Mary Engelbreit Home Companion
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Text by Tony DiMartino • Styling by Kathy Curotto

Like many stories, this one is about love. But our tale of a tiny guesthouse in Fredericksburg, Texas, doesn’t start when boy meets girl, but when beloved objects meet inspired ideas.

It all began when Carolyn Moore decided to build a guesthouse. “I modeled it on what’s known here in Texas Hill Country as a Sunday house: a little hut where farmers would stay when they came to town for supplies.”

When it was time to furnish the place, Carolyn had the advantage of being general manager of Red, an innovative shop that carries vintage pieces and the best of contemporary design. She also drew upon years of display and design experience with Carol Bolton at Homestead.

As if that wasn’t enough, she called in one of her daughters, Nikki Moore, a talented artist who, along with Carolyn’s other daughter, Sam Bennett, handles Red’s graphic design, advertising, and marketing needs.

Lights! Camera!
(1) Action! Fixtures from a Hollywood soundstage brighten the living room. Like many of Nikki Moore’s collages, the one over the bookcase is made of torn-up magazine pages. “It was inspired by an exercise instruction card from the ‘30s or ‘40s,” Nikki says.

Minding the Store
(2) Carolyn and Nikki in front of Red, the shop Carolyn manages with owners Mary and Karl Ransleben. (3) “The guesthouse, where I try out lots of ideas.”

Reel Pretty
(4) Steel film reels encourage dreams of stardom. “The bed frame is metal, too, so we softened the hard edges with a leather headboard, silk coverlet, and faux fur throw,” Carolyn says. (5) She layered a watercolor by friend Joyce Trautman over a flea-market painting.

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  Stumble It!
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