City-based company is now led by the fourth generation at the helm, brother and sister Mike and Jennifer Gracie. New Ravenna worked with Gracie to select five of its designs for interpretation into glass mosaics. The designs were chosen to represent
international historic themes, from Roman and Chinese antiquity to the late Japanese Edo period, and French Art Deco. • — New Ravenna mosaics are available in Oklahoma exclusively via Oklahoma City’s Artisan Tile Studio at 300 W. Wilshire Blvd.
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WO M A N O F I N F L U E N C E
PALOMAR’S
KIM GARRETT AND THE POWER OF “WE” BY CHRISTINE EDDINGTON
I
f a pregnant Kim Garrett hadn’t had a fierce craving for brownies, Oklahoma City’s groundbreaking nonprofit collaborative, Palomar Family Justice Center, might not exist. It’s true. Well, it was the brownies, plus her expertise and diligence. “I started the victims’ services unit at Oklahoma City Police Department in 2011, and quickly saw families coming in in crisis,” Garrett says. “They would have kids, and injuries, and were fearful they were going to get killed that night, and we…at the time…we had a lot of pretty brochures. We would tell them to go here for medical, go here for a victim protective order, go here for shelter—and it was really overwhelming. Families would give up, and they would understandably go back. “It just didn’t sit well with me, so I started doing research on best practice models. What could we do to pivot and improve services and access in Oklahoma City? I found the family justice center model and, while I wouldn’t say I harassed the police chief for years, I was definitely persistent.” Garrett was certain that Oklahoma City would benefit from the family justice center approach. She just had to convince then-Chief of Police Bill Citty it was worth exploring. “You didn’t get a lot of access to the police chief, but I was pregnant with my daughter, Olive, and Chief Citty would do all of these retirement ceremonies, promotions, things like that, and they would send emails out to all the employees. I loved the brownies at these celebrations, so I would literally go like 2-3 times a week—I didn’t even know some of the people—just to get the brownies. So I’d have access to him and I’d keep asking, ‘Have you thought about it? Is it possible?’”
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Eventually, Citty said yes. Garrett was not surprised. When asked what it was about her that enabled her to take survivor services through such a transformation, she stops for a moment. “About me?” she says, a little surprised. Then, with candor, “I think it was probably the constant yet gentle pressure. And passion; I care deeply for survivors and their children, and to me it was something we had to do.” For Garrett, it wasn’t negotiable. Things had to change. “I was patient in the journey, and kind when we disagreed, but I was clear that I wasn’t going away and this problem of gender-based violence is actually not going away, and we need to start thinking differently if we want different outcomes.” Citty hired a team of experts to assess the family justice center idea, which would mean creating a space to house multiple nonprofits, service providers, medical professionals, lawyers and others—a one-stop shop for survivors—and gauge the need for such a thing within the Oklahoma City community. “They came and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive toward a collaborative; the victims felt like they were falling through the cracks and the agencies weren’t sharing information,” Garrett says. “Service providers said they felt siloed.” There were unintentional inefficiencies that nobody had realized were happening. An example: “When we compiled intakes from our partner agencies and looked at them, collectively we were asking over 600 questions, and the majority of them were duplicative.” It was time to change things. Strategic planning started in 2015, then came the building search. Garrett is glad that Palomar is right in
WO M A N O F I N F L U E N C E
the middle of Midtown OKC. “Systemically there’s been a lot of shame and hiding by survivors, and that’s why I’m so excited about our location,” she says. “We’re not hiding. We’re not ashamed.” Before the doors even opened, before the sign was on the building, survivors were knocking on the door asking for help. “I have no idea how they found out about us, but there was obviously a great need, and to this day I can remember attorneys literally on the floor, helping survivors go through their paperwork to file court petitions.
“It was amazing and beautiful to see. Just the power of ‘we’ and people coming together. Fast forward to now, and we’ve had over 50,000 visits. The demand was significant. I don’t think anybody anticipated there would be such a need in our community, but people are really hurting.” Almost immediately, Palomar was (and is) bursting at the seams. But the people of Oklahoma City, recognizing that the wellbeing of people is an important part of infrastructure, stepped up at the MAPS4 ballot box. Garrett says, “We were selected
as a $38 million MAPS project to build our forever home, and we will start the design process next year and ideally open in early 2025. I just think it’s a huge testament to survivors, really.” •
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WELLNESS
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WELLNESS
A PILATES JOURNEY
WHEN CIRC CAME TO TOWN
BY MICHAEL KINNEY PHOTOS BY KENNON BRYCE
A
s a former professional dancer and singer working in New York City, Carrie Kenneally was living her best life. It was playing out almost like a Broadway musical: Kenneally was running her own business in the heart of NYC and was heavily involved with the performing arts community where she had spent much of her life. It seemed to be everything she could ask for. But Kenneally’s real life quickly diverged from the Broadway musical version when the coronavirus pandemic struck in 2020. Suddenly, the life Kenneally had planned out needed some dramatic revisions. That included uprooting herself from New York and starting over again—1,500 miles away in Oklahoma City. “I think that’s going to be exciting,” Kenneally says. “This area is growing … and we’ve got businesses here that will be [doing] the same thing too. I think I’m going to be a little bit of a pioneer, and I think that sounds fun.” Kenneally is the owner and operator of Circ Pilates Studio, 1130 N. Harvey Ave. in Oklahoma City’s Midtown District. She has been teaching Romana’s Pilates® for close to two decades, after converting from a career as a singer and dancer. Romana’s Pilates is a specific type of Pilates developed by Romana Kryzanowska, protege of Pilates founders and namesakes Joseph and Clara Pilates. But the first time Kenneally took a Pilates class, in 1989, she didn’t think too much of it. She was in Chicago and her ballet director informed her that everybody had to take Pilates; it didn’t leave a particular impression on her. A few years later, Kenneally was told once again she needed to start doing Pilates—this time to help rehab a back injury she had sustained.
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WELLNESS
She looked at it as just physical therapy … until one day she realized it was more than that for her. Kenneally said the turning point came when she was in class and her back seized up on her. Her first inclination was to head home, because she didn’t know if she would be able to walk if she waited any longer. Kenneally’s teacher stopped her with two simple words: “Trust me.” “I thought, ‘Okay, I’ve got two choices here.’ I stayed and I finished the lesson and I walked home,” Kenneally says. “That was huge for me. I think it was just that moment that really was the catalyst.” Kenneally gradually went from seeing herself as mainly a dancer to a Pilates instructor. When it came time to go all in and put her performing career behind her, it wasn’t as hard as it might have seemed. “I was in my late 30s and I realized, ‘I think I’m good. I want to move into something different,’ and I saw for myself what Pilates could do. And I liked teaching,” Kenneally says. “That’s when I made that transition to not perform anymore and just to be a teacher. Most dancers are pulled off the stage because of an age thing or an injury. I think I was able to teach the dancers and not be mad at them, because I actually made that decision.” Before coming to Oklahoma, Kenneally had owned a Pilates studio on Columbus Square, just north of Times Square, where she had built up a solid clientele and was still heavily involved in the dancing community. From 2009-2015, she also taught Pilates as an adjunct faculty member in the dance department at the Juilliard School. After the pandemic hit, like many business owners across the country, Kenneally had to make some tough decisions, specifically about her lease, which was scheduled to renew in 2021. Her landlord wanted her to sign a new three- to five-year lease. “We looked around, it was the same thing everywhere and it just was risky,” she says. “I mean, we managed through the whole shutdown and everything, but there’s always that it could change in a moment, another shutdown. And as a business, that’s just so risky to be locked into or commit to a three-year lease or a five-year lease. It just seemed too risky to do it again.” The thought of leaving New York had never entered her mind, but it seemed that she had very few other options. Kenneally started scouring the country looking for the right place to transplant her studio. She was looking for an area that could provide her with a situation like she had in New York. That turned out to be Oklahoma City, which she had heard had a big dance community.
AT CIRC, Pilates is a one-on-one or small-class experience.
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WELLNESS
PILATES IN
THE FIRST PERSON by Michael Kinney After the past two years of battling COVID (three times) and social isolation (at times), I was ready to make 2022 the year of stepping outside my comfort zone. With parts of the world still under lockdown, there is a limit to what I can do; no last-minute flights to Australia or Morocco. When I was presented with the task of attending my first-ever Pilates class, I figured it was as good a start as any. I first found myself on the doorstep of Circ Pilates Studio in early January, and I really had no idea what to expect from studio owner Carrie Kenneally. Wearing gray sweatpants and a navy long-sleeved shirt, I thought I might be underdressed. In my mind, I envisioned people who take Pilates wearing colorful spandex and fur wristbands. As someone who grew up playing and competing in sports such as football and wrestling, I also thought I had a pretty good grasp of what my body could or could not do. For those who don’t know, Pilates is a system of exercises using special apparatus, designed to improve physical strength, flexibility and posture, and enhance mental awareness. Because Kenneally was trained and taught under Romana Kryzanowska, who was a protégé of Joseph Pilates himself, going through her sessions has an uniquely authentic feel. “In the words of my mentor, Romana Kryzanowska, she always described it as being ‘stretch and strength,’ but there’s also some control,” Kenneally said as she described Pilates to me. “And if somebody needed more strength, you would give them more strength in the exercises and some stretching. And then if they needed more stretching and less strength, you would do that. There’s also a rehabilitative aspect to it.” Kenneally’s Midtown studio, at first glance, appeared underwhelming when compared to the big gyms that populate cities. But as you listen to Kenneally talk more about what Joseph Pilates wanted to accomplish when he created his exercises, it’s easy to understand why:
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WELLNESS
PILATES IN THE FIRST PERSON CONT’D
Everything in her studio has a purpose. Nothing was there that couldn’t be used in some way. That includes each of the exercise apparatus, which were spread around the room. Some look like normal exercise or training machines, while others would look at home in a suburban household. They include the Reformers, Wunda Chairs, Half Barrels, Full Barrels, Ladder Barrels, the Cadillac, Highback Chair and Pedi-Poles. Kenneally had mercy and didn’t have me test everything out, but we did focus on a variety of different exercises that I had never done before. Kenneally prefers the intimacy of the solo sessions. That can make things difficult for people like me, since I often try to hide in the back—out of the gaze of teachers, coaches and editors. (Life hack.) During our session, each time I started a new exercise on a new machine, Kenneally made sure every movement was correct. While I kept hoping she would give up and move on, we went over each move until I got it right. That is something that can’t be accomplished in a large class setting. “[Joseph Pilates] really meant the work to be one-on-one, and I do offer duets,” Kenneally says. “People will do group classes, but it’s really intended for one-on-one, and that’s why I put it on hold for a bit. But if I’m doing a class, I’ve always kept it down, just a handful of people.” Kenneally told me a few times, in a surprised-sounding tone, that I was extremely flexible. Therefore, what I heard was, “Michael, you should have been a professional dancer on Broadway or the NYC Ballet.” She didn’t say those words, but that is what I heard. Pilates can be beneficial for young athletes up to mature men and women who just want to be able to pick up their grandchildren. “In the case of the people who I work with, some are in their 90s. Others are maintaining their body in something like a soccer or football player,” Kenneally says. “Others are coming back from an injury.’’ When I finished my session, I was pleasantly surprised by how tired I was and that I could feel my muscles and joints talking to me. I was not expecting that at all. The trip to Circ Pilates turned out to be a great start to what I hope is an amazing year of living on the other side of my comfort zone.
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She thought that was intriguing. “And then the more I looked around—even the realtor here was like, ‘This is a growing neighborhood, a growing community here.’ That sounded really appealing. And people are really nice, I mean, when we got off the airplane, I thought, ‘Everyone’s so nice here.’” But most importantly for Kenneally, the thought of bringing something new to the Midtown area excited her. “It’s a small business, just me here, and they seem friendly with the small businesses and pretty open-minded to not just cookie-cutter businesses, but people creating their own, whether it’s art or craftsmanship,” Kenneally says. In September 2021, Kenneally moved lock, stock and barrel from the Big Apple to the Big Friendly. It took a little longer for her equipment
to arrive, which she assembled herself, and Circ Pilates Studio was born. Kenneally knows most people have heard of Pilates, but may not know exactly what it is or how it can benefit them. One of her main tasks has been getting the word out. “I think five years from now, I’d like to see it be pretty vibrant, with a lot of people knowing more about what it is and enjoying it, coming in or doing their exercises at home and coming in and doing their workouts here,” she says. “Eventually, I could have a training program here. That would be down the line. And I think I need to let people know what it is first, before jumping ahead of myself. I don’t plan on retiring anytime soon. That’s for sure. I would just like to see it blossom.” •
WELLNESS
LUXI E R E 29
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ANCIENT SPIRITS Joy Richardson
OKLAHOMA CITY’S PREMIER ART GALLERY Howell Gallery Fine Art Gallery & Interior Design 6432 N. Western Avenue 405-840-4437 www.howellgallery.com LUXI E R E 31
ART
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ART
ODE TO JOY:
THE GRANDE DAME OF ABSTRACT PAINTING
BY VALENTINA GUTIERRÉZ PHOTOS COURTESY OF HOWELL GALLERY
I
n a recent conversation, contemporary abstract artist Joy Richardson, whose exuberant paintings may be seen at Oklahoma City’s Howell Gallery and Canyon Road Contemporary in Santa Fe, gave us insight into the essence of art, her career and what color means to her. (Hint: Color means everything to her!) When did you start painting? As a child making cakes, I’d rashly use every shade of food coloring to frost them, often ruining my mother’s desire for cake. I loved color! My college degree required a fine arts class, but painting a stationary bowl of fruit bored me as I saw no room for creativity. So, I guessed, I must not be artistic. During my children’s school years, I jumped in to help with their projects, even using my playful creativity in an “eatable solar system”—picture red onion rings around Saturn. Our daughter’s first home had huge walls, but she had no money and asked me to “paint something.” With no boundaries, I used balance and color with
abandon. Such fun! Developing my own “style,” I dove back into art in a big way. Our home filled with big, colorful canvases, and my husband Jerry suggested they needed somewhere to reside. At my first art show, I was shocked at selling 17 paintings—and a monster was born. How do you describe your art? Contemporary, very colorful, interestingly balanced, often soft with a jolt of unexpected hues to surprise you, and happy; very upbeat. Though in contrast to that, I am drawn to Native American culture: the colors, textures and history. I have been painting Native American women in the last few years. My ladies are ethereal and symbolic but reflect the culture. Disclaimer: While I have no Native American blood, I respect their ethnology, and am drawn to it. What medium do you use and why? Acrylics, which are water-based but can be bold, are my choice. They dry very quickly, which appeals to me as I can slather on another layer immediately, creating depth
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ART
and stimulating color combinations, and some fortuitous results. My work would be called abstract, and I’ve not any intention to replicate an item, but when that happens and is pointed out, I’m as surprised as they are. What inspires you to create? I dream in color. Often, I awaken and think, “What if I mixed that color with this?” Just as often, it was a bad idea, but sometimes it’s thrilling! A child at the Oklahoma City Arts Festival (I showed there for 10 years) asked me, “Is there any color you haven’t used?” Probably not—and I’ve made up new ones. I’ll be mesmerized by the colors of an oil slick on a driveway, a sunrise, a cracked leather chair. I can’t wait to try to replicate those in paint. Balance, either symmetrical or asymmetrical, on a canvas is my most essential element; if that is not pleasing, the painting won’t work. My paintings are in galleries, homes, hospitals and municipal buildings coast to coast. How has your work evolved through the years? As I meet people who find joy in my work, it emboldens me. I’ve the confidence to see no rules and go for what delights the eye. I turn out some ugly paintings, but I just turn those to the wall, let them sit in “time out,” and then bring them out another time and paint over them. Color is an essential part of your work. What about it fascinates you? Like a chemistry experiment, I can mix colors in varying amounts and create a whole new hue. Those colors drive the viewer to be sad, gleeful, puzzled or enchanted—all without a word. What is a favorite piece you have created? Much as I don’t have a favorite among my three children, art is the same way. I am thrilled when someone tells me that they always smile when they stroll by a painting they bought from me. Often, they’ll say they see different things as the light hits it, or an abstract brush stroke reminds them of a feather, a mountain or a kitty. As you would fear, my home is very colorful. Several canvases have been created to incorporate those colors, so I’m reluctant to sell them. Maybe those would be called “favorites.” How do you define art? Art, in my mind, comes in so many forms. If it moves me to an emotion of any kind, I think of it as art. Swells of rich music, well-written phrases, graceful dance moves, athletic prowess, the fond gaze of a dog. Passion and sensations because of something I’ve experienced are what I would call “art.” •
ABOVE LEFT: “UNCOMMON,” 36x36”, acrylic; BELOW LEFT “TRANQUILITY,” 48x60”, acrylic
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ART
“SOME LIKE IT HOT,” 24x24,” acrylic
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BUSINESS
FROM A TINY TOWN TO GLOBAL GROWTH
AN INTERVIEW WITH GUERNSEY CEO JARED STIGGE BY KATI HANNA PHOTO COURTESY OF JARED STIGGE
A
ripple in the matrix occurred in 1928 in Cherokee, Oklahoma, when Curtis Harold Guernsey Sr. founded a consulting engineering firm out of his garage, with a goal of providing civil engineering support to rural Oklahoma cities and towns. Nearly a century later, Guernsey’s firm is a diverse company of designers, engineers and consultants with reach across the continental U.S. The projects Guernsey executes will no doubt get your attention: from designing the NBA practice facilities for the Thunder and Raptors to working with electric co-ops on setting rates for the nation’s electrical infrastructure to multi-million-dollar federal contracts guiding military installations to cost-saving solutions. Today, Guernsey is led by Jared Stigge, whose freshly pressed untucked shirt and clear-framed glasses might have you thinking you are sitting across from a Silicon Valley tech exec. Further dialogue makes it clear he has a unique combination of quiet passion, intellect and leadership to transform the face of a company whose fortitude and commitment to following through has sustained its employee-owners and brought it to where it stands today. Our conversation with Jared Stigge has been edited and condensed for clarity. Tell me about your path to becoming CEO of Guernsey. My path was nothing short of an adventure. Educated in economics and law, early on I knew I didn’t want a career in either, so I kept my options open and responded to a tiny ad in the Sunday classifieds (this was back in 1999, when that was still a thing) from a company I had never heard of that was looking for a financial analyst. I joined Guernsey, and before reaching my tenth anniversary [with the company], I had lived in Washington, Hawaii and Alaska, and had
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surpassed a million miles of air travel—and more than a few days below -40°. I supposed the combination of my educational background and diverse project experience put me on track to become a senior leader within the company but, honestly, I believe the necessary final step was commitment, total commitment, to putting my personal interests secondary to the overall welfare of the company. There are other ways to lead, but to me the most authentic way is by example. Guernsey began as a civil engineering firm working out of a garage, but now does so many different things. Why has it become so diverse? Guernsey is diverse primarily because of our culture of entrepreneurism. We are a 100 percent employee-owned company, and we encourage our employee-owners to embrace their ownership and explore opportunities as any business owner would. Ideas are vetted, and those with merit essentially become internal incubator projects. Not all survive, but the diversity we see at Guernsey in 2022 reflects those creative sparks that caught fire and grew into sustainable business lines. What work are you most proud of at Guernsey? I feel the most pride in the unique culture we have built, and continue to foster, at Guernsey. One of the most challenging things, I’ve found, is the time, thought and emotional intelligence it takes to create great teams which can be turned loose with autonomy and an equal measure of trust the job will get done right. The magical thing about building great teams is that those teams simultaneously build momentum, and once you reach a critical mass, things begin to feel just a little bit different … like the wind is at your back, or you’re walking downhill. It’s easier because everyone is oriented and pulling in the same direction.
What type of work does Guernsey do with the Department of Defense? Guernsey’s roots with the Department of Defense (DoD) began in earnest in 1984 when we responded to the historic fire at Building 3001 at Tinker Air Force Base. Normally buildings aren’t measured in acres, but with a wall of flames growing to almost an eighth of a mile long, over 15 acres of buildings were destroyed,and Guernsey leapt into action. We worked 24 hours a day to deliver the design services that allowed operations to resume in just two weeks. This served as a springboard into our current diverse services for DoD, which continue to include traditional architectural/engineering disciplines, but also increasingly focus on energy security and resiliency, as well as energy optimization and cybersecurity. What are your thoughts on the importance of culture in a company? Why is Guernsey different from other companies? At a company like Guernsey, culture is everything. One challenge is that at a company, culture must evolve at a faster pace, different than what we all typically think of as “culture.” To be sure, there are elements of our culture—a passion for excellence, accountability, uplifting through service—that are timeless. But there are also critical elements that need to adapt in real time, and if anyone doubted that, the current pandemic has made it all too clear that culture needs elements of agility in addition to stability. I believe one thing unique at Guernsey is that the burden of cultivating our culture doesn’t rest only on my shoulders, or the shoulders of other senior leadership, but our entire staff that own the company and are empowered to advocate for change within whatever sphere of influence they have. Our culture is resilient because we seek out and embrace feedback, even if sometimes we can’t act on it in the moment.
BUSINESS
What should we expect to see from Guernsey in the future? More of the same, but even more of the unexpected. In the past, we’ve said that Guernsey is one of Oklahoma City’s best kept secrets, but we have intentionally pivoted in the opposite direction: We are focusing on humbly but proactively sharing with the world all the good happening right here in OKC, as a 90+ year-old company that started from a garage in Cherokee, Oklahoma, and now works around the globe. We have created an ideal professional experience, right here in our own back yard, where you can be an entrepreneur, an owner and a valuable contributor to the community, all while staying true to who you are. I’m a fan of firms like ours because I believe everyone should be empowered with whatever autonomy they’ve earned to go forth and simply be their authentic selves. Tell me about the places you’ve traveled with Guernsey. Well now, there’s places I’ve lived, and places I’ve traveled. I was single much of my career, so when given the opportunity I volunteered to move to Poulsbo, Washington (on the west side of Puget Sound). I spent more than three years in Hawaii, and over five years in Alaska. For a while, I was living in Hawaii but working in Alaska, which made for fun mid-flight wardrobe changes. As far as places I’ve traveled for work but not lived: much of the U.S. mainland (with a heavy
emphasis on Washington, D.C.), Canada, Pakistan, Zambia and South Africa are the most notable. I still work on several projects (including Alaska, which I began in 2002) and count travel as one of the great perks of my career. Traveling is as educational as any textbook and immensely more fun. What is your favorite life hack—a tip or trick that helps make life easier for you? This may be a basic answer, but it’s my Apple Watch. I kick reminders, appointments, timers, everything I can to my watch; I use it to board flights, access my hotel room, make purchases … and try to stay on top of my health and fitness. I try to move as many things as possible out of my mind and into automated systems to streamline and simplify, and my watch is probably my mostused resource for that. It also reminds me to get up and walk around the office when I’ve been staring at my computer screen for too long. With the experience you have now, what advice would you give to your younger self? This may sound like a non-answer, but I don’t have any advice for my younger self. That person was successful, and made quite a few mistakes, but every success and every failure—and every middling uneven mess, for that matter—has led me to where I am today, and I love where I am. I’m married to the love of my life and my best friend, and I work with some of the best people I
know, and so I guess my advice to my younger self would be to do everything over again exactly the same … because it led somewhere better than I’d ever imagined. What is one of your favorite “luxieres” in life? Travel, travel and more travel. In the modern world, experiences, and the time it requires to engage in them deeply, is one of the few remaining luxieres in my book. Travel is a relaxation, an education, time to bond with family and friends and time to recharge. Oklahoma is my forever home, but the world is always out there, beckoning. The pandemic has forced us to adapt how and where we travel but has done nothing to blunt our appetite for exploration—and If I can find the added luxiere of a perfectly crafted Americano along the way, you won’t find me too disappointed, either. • — Kati Hanna is a partner with The Mettise Group, a consulting firm focused on growth-stage companies and leaders. The Mettise Group completes a holistic evaluation of organizations and leaders to quickly and efficiently deliver an operating system that focuses on opportunities, best practices and solutions.
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FAS H I O N
AN ODE TO PALM BEACH GLAMOUR
HOUSE OF TOI 2022 Spring Collection BY LAURA NANCE PHOTOS COURTESY OF ZANG TOI
I
t was an invitation 32 years ago that changed Zang Toi’s life as a designer. Martha and Lynn Phillips, the mother-daughter duo known as pioneers of the high-end boutique, invited Toi to their legendary Palm Beach boutique, Martha, for his first-ever trunk show. “Here I was, this young, unknown designer, and Miss Martha and Miss Lynn introduced me to the glamorous life of Palm Beach,” he says. Toi’s Spring 2022 collection, “Glamorous Palm Beach Gals,” honors the place and the women who helped give him his start. It’s full of corals and seashells, pink orchids and palm leaves; you can almost feel the languid, salt air as you envision the designs floating around poolside at a Palm Beach soiree. Toi describes his new collection as romantic, glamorous and uplifting—all things the world desperately needs right now. “It is time to get back to life,” he says. “Ladies are ready to get back out and feel glamorous in what they’re wearing. Life can be beautiful if you don’t let fear take over.”
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FAS H I O N
SAYS TOI OF THE COLLECTION, “It’s time to get back to life,” and his vibrant prints make doing so such great fun!
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FAS H I O N
Forty years ago Toi arrived in the United States from Malaysia, fearless, with $300 in his pocket. He had a vision and was determined to fulfill his dream in couture. “I had a love and passion for fashion, and I have worked very, very hard for this life. I love this country for giving me the opportunities that have come my way. Anything can happen with hard work and a love for what you do.” Toi recalls how the sales for that first, two-day trunk show exceeded $200,000—no small sum now, and even more substantial in 1990—saying, “Miss Martha was beside herself with excitement and she invited me for dinner at her home, which I learned was not common. I remember her home being peach, pink and glamorous, but most of all, it was the beginning of our long connection. We were loyal to each other, and I worked with Miss Martha until she closed. I hold the most wonderful memories of her.” In his ode to Palm Beach, two of the special prints in the collection were designed by Toi himself. The seashells and coral pattern and the palm leaf and pink orchid combination set the tone for the entire collection, the perfect mix of glamour without trying too hard. Toi has reordered the fabrics twice since the collection launched, an indication of the collective desire for all things bright and beautiful.
ZANG TOI’S BUOYANT Spring 2022 collection fabrics have already been reordered twice.Think maybe we’re ready for cheery, colorful dressing?
EVERYTHING in Zang Toi’s line is made in the United States, in New York City.
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FAS H I O N
THE SEASHELL AND CORAL PATTERN, seen here on a headscarf, sets the tone: a perfect mix of glamour without trying too hard.
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FAS H I O N
VERSATILITY AND VIBRANCY! Separates from the Spring 2022 line can be mixed and matched, dressed up and down.
“Everything is made in the USA, in my atelier in New York City on 48th Street between Fifth and Madison,” Toi explains. “Creating it in my shop is how we get the workmanship and quality we need and our clients desire.” He attributes his success and repeat customers to staying true to what women want. “I have dressed some of my women for over 25 years, and they are from all over the country. If you stay true to your vision and refine your collection and make it better each season, the customers will stay with you.” And Toi is crystal clear about how he wants women to feel when wearing his clothes: “I want them to feel special, to feel like a queen, to bring energy. I know when they wear Zang Toi they are guaranteed attention. They don’t attend an event, they arrive.” •
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FAS H I O N
GLAMOROUS
PALM BEACH GALS TRUNK SHOW March 3 - 5, 2022
Balliets, Nichols Hills Plaza 6443 Avondale Drive It’s been six years since Toi has been in Oklahoma City, and he’s anxious to return. “I am so looking forward to being back in Oklahoma City at Balliets. Bob and DeDe [Benham] are so gracious, and I just love the people in Oklahoma City—they’re so warm and welcoming.”
TOI WANTS WOMEN TO FEEL special in his clothes, like a queen, ready to make an entrance.
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B A C KS T O R Y
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B A C KS T O R Y
LUKE LEIFESTE’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE
T-TOWN TO NYC
BY CHRISTINE EDDINGTON PHOTOS BY RILEY TAYLOR & COURTESY OF LUKE LEIFESTE
L
uke Leifeste is feeling contemplative these days. A bona fide member of New York City’s elite creative class, this 20-something’s near non-stop hard work over the last decade has allowed him to cross a heady number of items off his bucket list in relatively rapid succession. His is an excellent adventure story of natural talent and incredible opportunities … plus plain old, Oklahoma-style good manners and elbow grease. The Tulsa native left home for New York University in 2011, and his career took off almost immediately— probably to the surprise of no one. Leifeste, a proud graduate of Booker T. Washington High School, is after all in possession of the senior superlatives “most involved” and “most likely to become president.” He was also senior class president, Key Club President and Mr. Hornet (AKA homecoming king), earned an International Baccalaureate Program diploma and was a member of the varsity swim team. High school was a wonderful, formative time for Leifeste. “I feel truly blessed to have been given the opportunity to attend Booker T. and experience that school’s rich history and academic and athletic excellence,” he says. “The diversity and tapestry of that school is just incredible, and so meaningful to me. Nothing could’ve better prepared me for college in New York City, and the real world in general. I’m super grateful to my parents for guiding my path to BTW.”
As a youngster he and his little sister Lauren spent their free time making movies with a hand-held camera. Looking back, it all makes sense. “My sister is actually visiting right now, and she often harkens back to all the shows and home movies I made her be a part of,” says Leifeste. “She was always my sidekick and creative partner. My parents gifted me with a little camera when I was very young and I started making little film projects, rallying the neighbors and putting on programs in the basement. I’ve always kind of had that creative juice, I guess.” Leifeste is a natural-born connector of people, ideas and places. He’s a calm person, a Libra, who speaks in a slightly measured, relaxed-yet-intentional way. “I like connecting the dots with projects at work, but also with people—and I guess maybe I have a gift of being able to see where those connections can take place and thinking up bigger things to come out of those.” For the past two years, he’s worked as the entertainment editor for Architectural Digest and GQ, a kind of Conde Nast double agent, as he puts it. It’s a big job. Leifeste and his team serve as a sort of central casting and scheduling for the two titles, booking celebrity talent, running the production on-site at photo shoots and making sure everyone is happy with the results. “One of the most gratifying aspects of my job is being a part of a story from the ideation phase through
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B A C KS T O R Y
the booking through the production—and then finally when it’s out in the world and you get your hands on a physical copy, or you see it hit the internet, and you can watch the audience respond in real time and, every once and a while, spark a little cultural moment and allow people to experience that. It’s pretty neat.” Does he get ever nervous around celebrities? After all, he’s worked with everyone from Lil Nas X to Megan Fox. Turns out, he remains sanguine. “I’m always excited to meet the individuals we have the opportunity to work with, but I realized pretty quickly that everyone is just a human being. The sheen of fame sort of falls to the side at some point. The gift is in meeting and interacting with people as people.” Like many creatives, Leifeste enjoys the craft and collaborative nature of print magazine work. “It’s all about relationships, which I love,” he says. “We’re responsible for maintaining relationships with Hollywood publicists, record labels, TV networks, sports agencies, and then being able to work with those people to book their talent. My team is on the ground for every major print shoot to liaise with talent and their reps and ensure that everything goes smoothly. During the pandemic, we were producing some shoots completely remotely and were sometimes unable to have people from our physical team on the ground, which was challenging, but we made it work.” He spent the first year of the pandemic back home in Tulsa, making things work from his parents’ dining room table. Now he divides his time between NYC, Los Angeles and Tulsa. The slower, weirder pace of the pandemic, which has called into question the relevance of geography, has also left Leifeste with a bit of a big “Now what?” Intriguing. Leifeste just returned from a trip to T-town, where he visited the Woody Guthrie Center and toured the soon-to-open OKPOP Museum. He loves that it will allow Oklahoma to celebrate some of its pop-culture swagger. “It will be an ode to all things Oklahoma, pop-culture related … I always love connecting with that history and legacy,” he says. “It’s really neat to think about the influences that Oklahomans have had on the larger culture. You think about someone like Woody Guthrie, similar to Will Rogers, who was just an Oklahoma boy with humble roots who went on to become a global phenomenon—it’s crazy to think about.” Like most of us who call it home, Leifeste gets that there’s something magical about Oklahoma. “My friends in New York and L.A. like to joke about how often I bring up Tulsa and Oklahoma, but I do think there’s something special in our state and my hometown. I don’t know what it is; it’s hard to put your finger on. It’s a culmination. Oklahoma, in so many ways, represents the fabric of America.”
COVERING the iconic Met Gala
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LEIFESTE’S TEAM makes photo shoots, like this cover for AD, run seamlessly.
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B A C KS T O R Y
LEIFESTE AND ANDREW GARFIELD AT THE 2021 GQ Men of the Year party in L.A., photographed by Krista Schlueter.
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BUCKE T LIST:
LEIFESTE STYLE
Leifeste, once again anchored in New York, is now a denizen of the ultimate cool-kid neighborhood: NYC’s infamous “Dimes Square,” a Lower East Side neighborhood which prompted this from Interview Magazine: “The area of Lower Manhattan that sits at the intersection of Canal and Division Street, named after the eponymous restaurant, is a place many New Yorkers love to hate … But to some, Dimes Square is the epicenter of a certain strain of New York’s downtown creative class.” It’s even got its own self-parodying newspaper, The Drunken Canal.
Dimes Square is a trendy area that’s been profiled—and lampooned—much like other “it neighborhoods” of the past. When he mentions that’s where he lives, you can hear the amusement in his voice and see it on his face. He’s in on the joke, and is clearly entertained, but perhaps not too impressed. In a way, it’s exactly that brand of awareness and mirth that makes him so successful. Of course, we know what it is: It’s the Oklahoma in him. •
Working at NBC: “My dream was to be an NBC Page and to work on ‘Saturday Night Live,’ and that ended up being my first job out of college. A week after graduation at NYU I started at NBC, and I was the real-life incarnation of Kenneth the Page from ‘30 Rock,’ bangs and all.” Leifeste had the chance there to work across various NBC broadcast properties including “The Today Show” and “Saturday Night Live,” and he worked in the NBC News Election Unit throughout the 2016 election.Of his time at SNL he says, “Everyone from Ryan Gosling to Adele to Donald Trump passed through during my time at the show, but one of the biggest highlights was working closely with the SNL cast members who put the show on their back week after week.” Fun fact: His first week at SNL he crossed paths with fellow Oklahoman Wayne Coyne, frontman for The Flaming Lips. Met Gala: “I worked it a few years ago with GQ and covered the red carpet—that was quite an experience for sure, to see that up close. I will say my legs were really hurting after posting up on the cement steps for four hours, but it was worth it!” Working for Conde Nast: “It’s very fun and oftentimes surreal working in the fast-paced editorial environment at One World Trade Center, which we like to call ‘The Content Tower.’ All the brands under the Condé Nast umbrella—including Vogue, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, in addition to GQ and Architectural Digest—are under one roof there. My job sits under a central talent booking group but we are embedded within our respective brands on a day-to-day basis, and work directly for our Editors-in-Chief. We are responsible for managing anything that touches celebrity talent with our brands, we are owning those relationships, negotiating throughout the booking process, securing the talent and also running point on the production of shoots, whether that be a global print cover, an inside feature, a web piece or video content.” Hanging out with Wes Studi: “I had the chance to work with Oklahoma native Wes Studi last summer on a really incredible 10page GQ fashion spread. It was an icon profile celebrating Studi’s legendary career—and it was amazing to share that with a fellow Okie and one of the foremost Indigenous actors. We also brought on Tommy Orange, the acclaimed author and Pulitzer finalist who also has Oklahoma ties, to write the story, which was awesome.”
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MEXICO’S GROOVIEST LITTLE SECRET BY LAURA NANCE
I
t’s become a tradition for me and two of my dearest friends to take a trip for our milestone birthdays. While I won’t confess as to who was celebrating, or which milestone, our most recent birthday jaunt took us to Tulum, on the Caribbean coastline in Quintana Roo, Mexico. Carmel, Napa, Austin and Puerto Vallarta are just a few of our past locales, and we’ve loved them all. The requirements for our trips are simple: if any combination of sun, beach, food and wine can be had, then sign us up. Our pandemic happy hour Zoom calls had us brainstorming and dreaming of our next getaway, and when we learned of a connection to a condo in Tulum, we decided it sounded perfect for a mid-November escape. With two of us coming from Oklahoma City and one from Austin, we flew into Houston and then on to Cancun. At the suggestion of the condo owner, we booked our ground transportation to Tulum in advance with a company familiar with the area. An hour and a half and a few Corona Lights later, we were unloading at Tao Tulum Condos in Aldea Zama, a beautiful development in the heart of Tulum. The first thing we noticed as we arrived was the completely different vibe Tulum has as
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compared to other parts of Mexico we’ve visited: peaceful, quiet and oh-so-different from the hustle and bustle you get at a resort. Eager to explore—and eat (OK, and drink)—we dropped our bags and headed out. A five-minute walk from Tao Tulum and we were in the Aldea Zama square. As we explored the area, we noticed some streets were chill, while others were full of construction, clearly making way for more restaurants, bars and shops. We settled on Tòtem Restaurant & Lounge for wine and appetizers and to collect ourselves after a long day of traveling. Rejuvenated, we decided guacamole and margaritas were calling our name and stopped by Safari Tulum. Spicy margaritas, guacamole served with jicama and carrots, yucca truffle fries, ceviche—delicious! By now it was dark, and though we may have found ourselves turned around once or twice, we felt completely safe on the short walk back to the condo. Though our condo complex had two beautiful pools, we were destined for the beach. After a morning walk back to the square for coffee and a light breakfast, we chose Ziggy’s Beach Club as our spot for the day. (A note on these establishments: While you can stay at the beach clubs, you can
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also access the club and its amenities by agreeing to spend $40-$50 per person on food and drink, which isn’t hard to do.) A walk to the traffic circle near our condo and we easily caught a cab and headed to Ziggy’s. Incidentally, we had been told in advance the average cost of a ride to the beach road, so if a cab driver quoted us a higher price (which happened) we either negotiated or waited for the next one. The beach clubs are located along Tulum Beach Road, a 6.5-mile two-lane stretch beginning just south of the Tulum Mayan Ruins. Because November is considered off-season, the trek to Ziggy’s—almost at the end of the beach road—wasn’t bad, but we heard stories about backed-up traffic and long rides to get to even the closest beach clubs during peak season. A warm welcome at Ziggy’s and a quick explanation of the lay of the land and we were on our padded chaise lounges on the beautiful white sand beach. Cocktails and snacks flowed as we chatted, read our books, napped and soaked up the sun. When an afternoon rain shower came up, our waiter quickly relocated us to the lounge area where we could continue our day sans sun, but with all the other amenities. The food at Ziggy’s was wonderful—ceviche, guacamole and fries became our snack trifecta at least once a day during our trip. THE RUINS IN TULUM are the site of a pre-Columbian Mayan walled city overlooking the Caribbean.
OUR DAILY DOSE of ceviche, guacamole and cocktails and visits to beach clubs like Ziggy’s were pure bliss - and just what we needed.
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AHAU TULUM is designed for the environmentally conscious traveler, with oceanfront cabanas and huts situated on a pristine white-sand beach.
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The second day began with breakfast at Safari Tulum and the best avocado toast I’ve ever eaten. After breakfast, we headed to Papaya Playa Project where we were met with a warm welcome, Mayan-inspired architecture and a beautiful beach spot. P3, as we lovingly called it, ended up being our favorite of the three beach clubs. The vibe, the food, the ambiance—it just felt like us. After a full day of sun, ending with a walk along the beach, we took a cab to one of the many COVID testing locations in Tulum, as a negative test is required within 72 hours of departing Mexico. It was quick and easy, and we had our results delivered via email within 3 hours. Since we were already near the main road in Tulum, we decided to walk back to our condo—a little over a mile—which gave us an opportunity to see other parts of the area. Our final beach day began with me teaching a quick yoga class in the beautiful open-air yoga space at Tao Tulum. Yoga studios abound in Tulum, and it’s also a popular spot for yoga teacher training. After yoga we wandered to the square in search of coffee and a light breakfast. So many of the restaurants not only offer traditional breakfast fare, but healthy choices like blended juices, acai bowls and an abundance of vegan/gluten-free options. A sign reading “Beach more, worry less” greeted us as we arrived at La Zebra Beach Club. Of all the clubs, this one seemed to have the largest number staying on the property, as many of the lounge areas were reserved for hotel guests. We still found a great spot and soaked up our last day—until the afternoon rain rolled in. Once again we were relocated to an indoor area, where beach drinks and snacks continued to flow. As the rain let up, we grabbed a cab back to our condo and headed out for our last dinner in Tulum. The goal of our trip was to relax, catch up and not do anything we didn’t want to, and we absolutely accomplished that during our stay in Tulum. Our travels together over the past 15 years have taught us that we don’t always have to see and do everything in a particular destination; that our time together is just as valuable—if not more so. Were there activities and sights we missed? Absolutely. But we were content with our beach club days, strolls by the ocean and easy dinners back near our condo. In addition to loving the Zen vibe of Tulum, we found restaurant and beach club staff were always gracious and genuinely happy to have our business. We felt welcomed and safe everywhere we went. Would I go back? In a heartbeat. Maybe I would explore new things, but most likely I’d do exactly what I did on my first trip: whatever I want. •
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CATCHING
THE VIBE Randy Stuart says Tulum has a vibe like no place else: “People believe special powers flow from the land.” And he should know, he’s found a new home— and calling—in Tulum. Originally from Southern California, Stuart, the father of two grown sons, worked for over 30 years in school sales and retired in December 2020 as the vice president of sales for Varsity Spirit. “I was ready to ditch the rat race and retire early, which is difficult to do in California if you plan to live there. I’ve seen too many people work toward retirement and then not have the health to enjoy life.” As 55-year-old Stuart planned his early retirement, he initially concentrated on Panama, Belize and Mexico. “I was looking for a home near a beautiful ocean and close enough to a major airport that could get me anywhere in the world in two flights,” he said. “Mexico is easier for my family and friends to get to, and the Caribbean won over the Pacific. Once I found out owning property in Mexico was a possibility, everything leaned toward me choosing Mexico as my home. I love the food, culture and people, and I look forward to many adventures exploring the entire country.” To make his retirement dream a reality, Stuart began by setting up passive income through property rentals, and soon fell into connecting people with buyers and sellers in the area. “My plan is to eventually get all my friends and family down here to live, at least part-time.” Tulum has become a worldwide destination for short-term and long-term travelers, not to mention digital nomads working remotely. “Tulum is filled with hippies, eco-travelers, vacationers, partygoers, electronic music lovers, digital nomads, expats, snowbirds and so many more. That phenomenon, in turn, brings workers to the area to support the economy and cash in on work,” he said. “Workers from all over Mexico, Central and South America and elsewhere come for work.” Stuart added that much of Mexico’s tourism involves U.S. and Canadian citizens due to ease of travel and abundance of warm locations, not to mention the beach. “Tulum’s beach is one of the most beautiful in the world.” Learn more about Tulum properties @casastranquilas on Instagram and Facebook.
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photo by Justin Miers
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HOME
WHEELS UP After years of development, OKC’s Wheeler District is ready to take flight BY STEVE GILL
D
epending on your definition, building a new neighborhood is the result of a fairly straightforward recipe: buy a chunk of land, run in utilities, pave some streets and culs-de-sac, build a bunch of houses, erect a plaque reading Stonewater Crossing or Valley Heights or Pine Eagle Bridge Estates and you’re done. The results are found in every corner of the metro, ranging from rows of tract houses to spacious gated enclaves. But neighborhood can be a loose term. If you sharpen your syntax a bit, there’s a huge gulf between constructing a housing development and creating a community from scratch—the latter is much rarer and requires a lot more planning and time, but the results can be genuinely special. That’s the goal for OKC’s Wheeler District. Of course, it’s a little bit easier to formulate a plan if you’re starting from a blank slate. Wheeler is just south of the Oklahoma River and I-40 along Western Avenue, growing out from a space that for decades had been home to the Downtown Airpark. That means there were no existing houses and residents to incorporate, no quirks of nature to design around—just acres and acres of potential. It’s fair to call Wheeler a new development: The first residents moved into their homes in
2019. But that doesn’t mean it’s a new project, since a strategic plan developed by the city in 2004 recommended creating a mixed-use riverfront neighborhood in this space, and a group led by Grant Humphreys purchased the Airpark land for that purpose back in 2006. Amid all the preliminary studies and memos and drafts, Wheeler’s VP of development Ashley Terry believes the story began in earnest eight years ago at a series of public meetings. “Wheeler District kicked off with a public charrette in 2014,” she says, “which was really the first of its kind in Oklahoma City, and was an opportunity for our development team to reach out to the broader community. When we went to people and said, ‘What’s your ideal community; what’s your ideal neighborhood?’ people said, ‘I want to be able to walk to grab a cup of coffee or to grab a beer; I want to know my neighbors’ names; I want my kids to be able to run and play and ride their scooters safely and things like that; I don’t want a huge back yard; I don’t want a ton of maintenance; I want to be able to park my car on Friday and not get in it until Monday if I don’t want to.’ Those are all things that we heard from people, and those were already things that we were thinking about within the community, but really just solidified that initial vision—and we’ve been working ever since then to fulfill it.”
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Gateway to the Future Wheeler’s flashiest amenity is a tourist-y treat (see sidebar), but a project in the shadow of the Ferris wheel may prove to have the most lasting impact. “We’re really excited about Western Gateway Elementary School, which opened in August of last year,” says Terry. “It’s a public charter school that’s authorized through OKCPS, so it feeds right into that OKC public school network. The kids are pre-K through 1st grade this year, and then they’ll add a grade a year up to 4th grade over the next few years.” If that sounds familiar to downtown residents, it’s because OKC’s John Rex Elementary served as a conceptual model, including the tiered admission system based on neighborhood residency. “Western Gateway’s neighborhood boundary encompasses five communities: Wheeler District, Jones-Grove neighborhood to the west, Will Rogers Court’s public housing project further to the west, and the College Hill and Higgins Heights neighborhoods to the south.”
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photo by Sarah Strunk
Vision Quest What does that entail? New housing, obviously; director of sales Lauren French said that as it moves into Phase II of construction, Wheeler contains about 110 occupied homes with 35 actively being built—20 of which are already under contract. But Phase I also includes 50,000 sq. ft. of commercial space, 30,000 of which is Class A office, retail and restaurant space within the hangar-inspired central building designed by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris and built by Lingo Construction. A community park set to open this summer will include a pool, playground, walking paths and gathering spaces. It’s home to The Big Friendly brewery and taproom and Taco Nation, both former food trucks (well, food school buses) that have put down brickand-mortar roots in Wheeler. And Terry said that in a broader sense, the plan involves both conceptual and literal connection. “There’s definitely a context around the vacant property that we have to be thoroughly mindful of, but welcoming of,” Terry says, “and really our goal is to just knit into the broader OKC community, both from a perspective of the story and a perspective geographically by actually reconnecting the street grid network into the property.” Since the 1940s, east-west streets from SW 11th to SW 20th have understandably dead-ended at the edge of the Airpark space, but in Phase II and beyond, “all of those street connections are remade in some form, whether it’s vehicular or bike and pedestrian connections; all along the western edge, that street grid is reformed into the land.”
photos by Justin Miers
HOME
photos by Brandon Smith with Dwelling Table styling by Britta Newton-Tarron
Kids from different backgrounds learning together is good for the overall community— plus, as Terry says, “What’s really exciting about the school is its dual-language curriculum. The school is a two-way dual immersion school where students are learning in Spanish and in English throughout the day, and there are actually seats reserved within the school for students who speak Spanish as their primary language.” Moving Forward After all those years of planning, Wheeler’s rapid growth has been striking … but it is in a very real sense just the beginning. Eventual plans call for more than 600 homes, 1,500 condos and apartments and 300,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space. “Wheeler District is 150 acres total—that includes land on both sides of Western Avenue—and what you see out there now represents about 36 of the 150 acres,” says Terry. “So it’s only a small fraction of the broader master plan. There’s so much more to come. We really see it as a decades-long project before it reaches its full completion.” •
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photo by Ely Fair
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ROUND & ROUND March 18, 2022
No discussion of the Wheeler District would be complete without its most visible element: the former Santa Monica Ferris Wheel purchased by Grant Humphreys on eBay in 2008, refurbished, relocated and opened to the public in 2016. After its seasonal hiatus, opening day is March 18 this year. “We are actually installing a new lighting system on the Ferris Wheel this winter,” says Terry. “We’re very excited about that; it’ll be back and brighter than ever in March.”
A walkable, bikeable, connected community in the city, on the river, made for people.
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617 NW 5TH STREET | OKLAHOMA CITY 4 bed | 3 bath | 2,954 sqft | $995,000
WE DO IT ALL BUY | SELL | RENT
LAUREN TOPPINS, BROKER, OWNER 4501 N. WESTERN AVE | OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73118 Office: (405) 768-3468 | Cell: (405) 821-4061
cherrywoodre.com 74 LUXI E R E
LUXIERE PROPERTY PORTFOLIO
Listed by David G. Oliver • KellerWilliams Elite Wyatt Poindexter Group LUXI E R E 75
# 1 O K L A H O M A LU X U RY R E A L E S TAT E T E A M
$3,900,000 | 14275 E Waterloo Rd
$2,500,000 | 1110 NW 2nd Street
$2,500,000 | 18645 E Reno Avenue
$2,450,000 | 1603 W Wilshire Blvd
www.OKLuxuryHomes.com
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$2,400,000 | 14804 Gaillardia Lane
$1,499,000 | 14809 Aurea Lane
$1,499,000 | 11649 Mill Hollow Court
$1,485,000 | 17515 Prairie Sky Way
www.14804gaillardia.com
www.14809aurea.com
www.11649millhollow.com
www.17515prairieskyway.com
LISTED BY:
Wyatt Poindexter, Keller Williams Elite 405-417-5466 OKLuxuryHomes.com 5629 N. Classen Blvd | Oklahoma City, OK 76 LUXI E R E
# 1 O K L A H O M A LU X U RY R E A L E S TAT E T E A M
$1,199,000 | 8401 Stonehurst Ct
$1,095,000 | 6437 N Grandmark Drive
$999,000 | 36147 E Ew 1200 Road
$700,000 | 2445 HWY 9 #A Highway #A
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www.OKLuxuryHomes.com
www.SeminoleLuxuryRanch.com
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$699,900 | 3325 NW 172 Terrace
$600,000 | 14360 N Post Road
$460,000 | 44 Center Lane North
$429,000 | 200 S Oklahoma Ave #410
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$399,000 | 1625 Wildhorse Drive
$395,000 | 29 N Water Street #1
$295,000 | W Shore Drive #25
$295,000 | 9300 Farmhouse Lane
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$200,000 | 37 Pebble Ridge
$199,520 | 5541 Harper Creek Trail
$150,000 | 72 Cedar Run Road
$125,000 | 76 Cedar Run Road
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LISTED BY:
Wyatt Poindexter, Keller Williams Elite 405-417-5466 OKLuxuryHomes.com 5629 N. Classen Blvd | Oklahoma City, OK LUXI E R E 77
SIGNIFICANT SALES IN 2021
As a longtime resident of Oklahoma City, David Oliver has an exceptional understanding of the Oklahoma City real estate market dynamics and its diverse communities. His success is attributed to his dedication to go above and beyond for his clients, always striving to exceed their expectations. David is a savvy marketer with a keen understanding of what it takes to position a property locally, and paired with an award-winning residential brokerage, the exposure he offers is unparalleled.
DAVID G. OLIVER
david@wyattpoindexter.com 405-532-3800
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$1,830,000 | Sold 131 N Park Avenue #30
$1,780,000 | Sold 1700 Travers Court
$1,577,325 | Sold 1603 Guilford Lane
$1,475,000 | Sold 8400 Stonehurst Court
$1,320,000 | Sold 5300 Carrington Place
$1,300,000 | Sold 1665 Saratoga Way
$1,100,000 | Sold 7501 N Country Club Drive
$999,000 | Sold 16244 Morningside Drive
$997,000 | Sold 1221 Marlboro Lane
$980,000 | Sold 1607 Saratoga Way
AN INCOMPARABLE BUYING AND SELLING EXPERIENCE
$975,000 | Sold 1700 Woodhill Road
$970,000 | Sold 6433 N Grandmark Drive
$925,000 | Sold 6427 N Grandmark Drive
$700,000 | Sold 12505 Bocage Drive
$690,000 | Sold 2317 Open Trail Road
$615,000 | Sold 1703 Westminster Place
$599,000 | Sold 6208 Waterford Blvd #94
$599,000 | Sold 6447 Grandmark Drive
$579,000 | Sold 825 Crystal Creek Place
$512,250 | Sold 3717 NW 166th Court
$1,499,000 14809 Aurea Lane
$1,499,000 | Pending 11649 Mill Hollow Court
$1,485,000 | Pending 17515 Prairie Sky Way
$1,285,000 6206 Waterford Boulevard #72
$1,098,000 | Pending 1648 Saratoga Way
$1,095,000 6437 N Grandmark Drive
$939,000 6431 Grandmark Drive
$939,000 6429 Grandmark Drive
$525,000 14816 Gaillardia Lane
$320,000 5900 Mosteller Drive #44 LUXI E R E 79
DAV I D G.O L I V E R
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W YAT T P O I N D E X T E R G R O U P
1 6 O 3 W. W I L S H I R E B O U L E VA R D | N I C H O L S H I L L S 4 BD | 4.2 BA | 8,506 SQ FT | $2,450,000 Rarely does a home of zero compromises become available to the market. Timeless elegance, as well as its remarkable location, situated directly across from the original GA Nichols estate, makes this home a once in a lifetime opportunity. Expansive dining and living area featuring 2 original fireplace surrounds, flanked by a 2 story esplanade that spans the back of the home give it a resort like feel. The kitchen encompasses everything an aspiring home chef would need, with premium appliances and a silver service room. The primary suite includes a luxurious spa with dual vanities, walk in closets, and a soaking tub. The main level boasts 2 guest suites. Every imaginable amenity can be found on the lower level. Highlights include a wine cellar and a theater. Manicured grounds complete with pool, spa and outdoor living make this home truly magnificent.
DAVID G. OLIVER
david@wyattpoindexter.com 405-532-3800 LUXI E R E 81
6716 ROYALE CT | THE LEGACY AT OAK TREE | $899,900 Luxurious, maintenance free living in The Legacy at Oak Tree! This chic, spacious home offers an outdoor living space almost as fantastic as the open concept family room. First class design elements, fabulous fixtures, handsome hardware, and more! With 2 bedrooms up and 2 bedrooms down, everyone has their stylish space. Call for a private tour before it’s gone!
SOLD!
$1,500,000 | 6300 OAK TREE CIR Stunning Mediterranean-style home on double lot with stunning views of Oak Tree National.
SOLD!
$995,000 | 6709 ROYALE CT This modern home in The Legacy at Oak Tree is the dream home you’ve always wanted.
SOLD!
SOLD!
$1,000,000 | 6708 OAK VIEW This entertainer’s dream home located on the 13th fairway of Oak Tree’s East Course sold in 2021!
SOLD!
$1,895,000 | 6501 OAK TREE One of Edmond’s most iconic residences with stunning, expansive views of Oak Tree National from the incredible backyard.
SOLD!
$765,000 | 5613 OAK TREE RD This unbelievable makeover overlooking the 11th green of Oak Tree National was sold in 2021!
$700,000 | 4509 ROUND UP RD Truly amazing home in Iron Horse Ranch and thoughtfully custom built and lovingly maintained.
LIST E D BY:
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Brad Reeser Real Estate Team 405-990-8262 BradReeser.com 10 E. Campbell | Edmond, OK
WELCOME TO
FOREST CREEK
1 TO 2+ ACRE LOTS 15 ACRE NATURE PRESERVE
| |
GATED COMMUNITY EAST OF I-35
|
EDMOND, OK
The natural beauty of Forest Creek Estates will inspire you to dream big. This environmentally friendly, gated community, with its 5-acre lake, 15-acre nature preserve and acreage lots, is designed for people who wish to create a distinctive home.
forestcreekedmond.com
Wyatt Poindexter, Keller Williams Elite 405-417-5466 OKLuxuryHomes.com 5629 N. Classen Blvd | Oklahoma City, OK
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1904 SUMMERHAVEN WAY $1,750,000 5 BD | 6.2 BA | 7,216 SQ FT www.1904summerhaven.info 3041 ROLLING STONE RD • SOLD
6219 RIVIERA DRIVE • CONTINGENCY
$1,250,000 | 5 BD | 4.1 BA | 6,445 SQ FT
$895,000 | 5 BD | 6.2 BA | 7,793 SQ FT
www.3041rollingstone.com
www.6219riviera.info
UNDER CONTRACT
1119 NW 56TH ST
1121 NW 56TH ST • UNDER CONTRACT
$725,000 | 3 BD | 2.1 BA | 2,441 SQ FT
$650,000 | 3 BD | 2.1 BA | 2,196 SQ FT
www.splittreemeadowbrook.com
www.splittreemeadowbrook.com
#1 INDIVIDUAL LUXURY AGENT AT K E L L E R W I L L I A M S E L I T E S I M O N S H I N G L E TO N • 4 0 5 .6 3 3. 3 6 1 1 • 4 0 5 H O U S E A N D H O M E .C O M
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Love Your Listing. Jennifer Kragh’s listing and marketing expertise is unparalleled. She brings innovation, global reach, beautiful staging, magazine-quality images and writing and a multi-platform marketing strategy to each client. Her know-how and meticulous client care are backed by the power of Sotheby’s International Realty and buoyed by her powerful marketing acumen. Nothing compares.
Jennifer Kragh © MMXX Sotheby’s International Realty Aff iliates LLC. All Rights Reserved. Sotheby’s International Realty Aff iliates LLC fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Each Off ice is Independently Owned and Operated. Sotheby’s International Realty and the Sotheby’s International Realty logo are registered (or unregistered) service marks licensed to Sotheby’s International Realty Aff iliates LLC.
405.274.6767 Jennifer.Kragh@SothebysRealty.com jenniferkragh.sagesir.com instagram: @jenniferkraghgroup LUXI E R E 85
BRIAN HARVEY Oklahoma’s High Net Worth Insurance Expert WWW.BRIAN HARVEYOKC .COM
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Aviation Insurance Watercraft/Yachts Collections (Jewelry, Watches, Fine Art, Wine, Furs, Music & Sports Memorabilia) 86 LUXI E R E
13100 N. Western, Ste. 115, Oklahoma City, OK 73114 Office: 405.863.9842 | Mobile: 405.397.3823 brian.harvey@hubinternational.com www.brianharveyokc.com
CHRIS GEORGE HOMES
CHURCHILL BROWN - CHINOWTH AND COHEN
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T O S C H E D U L E A P R I VAT E S H O W I N G | C H R I S G E O R G E ( 4 0 5 ) 6 2 7 - 0 8 0 1
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Oklahoma City’s Commercial Landscaping Experts
Native plants, modern, sustainable, low maintenance, eco-friendly, landscape and hardscape www.ecolandscapesok.com | 405.259.1665
Never worry about your Sprinkler System again. Using cutting edge technology and products, Conserva Irrigation is the leader in ensuring that your sprinkler system delivers precisely the right amount of water at the right times, based on what your property needs.
www.conservairrigation.com | 405.259.1648
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400 DEEP FORK CIR CL E | A R CA D IA, O K 73007 $5,950,000 | 7 B ED | 8.5 B AT H | 12,020 SQ F T
E X P E R I ENCE O KL AHOMA’S PRE MIE R LUXU RY LI S TI N G in the scenic landscapes of Sugar Hill. This contemporary estate features a breathtaking main living area with a cathedral ceiling and view that nods to traditional mountain architecture. Then boasts a stunning chef kitchen with oversized marble island, commercial appliances and upscale dining areas. Each room offers an array of touches and for a unique experience. The main suite dons a see-through fireplace, garden room, celebrity style closets, heated bathroom marble floors and steam shower. An ingeniously smart Control 4 system provides whole-home automation. Entertaining? THX Theater Room. Entertainment suite and bar. Elevator to cavernous basement and wine cellar. Resort infinity pool. Any number of patios with seamless indoor-outdoor transitions and fire features. Don’t forget
TY BURNETT
Broker Associate, REALTOR® 405.641.4624 ty@525realtygroup.com 400DeepForkCircle.com
the guest home or cabana with home gym. Short distance from paved Lake Arcadia trails. With endless detail and style, this is the ultimate luxury living experience.
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1511 NW 16th Street $599,000 | 3 beds | 2.5 baths | 2,272 sq ft Beautifully restored 1914 bungalow located in the heart of the vibrant Plaza District
etatsE laeR amohalkO no kooltuO weN A
,scitanaf strops ,elpoep god ,stsitra ,sigoy ,srevol gnihty reve t farc dna ,eniw ,srelevart ,seidoof era stnega M+W htiw syadrutaS ,sruoh lla ta cisum evil ,oitap ynnus a no sknird noonret fa evol eW .srerednaw dna ,sreenoip retteb ot su wolla snoissap dna stseretni euqinu ruO .pU rednuhT ot rehtegot emoc lla ew dna sdneirf dna ylimaf .yaw eniuneg dna ,elbagdelwonk ,citnehtua na ni meht ev res ot dna – sdeen deirav ’stneilc ruo dnatsrednu
MARY HATCH, BROKER + REALTOR®
moc.koniamdnatsew@olleh | 8700-256-504 | koniamdnatsew@
mary@westandmainok.com 405.573.9100
moc.koniamdnatsew 90 LUXI E R E
0 5 . 0 7 . 2 1 J a s o n
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A R T A T
T H E
M A R K E T Sponsored by
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Prairie A rtisan A les + Balance.Yoga. Barre 3
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WESTandMAINOK.COM
A New Outlook on Oklahoma Real Estate
W+M agents are foodies, travelers, wine, and craft everything lovers, yogis, artists, dog people, sports fanatics, pioneers, and wanderers. We love afternoon drinks on a sunny patio, live music at all hours, Saturdays with family and friends and we all come together to Thunder Up. Our unique interests and passions allow us to better understand our clients’ varied needs – and to serve them in an authentic, knowledgable, and genuine way.
@westandmainok | 405-652-0078 | hello@westandmainok.com westandmainok.com LUXI E R E 91
A tradition of excellence for three generations.
3121 S AIR DEPOT BLVD | $2,350,000 Edmond, OK 73013 | 5 bed | 8 bath | 6,395 SF | 5 Acres
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LD
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1711 CAMDEN WAY | $1,020,000 Nichols Hills, OK 73116 | 5 bed | 4.5 bath | 5,093 SF
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131 N PARK AVENUE #30 Oklahoma City, OK 73102 3 Bed | 3 Bath | 4,576 SF | $1,830,000
1010 N SAINT ANDREWS DRIVE Edmond, OK 73025 5 Bed | 3.1 Bath | 4,347 SF | $615,000
3113 N CANYON ROAD Oklahoma City, OK 73120 4 Bed | 3.2 Bath | 3,951 SF | $955,000
11416 RED ROCK ROAD Oklahoma City, OK 73120 3 Bed | 2 Bath | 2,841 SF | $469,000
3700 OAKDALE FOREST ROAD Edmond, OK 73025 5 Bed | 3.2 Bath | 5,161 SF | $650,000
15804 ROCKWELL PARK LANE Edmond, OK 73013 3 Bed | 2 Bath | 1,989 SF | $345,000
PHILIP CHURCHILL, GRI, CRS Churchill-Brown - Chinowth & Cohen Realtors www.philipchurchill.com | philip@churchillbrown.com Office: 405.755.4422 | Cell: 405.250.1281 | 1901 W. 33rd St, Suite 100 92 LUXI E R E
W E B U I L D P R E T T Y
roofs
"We love using our creative talent, experience and knowledge to build the most beautiful, sustainable roofs possible." - Paul Goodman
residential and commercial goodmanconstructionok.com 405.720.7663 LUXI E R E 93
Visit Selah
Tower Homes {prlvauily tucked 1hrougho1.11 Phuo IA gr.,.,napaco)
Sweetwater Village Homes
Each village offers its own unique character and set of experiences within, including various architectural styles and lot sizes to flow effortlessly with the natural landscape backdrop.
Selah is a new urbanism development located just 10 minutes south of historic downtown Norman. Off ering 540-acres of front porch living, fresh air, and fresh food, Selah focuses on reconnecting family and neighbors. This walkable community is set among acres of over 50% preserved green space (compared to only 15% national average) with miles of nature trails that will connect homes and restaurants with arts and businesses. The Selah vision is unlike any of it's kind in Oklahoma, providing a large range of authentic experiences, both in terms of lifestyle choice but also everyday interaction. For this very reason, Selah has been welcomed as 1 of only 13 Southern Living Inspired Communities™ in the United States, making it the first and only one in Oklahoma. The SelahRealty Realtyteam team The Selah is the exclusive, theisexclusive, in-house, go-to-source for all in-house, go-to-source things for for all Selah. thingsCall Selah. a personalized tour Call for a personalized tourappointment. a ointment.
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Mollie Gatto Director of Sales
405.426.0895 mollie@swhok.com
NW 72nd & N Classen Blvd, East of Nichols Hills WilshirePoint.com
MODERN URBAN LIVING Single Family Custom Homes from 3,000 SF & Up Garden Offices from 3,000 SF & Up Executive Garage Condos Walking Trails, Ponds, Fountains, Parks FALL 2022 “74” Full Service Restaurant Scheduled to Open PLANNED Upscale Condos and/or Apartments
PRE-CONSTRUCTION NOW! Call David Bohanon for Details (405) 850.0987
DAV ID B OH ANON JD, DE V E LOP E R - B R O K E R | 4 0 5 . 8 5 0.0 9 87 DB OH ANO N @ B LAC KSTO N E CO M .CO M LUXI E R E 95
SERVICE & CLASS. Sara Knudsen • Advisor/Broker Associate 405-408-8480 · sara.knudsen@evrealestate.com Follow on IG @sara.knudsen.ok Certifications and Designations: Certified Probate Real Estate Specialist Accredited Buyer’s Representative® Seller Representative Specialist At Home with Diversity® e-Pro® - Technology in Real Estate Military Relocation Professional Pricing Strategy Advisor Seniors Real Estate Specialist® Resort and Second-Home Property Specialist Supreme Auctions Certified Auction Agent Residential Real Estate Council Luxury Homes Certification Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist™ RRC Inside Sales Agent Graduate, REALTOR® Institute
ENGEL&VÖLKERS
®
SARA KNUDSEN
©2019 Engel & Völkers. All rights reserved. Each brokerage independently owned and operated. Engel & Völkers and its independent License Partners are Equal Opportunity Employers and fully support the principles of the Fair Housing Act.
LOCAL EXPERTISE.
$700,000 | SOLD
1103 Saint Andrews Dr | Oak Tree | 3 bed | 4.5 bath | 4,773 SQ FT Lisa Hashemi • Advisor Engel & Völkers Edmond 100 S. Broadway Ste 100 405-503-7522 lisa.hashemi@evrealestate.com
ENGEL&VÖLKERS
®
LISA HASHEMI
Call for price
5832 Oliver Ct | Gaillardia Promenade | 3 bed | 3.5 bath | 3,132 SQ FT Laney Martin • Advisor Engel & Volkers Oklahoma City 1138 N Robinson Avenue 405-823-4895 laney.martin@evrealestate.com
ENGEL&VÖLKERS
®
LANEY MARTIN
©2020 Engel & Völkers. All rights reserved. Each brokerage independently owned and operated. Engel & Völkers and its independent License Partners are Equal Opportunity Employers and fully support the principles of the Fair Housing Act.
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BRINGING LUXURY HOME 4 7 1 1 D E E R F I E L D D R I V E , S T I L LW AT E R 5BD | 6BA | 9,676 SQ FT | $4,100,000 Nestled among 63 acres of lush greenery, Deerfield Retreat offers an unparalleled opportunity for the ultimate luxury of a private enclave or, conversely, a world-class development venture. The compound boasts a palatial residence at its heart, complete with handcrafted finishes and bespoke details. Rolling acreage surrounding the home hosts a variety of wildlife & several stocked ponds. Hike, fish, camp, or watch the sunrise & sunset from your own personal paradise.
2 3 0 8 N W 5 8 T H S T, O K L A H O M A C I T Y
1 9 3 3 N W 5 6 T H S T, O K L A H O M A C I T Y
3BD | 3BA | 3,033 SQ FT | $600,000 | PENDING
3BD | 2.5BA | 2,065 SQ FT | $425,000 | PENDING
There is only one real estate advisor to contact when you decide to make your move. Britta Thrift leverages her knowledge and training to negotiate winning deals for all of her clients, closely reflecting their personal goals and passions. With numerous designations to her name, Britta Thrift combines her decade of experience with an approachable but straightforward communication style to create an exclusive and rewarding experience for her clients. H O W W I L L Y O U D E F I N E Y O U R L U X U RY ?
Britta McAfee Thrift, JD • Advisor 405-821-2313 • Follow me @britta.at.ev 1138 N Robinson Ave • Oklahoma City, OK 73103 britta.thrift@evrealestate.com • brittathrift.evrealestate.com
ENGEL&VÖLKERS
®
BRITTA ELITE TEAM
©2022 Engel & Völkers. All rights reserved. Each brokerage independently owned and operated. Engel & Völkers and its independent License Partners are Equal Opportunity Employers and fully support the principles of the Fair Housing Act.
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“Creating timeless custom home plans for over 35 years.”
Find us on Instagram @brentgibsondesign @nicolerickeydesigns
415 West 15th Street, Ste. 1 • Edmond, OK 73013 405.340.1980 • www.brentgibson.com
FOR THE DISCRIMINATING BUYER C AREFREE, LUXURY LIVING IN THE HEART OF OKC!
360 AT FOUNDERS PLAZA
AVAILABLE UNITS
• • • • •
Unit #54 | $396,000 2 bed | 2.5 bath | 1,617 sq ft
Unit #143 | $230,400 1 bed | 1.5 bath | 1,152 sq ft
Unit #73 | $230,400 1 bed | 1.5 bath | 1,152 sq ft
Unit #153 | $299,000 1 bed | 1.5 bath | 1,304 sq ft
Stunning Architecture Panoramic views 24 hour concierge service High level of security Amenities include: indoor saltwater pool & spa, outdoor saltwater pool & kitchen, full fitness center w/state of the art equipment, recreation room.
Unit #81 | $269,600 1 bed | 1.5 bath | 1,348 sq ft
Photo by Dark Room Media, Staging by Live Boho Staging
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Janet Helms • Advisor 100 S. Broadway Ste 100 Edmond, OK 73034 405-921-0572 janet.helms@evrealestate.com
ENGEL&VÖLKERS
®
JANET HELMS
Providing “Extra”ordinary Service ©2020 Engel & Völkers. All rights reserved. Each brokerage independently owned and operated. Engel & Völkers and its independent License Partners are Equal Opportunity Employers and fully support the principles of the Fair Housing Act.
LUXURY LIVING IN NICHOLS HILLS Cumberland Court is an exclusive, upscale, guard gated-community located in the heart of Oklahoma City just north of the intersection of Western and 63rd Street in Nichols Hills.
LOTS - PENDING
LOTS - AVAILABLE ($450,000)
HOMES - AVAILABLE
1101 CUMBERLAND CT
1109 CUMBERLAND CT
1114 CUMBERLAND CT (PENDING)
1103 CUMBERLAND CT
1116 CUMBERLAND CT
1111 CUMBERLAND CT (COMING SOON)
1117 CUMBERLAND CT
Charli Bullard Engel & Völkers Oklahoma City 1138 N Robinson Ave Oklahoma City, OK 73103 405-414-6215 · charli.bullard@evrealestate.com 99 LUXI E R E
ENGEL&VÖLKERS
®
CHARLI BULLARD
©2019 Engel & Völkers. All rights reserved. Each brokerage independently owned and operated. Engel & Völkers and its independent License Partners are Equal Opportunity Employers and fully support the principles of the Fair Housing Act.
2 0 0 2 S U M M E R H AV E N W AY | 5 B D | 5 . 5 B A | 7 , 0 1 4 S Q F T | $ 2 , 1 5 0 , 0 0 0 Inspired by a French home in the woods, “Maison de Bois” will captivate you from the moment you encounter this stunning property. Set atop a wooded hill with a green belt behind it, this private retreat awaits. Pass through the front door, an imported piece from the 1800’s, to enter an estate built with centuries of relics woven into its structure. Historic columns with incredible detail surround the stately yet welcoming dining room. Fireplaces throughout the home provide lovely places to reflect and recharge.
Joy Baresel • President/Owner Engel & Völkers Oklahoma City & Edmond Private Office Real Estate Advisor +1 405-826-7465 joy.baresel@evrealestate.com www.joybaresel@evrealestate.com Follow on instagram: @joybaresel
ENGEL&VÖLKERS
®
JOY BARESEL
©2019 Engel & Völkers. All rights reserved. Each brokerage independently owned and operated. Engel & Völkers and its independent License Partners are Equal Opportunity Employers and fully support the principles of the Fair Housing Act.
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L U X U RY & H I S T O R I C S P E C I A L I S T
Joy Baresel • President/Owner Engel & Völkers Oklahoma City & Edmond Private Office Real Estate Advisor +1 405-826-7465 joy.baresel@evrealestate.com www.joybaresel@evrealestate.com Follow on instagram: @joybaresel
ENGEL&VÖLKERS
®
JOY BARESEL
©2019 Engel & Völkers. All rights reserved. Each brokerage independently owned and operated. Engel & Völkers and its independent License Partners are Equal Opportunity Employers and fully support the principles of the Fair Housing Act.
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