St. Cecilia

The brief was three words: dark, moody, sexy. Tom Ford was the reference. The work was to make it inevitable. One of seven private residences at St. Cecilia Residences on South Congress, designed by Lake/Flato Architects and adjacent to the MICHELIN Key-awarded Hotel Saint Cecilia. The clients came in with a vivid point of view and no interest in compromise. Small space. Total commitment. Porter Teleo hand-painted wallpaper wraps the living room and bedroom, the pattern alive as Austin light moves through the day. Dark wood paneling meets you in the entry. French oak floors carry the mood through every room. Carolyn Ray hand-painted the sheer drapes for this project specifically. They soften the windows without lifting the atmosphere. The bedroom is anchored by a Jiun Ho bed and chandelier, conceived as a single gesture. Elsewhere, hand-blown glass by Jeremy Maxwell Wintrebert brings the same logic: craft chosen because it holds the mood, not because it fills a room. When you walk in, you breathe deeper. That is the only metric that matters.