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HOME style HOME style Fort Worth Business Press MAY 2008 Building tradition Architect Ames Fender follows in his grand- father’s footsteps Fairy tale night Cystic Fibrosis Foundation hosts Once Upon a Terrace Hollywood design David Carpenter continues to hit the right notes in Fort Worth Serene summer living Possum Kingdom Lake offers an elegant, natural home site

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Page 1: Fort Worth Business Press - Homestyle

HOMEstyleHOMEstyleF o r t W o r t h B u s i n e s s P r e s s

MAY 2008

Building traditionArchitect Ames Fender follows in his grand-father’s footsteps

Fairy tale nightCystic Fibrosis Foundation hosts Once Upon a Terrace

Hollywood designDavid Carpenter continues to hit the right notes in Fort Worth

Serene summer livingPossum Kingdom Lake offers an elegant, natural home site

Page 2: Fort Worth Business Press - Homestyle

812 Main Street • Fort Worth, Texas817.877.3999

Offering Legendary Steaks and…

Page 3: Fort Worth Business Press - Homestyle

May 2008 | HOMEstyle | 3

Insi

de

In synch with heritage6 | Architect Ames FenderBy Ken Parish Perkins

Designer David Carpenter rocks the house8 | By Betty Dillard

The Cellar11 | 100-point scale for wines — good or bad?By Renie & Sterling Steves

Courtyard on the Bluff at 7-R Ranch12 | A vision of escape and serenity

Once Upon a Terrace14 | Event hits elegant notes

Designing woman17 | Entrepreneur Stacie Stewart By Betty Dillard

Fine jewelry19 | The Six C’s of diamond-buyingBy David D’Aquin

Fossil Rim20 | An out of Africa safari in the hills of TexasBy Betty Dillard

New development22 | The Harbor on Possum Kingdom Lake

Tom Hollenback24 | Space-bending sculptures

Lone Star Library25 | Texas books and music in review

26 | Gadgetry! Décor! Innovations!

May 2008

Index of AdvertisersArtful Hand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16Cliburn Concerts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5Del Frisco’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Dorian’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8The Harbor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28Jerry’s GM Dealerships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7Justin Boots Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27Montserrat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19So7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16Stone Distribution Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

PUBLISHERBanks Dishman

CHAIRMAN, ADVISORY BOARD

Richard L. Connor

EDITORIAL

EditorRobert Francis

Associate EditorMichael H. Price

Managing EditorCrystal Forester

ContributorsDavid D’Aquin, Betty Dillard,

Ken Parish Perkins, Renie and Sterling Steves

PRODUCTION & ART DIRECTION

Brent LatimerClayton Gardner

ADVERTISING

Advertising ExecutivesAndrea Benford

Elizabeth NorthernMary Schlegel

Robert SoutherlandAnnie Warren

Sales DirectorAnjanette Hamilton

National SalesMaureen Hathaway

248-496-7490

Vice President of OperationsShevoyd Hamilton

Marketing & EventsMary Lou Jacobs

ReceptionMaggie Franklin

HOMEstyleis a publication of the

Fort Worth Business Press. © 2008

CONTACT US3509 Hulen St., Ste. 201

Fort Worth TX 76107817-336-8300 • 817-332-3038 (fax)

www.bizpress.net

HOMEstyle

On the cover and this page: Don and Gloria Siratt’s terrace. Photo by Jon P. Uzzel

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4 | HOMEstyle | May 2008

4600 Airport Freeway • Fort Worth, TX 76117817.546.2050 • Toll Free 1.888.817.4005

STONE DISTRIBUTION LTD

www.s tonedis t r ibu t ion .ne t

There are no patterns or man made imitationsat Stone Distribution. Stop in or call today

and let us help you find the stone that is justright for you and your home.

IMPORTERS OF GRANITE • MARBLE • TRAVERTINE

SLABS FOR COUNTERTOPS

TILE FOR THE FLOOR

PAVERS FOR PATIOOR DRIVEWAY

f pring-into-summer brings not only a rediscovery

of the comforts and finer possibilities of one’s

home — but also opportunities to compare notes

with some of the city’s more gracious neighbor-

hoods. No sooner has the Cystic Fibrosis

Foundation’s Once Upon a Terrace fund-raiser

(see photo essay, within these pages) run its course

in the Montserrat enclave, than Historic Fort

Worth Inc. prepares to launch its Hidden

Gardens of Fort Worth Tour in the historic

Crestwood area.

The Hidden Gardens dates are May 31 (9 a.m. to

3 p.m.) and June 1 (noon to 4 p.m.). Crestwood,

vividly expressive of its WWII-era surge of develop-

ment, mirrors the rolling terrain of the West Fork of

the Trinity in the very contours of its streets. Many houses convey Tudor

and Colonial influences. Others look ahead to the proto-Ranch style of

Minimal Traditionalism — a fascinating neighborhood, made all the more

so by the presence of trees that had taken root well before the initial sur-

veys of 1941-1942. Some construction began before the actual platting,

anticipating a harmony of design that has prevailed for more than 70

years. Tour admission ($15-$20) will be available on

the Web at www.historicfortworth.org.

On a more old-fashioned front of HomeStyle tra-

dition, the Texas Department of Agriculture has

set a June 5 deadline for entries in a quilting compe-

tition. (The event will call attention, as well, to Texas’

$1 billion-a-year winemaking industry.) Contestants

will use Texas-bred fibers — cotton, mohair and

leather — to create quilt-block designs. The

Denton-based designer-quilter team of Terri Vogds

and Johanna Iaia will piece together the winning

entries for unveiling at September’s State Fair. The

$12 quilting-materials packets can be obtained with

a telephone call to 877-994-6839. Entry forms are

available on the Web at www.gotexan.org.

This issue of the Business Press’ HomeStyle magazine, meanwhile, offers

the customary concentration of gracious-living stories. Ken Parish

Perkins visits with architect Ames Fender. Guest columnist David

D’Aquin weighs in with a survey of the jewelry market.

All this — and a good deal more. Welcome home, as usual.

– Michael H. Price

A HomeStyle tour

FROMtheEDITOR

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6 | HOMEstyle | May 2008

Architect Ames Fender is in synch with ancestors’ legacy

Family Tradition

TBy Ken Parish PerkinsPhoto by Jon P. Uzzel

rchitecture works best when dipped deep and stirred inhistorical context — perhaps as any art of significance does.Such conditions can sometimes describe the architect whodesigns a property, as well.

Construction is buzzing on Villa de Leon, a luxuriousEuropean villa-style development that already possesses asense of legendary acclaim — and not simply because theprice-tag on a condominium there could fetch up to $1 mil-lion and change. The property is named after the Spanishexplorer Alonzo de Leon, who often is credited as the firstEuropean to lay eyes on the Trinity River, in 1690.

Villa de Leon’s chief designer, Ames Fender, represents afamily legacy that stretches back over a considerable spanin Fort Worth. His father, Howard Fender, was a respectedappellate court judge and Tarrant County district attorney.And Howard’s father, James E. Fender, presided over AcmeBrick, the nation’s largest brick manufacturer.

Then there’s Fender’s maternal grandfather, Wyatt C.Hendrick, who produced buildings in a range of historicaland modernistic styles, from Will Rogers Memorial Centerto the Medical Arts Building and the Lone Star GasBuilding. From the 1920s through the 1950s, Hendrick oper-ated one of the largest architectural firms in the country.

“It’s sometimes overwhelming to see what all he accom-plished,” Fender says of his grandfather. “That looms overme … well, not really looms. It’s just there as a goal. I’d liketo achieve some portion of that level of success.”

It’s not a bad start. The Modern at Sundance Square, thetechnology-wing addition at Trimble Technical High Schooland the fitness center at River Crest Country Club areFender designs that have attracted notice. The Villa de Leonis so front-and-center that it may prove to be Fender’s pro-fessional stamp.

Villa de Leon will stand six stories, with 23 high-endcondo units taking up, in all, about 65,000 square feet. Withits cast stone and brick, and slate roof, it will be a center-piece of Trinity Uptown and the beginning of a center cityhousing market that could very well transform that part ofthe city.

A graduate of Georgia Institute of Technology andHarvard University, where he secured a master’s degree inarchitecture, Fender started his own firm at 30 and recentlymoved his staff of three architects into what he characterizesas “funky” new offices at Magnolia and Fifth avenues.

So surrounded by success was Fender, it is hardly sur-prising to learn he was drafting by the eighth grade andworked steadily through his high-school and college years.

Fender has a knack, and a love, for urban design. Theinterests made him an easy choice for developer Tom Struhs,who heads the team pushing this revitalization of TrinityBluff, one of the city’s first neighborhoods. Fender hadworked on a similarly high-profile residential project inBoston while just out of Harvard, having persuaded hisbosses to hand him the reins after the project manager bolt-ed for another team. Never mind his tender age of 25.

They gave him the job, though not the title. He certainlycut his teeth there, with union construction crews wonderedif he could hack it.

“I guess being 6-foot-7 and bald helped,” Fender says.“But they found out that I knew what I was talking about —

or at least knew where to look in a set of drawings.”Fender would return to Texas with his wife, attorney

Sarah Hall, in 1988 and set up shop here. Since then, he hasbecome known as an astute student of both old-school and new-school architecture, having been influenced by pro-fessors and professionals who challenged him to movebeyond the traditional, and often safe, ways of thinking ofarchitecture.

“We’re not an egocentric practice here,” Fender says. “Wefind out what a client’s needs are and deliver a design thatresponds to those needs.”

And that is part of the dilemma architects often face: giv-ing clients what they want while trying to push the enve-lope with something new and different.

“It may make me feel great to always design somethingdifferent, to try new things,” Fender says. “But I’m not theone paying for services to build it or live in it after the archi-tect has gone away.

“You have to balance that desire to teach someone anoth-er way with what needs to be done, versus satisfying themand knowing they will be happy once it’s all said anddone.” HS

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May 2008 | HOMEstyle | 9

DESIGNpro

By Betty DillardPhotos by Glen E. Ellman

Fort Worth designer rocks the house with lasting impressions

eoom by room, David Carpenter isdesigning his way across the LoneStar State. From contemporary totraditional to transitional, hissought-after orchestrations pop in aharmonious blend of crisp, cleanlines, warmth and timeless beauty.

His signature style – “I try tothink outside the box,” he says – isinspired by his clients’ dreams andneeds. Clients who go to Carpenterexpect their surroundings to be sur-prising and entertaining. When itcomes time for the reveal, customersare rarely disappointed.

Backed by degrees and trainingin the arts and interior design andby a repertoire that includes customfurniture, accessories, artwork andwindow treatments, Carpenter sayshe succeeds because he listens to hisclients.

“The challenge with any designeris to implement new ideas but at thesame time feel the heartbeat of theclient,” he says. “It’s my job as adesigner to pull out not only whattheir needs are but also what theirdesires are and then somehow givethem all of that without it lookinglike a designer did it.

“When people come to yourhome, I don’t want them to say, ‘Ohmy gosh! You must have had anincredible designer.’ I don’t wantthat,” he adds. “I want them to say,‘Wow, this looks just like you.’ Thatto me is the greatest compliment.”

Since founding his own designcompany in 1991, Carpenter hasseen his client list explode with TVpersonalities, professional athletesand high-profile businesspeople,whose interiors range from a scaled-down but upscale pied-a-terre tocastle-sized homes of 10,000 squarefeet and larger.

Star power

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Carpenter’s commercial-design calling card is showcased in the Dallasand Arlington branch offices of Capital Title Co.; Haddock Law Firm LLPand Investments in Fort Worth; the offices of Linebarger, Goggan, Blair andSampson LLP in the newly-redesigned Two City Place; national and bou-tique hotels, including the recently transformed Sheraton Fort Worth Hoteland Spa; and Cowtown’s Ashton Hotel, where Carpenter – also a profes-sional pianist and singer – performed every weekend for the past fiveyears.

Now the 43-year-old Texas native is spreading his design style toHollywood.

His current West Coast project – the restoration and redesign of the his-toric Santa Monica Community Church in Santa Monica, Calif. – caughtthe eye of some executives at HGTV. A film crew is documentingCarpenter, step-by-step, for a 2009 premiere of a design show called Ragsto Riches. As host, Carpenter will highlight commercial designs throughoutCalifornia and, he hopes, across America.

“It’s a twist on Extreme Makeover but will affect the whole community,not just one family,” he explains.

Carpenter is three months into the project, and says, “I’m absolutely lov-ing it. I’ve never had so much fun. But I’m not going Hollywood, eventhough they highlighted my hair and sent me to a tanning salon. That’sjust show biz. Don’t worry. I’m going to stay in Fort Worth because there’sno better place to be. I could live anywhere, but Fort Worth is my home.”

With a current caseload of 21 clients, including a once-a-month dash toLos Angeles, Carpenter barely has time to take a breath. But he isn’t com-plaining.

“When you’re passionate about something, you just have to dive in anddo it. I’ve found my passion. I love what I do,” Carpenter says. “Someoneonce told me if you love what you do you’ll never go to work a day inyour life. I never go to work,” he laughs. “I feel so blessed.” HS

Carpenter recently redesigned an East Texas lake house for Dr. Karry Barnes and his wife,Marian. During the past 15 years, he’s designed both their primary and secondaryhomes.“He’s the greatest there is,” Marian Barnes said. “I’ve worked with a lot of designers overthe years. He’s the only one who will talk to you and find out your desires, what youreally need and what should be kept. So many designers have tunnel vision and want todo what they want to do. David listens. He figures out your personality and listens towhat you like and want. Not everyone has an eye for design. David really has a God-given talent.”

Bottom two photos by Tom Thompson

10 | HOMEstyle | May 2008

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THEcellar

\By Renie & Sterling Steves

f you buy wines based on the 100-point scale used by Robert Parker inThe Wine Advocate and by Wine Spectator, then you have a lot of company —the practice is not unusual.

But should this system be the standard offered to the consumer? If a wineis rated 90 or above on the 100-point scale, consumers rush to buy it and thewinery runs out of that wine overnight.

Ask yourself if there is a difference between one wine that rates 89 andanother that rates 90. Can anyone you know tell the difference in one, two,three or four points on the 100-point scale? We suspect the French thoughtthe system up to market their high-priced wines.

Buying wine should be based on quality, your palate, and your likes anddislikes. There is nothing like the personal-touch sell of your favorite winemerchant, rather than the number given by some guru.

Our palate for wine was quite different 20 years ago. It has been trainedwith time, exercise and exposure. Most of us start out with the sweeterwines, such as German rieslings. With time, our palates become drier. Thewhole concept of wine and food as complements to each other has changedthe way we approach wine. A big, tannic, chewy red is not the match forchicken salad.

Several years ago, we visited a premier Burgundy winery to barrel-taste inthe cellar with the winemaker. He remarked that Robert Parker had beenthere the previous morning: “Mr. Parker came alone, tasted over 200 winesbefore noon and was gone.” Tasting that many wines so quickly has to be thebreakfast of champions.

Buying wine by such an arbitrary scale is self-deception. It is analogous tothose restaurant customers who want to order a well-known, expensive winesuch as Screaming Eagle to impress their guests. They choose a cult label thatmay or may not be of a high caliber. Prices do not necessarily equate withquality. Wine snobbery still exists, but we encourage readers to enjoy winewith hamburgers, Mexican food, barbecue, Thai salads and sushi — on aneveryday basis.

With the 100-point scale, lesser-known varieties become lost. Pinot noir,cabernet sauvignon, merlot and syrah seem to be awarded higher numbersthan lesser-known red varieties such as cabernet franc, nero d’avola, shiraz,grenache or refosco. It is not often we see a high rating for a pinot grigio, asauvignon blanc, a chenin blanc, a riesling or a viognier.

Can you imagine a beer aficionado extolling the froth of a beer or thearoma, color or body of one over another? If a 100-point scale applied tobeer, how would it read? Budweiser Light, 85; Coors Light, 86; Budweiserregular, 89; Dos Equis, 84; and Pilsner Urquell, 90. Would beer drinkers care?

Other consumer goods that could be rated between one and 100 are tea,coffee, movies, restaurants, cars, jeans, shoes, music and cosmetics. Wouldthose ratings help the consumer? We doubt it.

We would rather describe what we find in a wine in such meaningful termsas color, aroma, taste, body, aftertaste and a ratio of quality-to-price. We fre-quently ask winemakers: “Is your $90 bottle of wine three times better thanyour $20 bottle?”Almost every winemaker answers,“No.”One Italian wine-maker, Sandro Boscaini said,“No,”and then added: “The grapes only cost somuch. The rest is poetry.”

If the 100-point scale were to be disregarded, how will Parker and WineSpectator market their newsletters and magazines? A waiter’s wine salesmight go up if he or she validates the characteristics of a wine instead of say-ing a newsletter guru gave it a 90. Wine shops that advertise the Parker orWine Spectator ratings might consider adding more staff training.

There are sensible alternatives to the 100-point scale. The Wall Street Journalrates wines by excellent, very good, good and ugh. A scale of A, B, C and D,or one to five stars, would be adequate. It is reasonable that the 20-pointscale is used in many wine competitions. We have never used any scale inwriting about wine — other than our enthusiasm for wines we love or con-sider a good value.

The proof is in the tasting — not in someone’s artificial standard that hasbecome a tool for marketing wines or selling magazines.

Contact the Steves at [email protected]

HS

100-point scale for wines – good or bad?

Page 12: Fort Worth Business Press - Homestyle

f tepping out of the commercial real estate development arena and into high-end custom residential property, Fort Worth-based ColTex Development Inc. haslaunched a custom-designed vacation home at 7-R Ranch in Gordon, Texas.

The developers describe Courtyard on the Bluff at 7-R Ranch as “a vision ofescape and serenity, with all the style and amenities of a designer home.” Thedesigning stages are in progress as a prelude to construction.

ColTex chiefs Linda Votaw and Steve Nichols had specific objectives in mindwhen putting together the team of design-and-development experts. The essentialelements called for:

• Contemporary architecture, incorporating a natural landscape.• Custom-designed interior and exterior spaces to promote livability.• Energy and utility efficiencies incorporated throughout.

Natural landscapeFor a striking natural landscape, ColTex chose a 1.3 acre lot at 7-R Ranch

because of its proximity to Fort Worth and Dallas, natural settings featuringpanoramic views from bluffs along the property’s edge and multiple local amenities.

Just a mile down the road at the 7-R Ranch, those amenities include a recentlycompleted $4 million recreational center with a private theater, gym, two pools,an equestrian center with boarding services and the Eagle’s Nest conservationlookout.

To capture the contemporary feel,Votaw and Nichols chose the award-winningarchitectural firm of Schwarz-Hanson for this one-of-a-kind project. Reconcilingthe functionality of a human habitat with preservation of the landscape, Schwarz-Hanson’s environmental design complements the naturally graded slope of thebluffs overlooking the lakes on 7-R Ranch in Palo Pinto County, creating a serene,balanced composition.

The new construction will rise out of the hillside with native sandstone cover-ing the exterior lower walls of the multi-level structure. With 2,842 square feet ofliving space and more than 2,550 square feet of enclosed courtyard, covered porchand balconies, the location appears an ideal place to entertain.

To create a striking contrast with the natural materials used in the exterior

Courtyard on the BA vision of escape and serenity

12 | HOMEstyle | May 2008

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e Bluff at 7-R Ranchdesign, a corrugated metal roof outlines the environmentally conservativefootprint of Courtyard on the Bluff.

Livability, enhancedCreating the entrance to Courtyard on the Bluff, a large and enclosed pri-

vate courtyard area provides a vantage for surveying the surrounding naturalbeauty. Landscape designer Bill Bibb, of Dallas’Archiverde LandscapeArchitecture, has utilized all native plants in a contemporary presentationthat complements the balance and style of Courtyard on the Bluff.

Distinguishing mark of the entrance is an elegantly designed iron gate, byEddy and Mary Phillips of Fort Worth-based Forgotten Works.

Each of the three bedrooms features access to its own oversized and cov-ered deck, with a view of the lakes and natural vistas. Access to the privatedeck off the lower-level master suite is available from both the bedroom andthe Ken Voise-designed bathroom area.

From the open floor plan of the dining and living area, a vaulted ceilingreaches upward and out over double doors to a covered deck that stretchesthe width of the 23-by-36-foot area. Floor-to-ceiling windows intensify the

proximity of natural beauty to the outside, while a warm, inviting fireplaceanchors the living area on the interior end of the upper level floor space.

Voise, of Voise Furniture & Cabinetry, has created a kitchen of fine-restau-rant caliber, with residential appliances of professional style. Imported, honedJerusalem Gold Limestone, from Lucasso Stone, lies underfoot through theliving areas, bringing a hint of nature indoors with tumbled edges anddeposits of seashells and fossils in each tile.

Energy-efficient features, accessible but aesthetically concealed, are incor-porated throughout. The Daikin Absolute Comfort system, with local-zoneHVAC controls, was selected to give residents and guests alike a personalizedcontrol of each individual environment and space.

Two specifically designed, enclosed outdoor areas are designated for anenvironmentally astute organic-composting yard and a central location formechanical equipment. All utilities will be housed underground, with awhole-house generator among the equipment.

Courtyard on the Bluff will be one of two custom homes by ColTex and itsteam of design-and-development experts at 7-R Ranch. Prices will rangefrom $600,000 to $750,000 to build as designed. HS

May 2008 | HOMEstyle | 13

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Photos by Jon P. Uzzel

event hits elegant notes

14 | HOMEstyle | May 2008

g he Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s early-spring staging of theOnce Upon a Terrace fund-raising event has served to show-case four strikingly designed homes in the Montserratenclave.

Developer John Zimmerman helped the foundation tosecure “four of the newest and most amazing terraces in FortWorth,”as one planner put it, with custom party-designingfor each location.

Susanne Dial, Shannon Hart, Tina McMackin and DebSneed served as co-chairs for the April 23 occasion. Two hun-dred guests boarded trolleys at Rivercrest Country Club, tour-ing in groups before gathering at the finale terrace for dessertand dancing.

Featured terrace locations included the homes of Don and

Gloria Siratt, Allan and Carrie Meyer, Rod and Mary SueHayes, and John and Nicole Zimmerman.

Sponsors include XTO Energy Inc., Deb and Brian Sneed,Once Upon a Time…, and Corriente Advisors LLC, with chefsponsors including Kara and Brian Bell, HealthPoint, JeffMoore and Kelly and Chip Wagner.

Floral designers represented include Jim Irwin, PhilipCombs Design, Chris Whanger and Urban Flower GrangeHall. Participating chefs include Todd C. Brown of TCBCatering, Tim Love of Lonesome Dove Western Bistro, JonBonnell of Bonnell’s Restaurant and David Rotman of CaféAspen. The featured entertainers were the Keith Wingate Trio,Plan B and John Giordano Jr., the Frank Hailey Trio and SaintFrinatra. HS

Once Upon a Terrace

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May 2008 | HOMEstyle | 15

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May 2008 | HOMEstyle | 17

Entrepreneur builds upon successful portfolio

Designing woman

g hree years ago, when Stacie Stewart built her family’s Cedar Hill homewith all her favorite custom touches, she had no designs to sell the propertyany time soon.

But then the offers started flying, and she sold the house without lookingback.

That’s when the self-assured entrepreneur decided to close the door to herArlington mortgage company and hang out her shingle through a new enter-prise, Stewart Builders Custom Homes.

“A light bulb went off, so to speak,”Stewart says.“If it was that easy to sellone house, maybe I could build other houses and sell them. Maybe there was amarket for what I could build.”

Stewart gained homebuilding abilities in Maryland, where her family hademigrated from Caracas,Venezuela, when she was 5 years old. After earning anaccounting degree from New York University, she built her professional skills atFortune 500 companies but then ventured into the mortgage industry.

“I didn’t want to be a CPA,”she says.

Along the way, Stewart began buying, renovating and selling houses whilegaining experience in residential construction. After marrying and moving toTexas, she started her own brokerage firm, making loans to other home-builders. Full of moxie, she soon formed her own construction company —Stacie Stewart Construction Inc. — and was building that custom home for hertwo children.

“I took the risk on my own, and I enjoyed it. I liked the whole process,”shesays.“From there, I figured I could do that over and over again.”

It was a risk that paid off.Stewart, 30, has built 30 luxury homes, and currently has several projects

under construction. The industry at large has recognized her business savvyand enthusiasm — including a Quest for Success award this year. A programrepresentative, Reginald Gates of the Dallas Black Chamber, says Stewartexemplifies Quest for Success.

“We found Stacie to be an exceptional candidate … especially for herachievements in a male-dominated industry,”says Gates.“Because of that

By Betty Dillard • Photos by Sue Bodycomb

Stacie Stewart

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18 | HOMEstyle | May 2008

woman’s touch she brings to all her projects, she’s out-standing.”

Stewart calls the award “quite an honor,”adding: “Itruly love what I do, and it’s nice to win an award fordoing what I like to do.”

Targeting the high-end market, Stewart Builders’ ener-gy-efficient homes are priced from just below $200,000upward to $1 million and above. The six-person compa-ny — which includes a sales team and two in-housearchitects — builds in communities carefully selected byStewart, including Lake Ridge near Joe Pool Lake atCedar Hill, Waterford Park in Mansfield and the Hills ofLake Country, near Eagle Mountain Lake in northwestFort Worth.

“These are not starter homes,”Stewart says.“I wascomfortable in knowing where I wanted to live and howI wanted to live. I think that’s what our clients are look-ing for, too. We are dedicated to providing our clientsquality materials, the best subcontractors and craftsmenand value for their money.”

Stewart’s grounded attention to detail is a hit withcustomers. Her list of standard custom features andamenities — often upgrades other builders tack on to thefinal purchase price — includes granite countertops,hardwood floors, tiled and marbled entryways, and appli-ance packages. The custom designs are flexible to fit eachhomebuyer’s preferences.

But it’s her personal woman’s touch — from oversizedclosets and cabinets to precise task lighting, to pleasingdesigner colors and curb appeal — that win over clients,especially the women.

According to the National Homebuyers Association,women make about 90 percent of home purchases, withsingle women accounting for 21 percent of home sales.

“Women are the decision-makers, so I’m trying to tar-get them,”Stewart says.“I’m still learning what womenwant, but I think my homes appeal to women — the col-ors, the schemes, the layouts — they’re very artistic.Women love them.”

Rose Marie Llera is one such homebuyer.Llera and her husband, Kenneth recently, broke

ground on a 2,500-square-foot Stewart Builders’ home inLake Country, where they’ve lived for the past decade.

“We looked all over and came right back here to ourneighborhood once we found Stacie’s homes,”Llera said.“I think they’re different than most custom homes at thesame price. I told my husband this is what I wanted.Women buy houses, not men.”

Llera said Stewart’s attention to detail instantlyappealed to her.

“Stacie builds affordable, quality homes with all themodern amenities that people are looking for, but theygo the extra mile with all the added touches. Thatwoman’s touch appeals to me, but men like it, too.”

Stewart’s overall blueprint for the future is to continuecreating quality custom homes while incorporating moregreen-building products and materials into her projects.

“Once I have a few more years of gaining experiencewith this, I’d like to try commercial buildings,”she says,“not in the sense of skyscrapers, but standard small retailshopping centers or individual buildings like a bank. Isee myself building commercial for the next 10 years orso.

“I want to try it all. I don’t like to say I can’t. I want tobe able to say I can.”

Contact Dillard at [email protected]

HS

Stewart Builders Custom Homes built these houses atHills of Lake Country, near Eagle Mountain Lake.

j

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jBy David D’Aquin

ith gold reaching more than $900 per ounce, everything else is following suit.You’venoticed the prices in the grocery, and everywhere else as well, including diamonds and jew-elry products.

In 2006, one-carat D–Flawless Round diamonds (the top category for colorless diamonds)were listing in the Rappaport & Diamond Index for $18,000 per carat.

Looking back, in the 1980s when gold went to $800 per ounce, the one-carat D–Flawlesswas selling for $35,000. When the gold market fell, so did diamonds. By December, 1984they were listing for $14,700 per carat, progressing to $16,000 by 1986 (gold at $390).

In 1988, diamonds sold for $17,800 per carat, where they stabilized ($17,000–$18,000 percarat) until recently. Gold also had stabilized in the $400-per-ounce range. As a matter offact, all of the catalogs in my store (and those of most other jewelers) are based on $400gold.

Gold has been rising quite steadily over the last two years, finding resting points at $500,$650, $750 and now $900 per ounce. Diamonds have taken a modest increase, now $19,200per carat for D–Flawless, but they are due for a huge jump.

I believe a 30 percent to 50 percent increase is about to hit us. Where gold has been a sell-er’s market for clients bringing me the gold coins they’ve been holding since the 1980s, andthe jewelry they no longer want, it is a buyer’s market for diamonds. From the investmentgrade of D-Flawless to the more normal jewelry grades, those purchasing now are avoidingthe swing the jewels are due to take.

Fortunately for the consumer, the market is not only favorable due to the still-low market,but also much safer than it had been during the 1980s and earlier, due to standard policy ofcertification of diamonds of one carat and above. Now, there are companies that grade dia-monds so that the disparities of individual jeweler’s appraisal opinions and grades havebecome a thing of the past. Such grading laboratories as GIA, EGL, AGS and Stuller makecertain the consumer has bought what has been promised. Of course, there are differencesamong grading companies, with GIA and Stuller being two of the strictest, but the laborato-ry is taken into consideration when pricing.

The biggest thing for the consumer to know is there are now 6 C’s. Color, clarity, caratweight and cut are the original four C’s. Certification is the fifth, and the combination ofthose five makes the sixth C — cost.

1. Color refers to how much or little color a diamond has, D being absolutely colorless,through Z, which has the fancy-colored diamonds — canaries, reds, pinks and the like. Inthe white diamonds, the more colorless, the higher the cost. The D-J range is most preferredfor normal wear. After J, there is noticeable color to the untrained eye. Each grade downfrom D diminishes the cost. After J, the prices drastically drop until close to Z, where they

zoom back up: Fancy colors can cost far more than whites.2. Clarity refers to the inclusions in the diamonds, graded at 10 times magnification.

Flawless means no flaws in the stone or blemishes on the stone. Internally flawless does notaccount for surface blemishes, such as graining lines on the surface. The grading then goesvery, very slight (VVS), 1 and 2; very slight (VS), 1 and 2; slightly included (SI), 1 and 2 (somelaboratories include SI3); then, imperfect (I), 1, 2 and 3. Stones below that level are notworn for jewelry — a stone more closely resembles rock salt. (I have seen some in inexpen-sive jewelry pieces.)

3. Carat weight literally means what the diamond weighs in carats, with 100 points (ameasure of weight) being in one carat. Five carats weigh one gram. The price per carat goesup exponentially for diamonds as the size of the diamond goes up.

4. Cut is two-fold. First, which cut is it? That will put it in a specific chart; some cuts com-mand greater premiums than others. Rounds always are highest in value — they have thebest balance of brilliance, fire, scintillation and dispersion of light due to their prism effect.All other cuts have a distortion problem with refracted light. The light leaks out of the stoneinstead of coming back out. Second consideration is how well it has been cut as that shape.A one-carat diamond can weigh a carat, but if it had been cut properly it would have beenonly .83 carat. So it will be evaluated as that smaller weight, which is not only 83 percent ofits weight, but less per carat as well.

5. Certification — All recognized laboratories are safe. There is disparity among labs, butthese are constant disparities. For example, it is common for an EGL I color to comparewith a GIA or Stuller J color; EGL is not as strict. But, again, it is priced that way. A GIA orStuller I color will cost more than an EGL I.

6. Cost — Well, now you have knowledge of how the stone came to be of a certain value,but how much is that? There are no laws governing how much a jeweler can charge, butjewelers have a distinctive guide to the market — the Rappaport Diamond Report.Yourprice can range from 10 percent below to 50 percent greater (or more, if a jeweler’s clientelewill pay the price) than Rappaport’s index.

Your jeweler can show you stones and explain the costs of them. Diamonds are similar tohouses: You can look at three houses that fit the same description — four bedrooms, threebaths, three-car garage, and so forth, and yet you like only one. And it may cost a little morethan the other two, or less. That need not be the deciding factor: You need to like it.

If you have been contemplating the purchase of a diamond, my advice would be to beatthe curve and call on your jeweler now, before the prices of diamonds jump — as goldalready has done.

David D’Aquin, president of the Baseball Diamonds store at The Ballpark in Arlington, is a 28-year veteran ofthe industry and official fine jeweler of Miss Texas and Miss Texas Outstanding Teen. Contact: [email protected]

HS

Diamonds Still a standard of excellence – and costliness

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Ts our motor coach crested Cheetah Hill,

all eyes strained to catch a hoped-for glimpseof one of the six resident giraffes at Fossil RimWildlife Center. A recent devastating wind-storm had barreled through the pasture,uprooting, twisting and snapping several hun-dred of the majestic old live oaks and elms thatserve as the giraffes’protection.

Our guide, Tessa Ownbey, one of the center’seducation specialists, couldn’t guarantee thatwe would see any of the graceful, tree-toppinganimals.

Suddenly, a bright patch of yellow flashedthrough the woodlands. One by one, each ofthe long-necked herd, including the 2-year-old“baby,”ambled into view.

Our tour group collectively gasped and thenbroke into cheers and applause.

Giraffes, cheetahs, zebras and rhinos aresome of Fossil Rim’s star attractions amongabout 30 species, many of which are threatenedor endangered. From addax to wildebeest, mostof the 1,200 exotic animals roam freely on the1,800-acre facility that specializes in captive-breeding programs for animals on the brink ofextinction. Conservation professionals at FossilRim carefully breed animals for repatriationinto the wild. The center is globally recognizedas a leader in propagation and managementprograms, scientific research, innovative educa-tional programs and top-flight training facili-ties.

Nestled among craggy, limestone-rimmedcreeks that spill onto deep valleys and grassysavannahs along the threshold of Texas’HillCounty, Fossil Rim is located near Glen Rose,about 55 miles southwest of Fort Worth. Whenfirst-time visitors experience the three-hour,9.5-mile scenic wildlife drive or camp overnightin the park’s safari-style tents, they feel as ifthey’re in Africa instead of just an hour fromthe Metroplex.

Mother Nature even fooled Fossil Rim’sdirector, Pat Condy, a native of Zimbabwe.

“Many people have the perception that Texasis cactus-and-cowboy country,”says Condy.“Ihad to pinch myself when I first came. Ithought I was back in Africa.”

When Condy was hired in 2003, the wildlifecenter was on the verge of bankruptcy.Founded in the 1960s as a private huntingground called Waterfall Ranch, the propertywas bought in 1973 by oilman Tom Mantzell.Mantzell stopped the hunting, renamed thepark and began stocking it with exotic animals.

In 1984, he opened Fossil Rim to the public tohelp fund his conservation endeavors.

In 1987, Chrystyna Jurzykowski and JimJackson purchased the park from Mantzell andbegan expansion and improvements.Jurzykowski operated Fossil Rim until 2000,when operations were turned over to a non-profit she formed called Earth Promise.

Although internationally ranked — and thefirst non-zoo to be accredited by theAssociation of Zoos and Aquariums — FossilRim struggled to keep its doors open untilCondy arrived with fresh ideas.

“Fossil Rim is in a unique place,”says Condy.“If you take big national parks on one end ofthe spectrum and zoos on the other end, FossilRim is somewhere in the middle. It’s a uniqueplace for any wildlife park.

“That’s what excited me and gave me thedetermination to dig it out of the financialproblems — and other problems — that werehere. What struck me was the potential. I couldfeel it right away.”

To help attract large corporate donors and toincrease visits from last year’s 180,000 tourists,Condy persuaded Jurzykowski to give the cen-ter to the nonprofit organization. Earth Promiseacquired the property in January 2008.

“It’s the biggest thing that has ever happenedin the history of the park,”says Condy.“It’s ahugely generous gift. There are not many non-profits that own their own land.”

An aggressive fund-raising campaign andexpansion of programs, projects and services areunder way. Since the acquisition, $300,000 hasbeen raised. In a strong show of support, thenine-member board kicked in $1.025 millionout-of-pocket, and California-based RudolphSteiner Foundation has pledged a two-for-onechallenge grant of $1 million.

Plans are in progress to revamp the entirepark, including the front gate, the visitor center,and the Overlook Café and gift shop, rightdown to the Web site and e-newsletter.

Day and night accommodations — includingthe rustic Foothills Safari Camp and the Lodge,the original ranch house — for schoolchildren,church and scout groups and families will beupdated and expanded. As many as 40 tents to80 tents and several conference spaces may beadded to facilitate the growing corporate mar-ket.

“We’ve just begun,”Condy says.“We’re reallygoing to speed up our presence. Our big-pic-ture plan is to be self-sufficient.”

By Betty Dillard • Photos by Courtesy of Fossil Rim

An out of Africa safari in the hills of Texas

Daytripping

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The majority of new revenue will benefit theprimary mission of dealing with endangered andthreatened animals. Condy says additionalresearch will be conducted to ensure a high levelof genetic diversity, which is crucial to long-termspecies survival back into the wild.

“Zoos can only prepare to send animals backone or two at a time,”says Condy.“We can sendback flock-by-flock or herd-by-herd. That is howthey survive in the wild. That is what Fossil Rimdoes.”

Condy hopes to increase membership from2,000 households to 10,000 households withinthe next three years. He also hopes more visitorswill come to experience his “office.”

“When people visit here, they are directlyhelping these dying species survive,”he says.“They should come to get out into clean, freshopen air and see nature as it is and to see conser-vation in action. They should come to see speciesin their dire straits be uplifted and ready to sendback into the wild.

“For whatever reason,”he adds,“people shouldjust visit. When they leave here, they shouldknow they’ve done a great thing to help theseanimals.”

For information, visit www.fossilrim.org or call254-897-2960. A special fund has been estab-lished to buy trees to replace the 400-plus lostduring the severe storm. HS

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countryside retreat

\n the heart of North Texas’ hilly country,

earth and sky merge with landscape anddeep waters. The banks of PossumKingdom Lake suggest a uniquely beautifulhome site.

Hence the popular development knownas The Harbor on Possum Kingdom Lake.

An hour drive west of the metropolitanarea, The Harbor on Possum Kingdom Lakeproposes a combination of natural beautywith elegant style and a wide range of resi-dence-and-recreation choices.

Built with local stone, rough-hewn woodand broad porches, homes at The Harborare designed to blend with the natural envi-ronment. Styles of construction includeTexas lodge residences, condominiums, car-riage houses, five varieties of log cabins,cottages and verandas.

Situated amid cedars and natural rock,each Harbor home site is designed toemphasize the setting from a vantage ofstylish new construction.

Possum Kingdom Lake, the centerpieceof the development, is among the state’smore inviting bodies of water, with 400 wetslips and accommodations for boatingactivities from water-skiing and powerboating to sport fishing, pleasure cruisingand scuba diving. Miles of pristine shore-line boast spectacular limestone bluffs.

The Harbor contains an equestrian cen-ter, as well, with activities to suit bothaccomplished horseback riders and novices.Hiking trails abound, as well, as do fitnessand spa amenities.

A centerpiece of The Harbor is TheGrille, a five-star lakeside restaurant withaccommodations for social gatherings.Other event venues include an outdoorarena and the Country Chapel.

On the Web: www.harborliving.com HS

Possum Kingdom Lake

May 2008 | HOMEstyle | 23

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_ike the most effective artists of any era, TomHollenback creates art that subtly transforms theperceptions of the viewer. His sculptures, no matterwhere they are installed, immediately define andunderscore the spaces they inhabit, thus changingthe experience of being in that situation.

By means of edge and angle, translucency andreflection, boundary and interface, the Austin-basedartist somehow bends the surroundings to theauthority of his sculpture — “the allure of trans-parency,”as one critic has characterizedHollenback’s work. The artist has devised an alter-native means of orientation, a navigational devicefor today’s electronic environment. Hollenback isrepresented in Fort Worth by William CampbellContemporary Art.

Hollenback accomplishes this sleight-of-handthrough the most economical of means, keeping hisforms elemental and his concepts straightforward.He frequently combines steel with sheets of fluores-cent acrylic to illuminate his art. The glowing edgesof the acrylic seem to buzz and crackle like neon,but in fact their only power source is the track light-ing of a gallery. Even under more dimly lighted cir-cumstances, the sculptures project a subtle energythat envelops the room. The pieces are frequently

juxtaposed with large white spaces to create after-images of the bright acrylic.

When Hollenback moves his acrylic pieces offthe wall and into the center of the room, wrappingthem around themselves to form enclosures, manycomplex and interesting ideas come pouring out ofthem. Inclusion and exclusion come into play whensome people are inside the structure and some areoutside.

The interior space can become a stage, and thepeople outside become an audience. Some evenhave cell-phone conversations while thus separated,and these interactions then become an integral facetof the work of art. When one person is alone withthe piece, its architecture seems to come to the fore.Mental associations with cloisters, cells or cubiclesare contradicted by the transparen-cy of the medium, generatingthoughts about what we can seethrough and what we can seereflected in other things. Extraneousdetails are pared away to condenseand define a response to urbanexperiences.

On the Web: www.williamcamp-bellcontemporaryart.com HS

Tom Hollenback’sspace-bending sculptures

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Lone Star LibraryA fresh shelf of books and music

WWhhaatt TTeeaacchheerrss EExxppeecctt iinn RReeffoorrmmBy Penny Ann ArmstrongRowman & Littlefield; $29.95Available at www.rowmaneducation.com

Southwest Christian School’s Penny Ann Armstrong takes a courageous stance, here, in appraising the chronic struggle betweenacademic achievement and mere passing grades. (The book dovetails with coursework at Texas Wesleyan University.)

The inescapable conclusion is that conventional classroom methods, notably in the No Child Left Behind quota-fillingapproach, simply are not working to inspire genuine learning as a result preferable to “just getting by.”

The overriding impression is that the American educational system must empower teachers — who, after all, have the creden-tials to teach — more so than bureaucrats or lawmakers.

– Michael H. Price

JJeewwiisshh ““JJuunniioorr LLeeaagguuee::””TThhee RRiissee aanndd DDeemmiissee ooff tthhee FFoorrtt WWoorrtthh CCoouunncciill ooff JJeewwiisshh WWoommeennBy Hollace Ava WeinerTexas A&M University Press; $29.95Available at www.tamu.edu/upress

This spirited and scrupulously well-researched history tracks the Fort Worth branch of the National Council of Jewish Women overnearly a century. The social and cultural fabric of the community-at-large becomes more vivid as a consequence, but of greater fasci-nation is a variety of emphatic stances on such issues as immigration and literacy. A casualty, perhaps, of the integration that it hadchampioned, the organization faced an end by 1999: Times had changed more rapidly than the council’s ability to adapt.

Weiner also is the author of Jewish Stars in Texas: Rabbis and Their Work, also from A&M Press.– M.H.P

KKiissss ooff tthhee MMuuddmmaannBy John NitzingerNitzinger; $25Available at www.nitzinger.com

With Kiss of the Mudman, Fort Worth bluesman and pioneering hard-rock guitarist John Nitzinger has craftedperhaps his finest sustained album of a distinguished career — a focused and ferocious collection of edgyinstrumental work and provocative lyrics. The prowess on display here, coupled with an uncompromising emo-tional intensity, is formidable.

– M.H.P.

AA WWaallkk AAccrroossss TTeexxaassBy Jon McConalTexas Christian University Press; $19.95Available at www.prs.tcu.edu

When three old codgers struck out on a 450-mile, 28-day trek from the Panhandle of Texas back down to their home inGranbury, they accomplished an adventure most of us only dare to dream.

Proving that age really is a state of mind, the trio — former Star-Telegram columnist Jon McConal, 69, Norm Snyder, 62,and Eddie Lane, 77 — traveled the back roads of the Lone Star countryside in the fall of 2006. As in his previous trave-logue, Bridges over the Brazos, McConal recorded the sights, sounds, voices and history of rural Texas.

Camping and cooking out under the twinkling constellations, the three amigos rediscovered forgotten places and people.And in so doing, they rediscovered themselves.

Along the trail home, the three wise men remind us of what’s important: the magical flight of red-tail hawks and honkinggeese in the fall sky, hundreds of Monarch butterflies fanning their wings, the piercing shriek of an owl through inky dark-ness, homemade banana pudding, and the comfort and warmth of wind at your back and friends around your campfire.

– Betty Dillard

AAllssoo nneeww aanndd ooff nnoottee•• Watauga’s BB BB SShheerrmmaann relates a poignant autobiographical saga of domestic violence in My Gidding Street Gang

(WindSpan Press), whose proceeds the author has dedicated to SafeHaven of Tarrant County (www.safehaventc.org).•• Fort Worth journalist-photographer PPhhiill VViinnssoonn’s new novel is It Takes a Worried Man (Virtual Bookworm Press)

— chronicling the misadventures of a panic-stricken newspaperman in search of a remedy. Vinson’s next book, a pic-torial collection called Fort Worth: A Personal View, is due this fall from TCU Press. (www.philvinson.com) HS

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GADGETguru

Gadgetry! Décor!Innovations!A pictorial array of new arrivals, new inventions — newways of arraying and enhancing the home environment:

� BainUltra“We want to envelop ourselves with something peaceful after a

long day,” says Henry Brunelle Quebec-based home-spa supplierBainUltra. “And the bath is probably one of the simplest tools every-one owns that has the power to deliver that sense of calm.”

Air jet baths, a concept innovated by BainUltra, are becoming anincreasingly popular option among devotees of the bath ritual —closer to a full-scale spa experience than to a conventionalwhirlpool-tub situation.

On the Web: www.trends.bainultra.com

� Player pianoreturns

The Yamaha Disklavier2.0, a digital-technologyresurrection of the old-school player piano, com-bines Internet streams anddownloads to allow a vastselection of music convey-ing the illusion of live per-formance. An owner with a$200-a-year subscriptionto Disklavier Radio has, ineffect, a pianist-in-resi-dence on call around theclock.

The Disklavier Mark IVpiano ranges upward from$35,000.

On the Web: www.yama-hasoft.com

� Wave Cube The familiar microwave oven

shrinks to the size of a tissue-dispenser with iWave Cube, adesktop cooker that takes upas much room as a set of PCspeakers. Measuring just acubic foot, the unit is in themidst of a debut at SharperImage stores. The 12-poundunit ($130) features a built-incarrying handle and a view-through door.

Water-Easy Invented by planting enthusiast Shirley Harberts with a com-

bination of a soaker hose and a flowerpot, the $6 Water-Easydevice allows water to reach the roots of a plant via a hiddenhose.

On the Web: www.water-easy.com

� Savannah fixturesNorth Carolina-base FORMS+Fixtures has introduced

the Savannah line of vanity counters as a reflectionof old-fashioned workmanship and innovative design.

The selections of finish include pewter withcracked platinum glass, java with aged mirrored fab-ric, sepia and bronze.

On the Web: www.formsandfixtures.com

� Jane Seymour CollectionTHRO Ltd. has thrown in with the Jane

Seymour Home brand to create a line of deco-rative pillows and throw blankets. The 22-piececollection includes four groups of pillows andthrow blankets, each representing favorite deco-rative motifs of artist-actress Jane Seymour.

The items in each line range in price from$19 to $119.

On the Web: www.janeseymourcollection.com

Summer Soles Shannon McLinden’s Frisco-based Summer Soles LLC has scored big-time with its lines of san-

dal liners and FarmHouse Fresh bath-and-body products.“Five years ago, I would have sold you my house for a dressy pair of shoes that I could

actually wear without smack, smack, smacking my way into malls and restaurants,” asMcLinden tells it. Hence her invention of the Summer Soles line or removable insoles as anantidote to sticky shoes.

On the Web: www.summersoles.com

� Planar home-theatre unitsDesigned for the specialty home-theater

market, Planar’s new line of digital-video pro-jectors sets almost a theatrical standard forhigh-definition movie-watching.

Planar’s PD8150 and PD8130 units ($6,000-$8,000) feature an eye-catching gloss-black fin-ish, with almost a sculptural appearance. Bothprojectors offer sophisticated calibration for opti-mal performance under various room-lighting conditions.

On the Web: www.PlanarHomeTheater.com

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