Hip & in Harmony

Featured prominently in the media room of this gorgeously eclectic, multi-million-dollar Austin home is a sequence of black-and-white photos taken in 1974 by renowned photographer Norman Seeff. Depicting Steve Martin in five whacky poses, this 7-foot-long retro art piece, titled “Let’s Get Small,” captures the SNL alum clowning around early in his career. This collector’s item does much more than provoke smiles; it represents the essence of the entire house: playful and eccentric.

“The house is magical,” says Fern Santini, the interior designer who took an intentional but nonetheless risky leap of faith (she mortgaged her bungalow office building to afford it) to create the one-of-a-kind, 7,000-square-foot spec home. Operating as the Fern Santini Collaborative, she partnered with her sister and a highly talented team of architects, builders, and artisans who shared their vision. Leading this 18-person team were architect Paul Lamb and contractor the Escobedo Group, frequent collaborators of Santini’s. 

Designing for the first time without a client in mind, Santini was delighted to have carte blanche to “do whatever I wanted to.” Along with the Steve Martin photo portrait in the media room, a custom gold wall-to-wall sofa, and dyed cowhide rugs by Kyle Bunting on the walls create a sumptuous but welcoming first-floor space, finished off with floor pillows, silk velvet draperies, and an antique rug. “I think people are starving for something different, something personal, and something that has soul,” says Santini. She adds that she loves “mixing historical references in a tongue-in-cheek way and juxtaposing the precious and nonprecious.”

As much as Austin native Santini relished her artistic freedom, she was also grateful for the opportunity to combine her professional experience with supporting a cause dear to her heart: the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians, or HAAM.

“I was trying to show people that there can be a for-profit project with a nonprofit component next to it,” explains Santini, whose other main goal was to create what is all too often an anomaly—a beautiful spec house with integrity. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the home, which was purchased immediately, were donated to HAAM, a nonprofit that provides access to affordable healthcare for Austin’s low-income, working musicians with a focus on prevention and wellness. 

In a nod to HAAM, Santini took Austin’s musical soul as her inspiration. Nearly every room of the three-level house features a unique art- or music-themed element. Oftentimes, art and music overlap, as in a collection of signed photographs amassed over three years portraying music legends including Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Mick Jagger, and Dolly Parton. Instead of being concealed, McIntosh audio equipment, new but with a retro look, becomes part of the décor. The house’s layout also celebrates music, with a great room that allows large groups to gather for performances and a double-ellipse brass and steel staircase connected by a catwalk that doubles as a stage.

“Using pieces that are functional art—a sculptural chair or an avant-garde light fixture, something unexpected that makes rooms come alive—feeds my soul,” says Santini. 

“The kitchen, too, has its share of drama, with backless cabinets hanging on a vast wall of marble and stools covered in faux python. Noticeably absent is a range hood. In its place, an exhaust system was installed behind the Wolf 60” Professional Dual Fuel Range. There’s a custom paneled Cove Dishwasher, but it’s the pair of Sub-Zero 36” Over-Under Refrigerators that Santini swoons over. “I’m in love, love, love with Sub-Zero column refrigerators,” says the designer. “They look like cabinetry, there’s no trim, they’re higher, the proportions are better, you don’t see a vent, and I can put my jewelry cabinet hardware on the panels, and they look amazing.”

Santini asserts that no matter how big your house is, “everybody congregates in the kitchen.” For this reason, she says, she designed the central hub as she would a living room, an entertaining space with a mantel clock, artwork, and wallpaper. It’s an appealing area to mingle in also because there’s a second kitchen where most of the food prep and cooking is done and which houses several more Sub-Zero, Wolf, and Cove appliances, including a Wolf 30” M Series Transitional Convection Steam Oven and Sub-Zero Integrated Wine Storage. “Wolf and Sub-Zero are the appliances that I love, and they’re workhorses,” says Santini, who also used the top-tier appliances in the media room, the bar, and the outdoor kitchen.

Beyond the second level of the house, where the primary suite and guest bedrooms are located, rooms on the third floor continue to express the designer’s vivid imagination. Historic rock and roll photographs sourced from all over the world enliven the walls of the third-level bar/library/media room. The first item Santini bought for the house was a 1965 photograph of Bob Dylan by celebrity photographer Jerry Schatzberg. “Dylan is kind of the muse for the house,” says Santini, who—because it worked—can now see the humor in spending way more money up front on these priceless photographs instead of furniture.

And just when you think you’ve seen it all comes the ne plus ultra of what Santini calls her “hip and historic” style: a center panel behind the desk in the library opens to reveal a powder room whose walls are papered in a blown-up digital file of Amalie R. Rothschild’s famous photo of the crowd at Woodstock.

“The best houses are layered in detail and unfold themselves day after day,” says Santini. “This one’s got attitude!”