In 1987 philanthropists Dominique and John de Menil opened their vast art collection, which includes pieces by René Magritte, Henri Matisse, and Mark Rothko, with a museum designed by Renzo Piano. Now art lovers can explore the Menil campus from a new hotel worthy of its surroundings. It’s hard to imagine more fertile terrain to inspire a design project. Who wouldn’t want to spend the night next door to the Menil Collection, the Cy Twombly Gallery, and the Drawing Institute?
In the listening room, the sofa is by Lee Industries and covered in a striped fabric by Kravet. The vintage armchairs in the window are by Ezio Longhi, the rug is by Nordic Knots, and the ceiling is painted in Soot by Benjamin Moore.
Visitors will get their chance this spring with the opening of Hotel Saint Augustine. Located across from the Menil campus, the 71-room hotel consists of five separate buildings that pay homage to the de Menils, whose lifetime of collecting made Houston, once synonymous with oil, into a destination for connoisseurs of painting and sculpture. “Dominique and John were such stewards of culture and art, and so intelligent, so giving,” says Tenaya Hills, senior vice president of design and development at Bunkhouse Hotels, which led the new project.
The living room of Dominique and John de Menil’s home designed between 1948 and 1950 by architect Philip Johnson with interiors by Charles James. The dark tile floors and mix of period furniture are two of many references that were used by design firm Post Company in designing Hotel Saint Augustine.
The group’s growing list of properties includes the Saint Cecilia in Austin and Hotel San Cristóbal in Todos Santos, Mexico. Bunkhouse tapped the San Antonio–based architecture firm Lake Flato Architects to design the ground-up effort, with interior design by Post Company, which is based in Brooklyn and Jackson, Wyoming. The Austin-based firm Ten Eyck was brought on for the landscaping.
Lake Flato partners David Lake and Chris Krajcer planned the two-acre property around existing live oak trees, aiming to create a contemplative space that fit into the surroundings. They took inspiration from the subtle tones of the Menil Foundation, with gray brick, stacked horizontally, references to the Renzo Piano buildings, as well as the work of Philip Johnson and other modernist architects such as Rudolph Schindler and Louis Kahn. “Our goal was to provide the Menil with a real social hub to augment the art hub,” Lake says.
Guests enter a bright red lobby that doubles as a retail space, intended to mimic a museum giftshop. Filled with furniture by Josef Hoffmann and Bob and Dries Van Den Berghe, and a pendant by Ingo Maurer, the entrance features an adjoining listening room and bar. “The attention that the de Menils put toward pairing seeming opposites together to create a unique whole really resonated with us,” Post Company partner Jou-Yie Chou says.
In a guest room of Hotel Saint Augustine, the custom sofa is covered in a patterned fabric inspired by the de Menil’s interior designer Charles James. The floor lamp is by Corbin Cruise and the walls and ceiling are painted in Yellow Squash by Benjamin Moore.
Beginning in 1948, the de Menils famously worked with Johnson to build their home, in nearby River Oaks, pairing him with legendary couturier Charles James for the interiors. That opposites-attract energy—restraint meets exuberance—is incorporated into the hotel, Chou says, with the structure’s spare design paired with eye-popping interiors and visual trickery involving mirrors and -pattern-packed carpets. The restaurant, Perseid, in partnership with Bludorn Hospitality Group, is a color study, with the walls and ceiling in Sunbeam Yellow by Sherwin Williams and golden ombré room dividers. The guestrooms feature cabinets in alternating shades with jewel-tone lacquered interiors like the ones that were constructed for Dominique’s dressing room. “The hotel features a lot of details that begin to awaken the senses,” Chou says.
Perhaps the most significant element of all is that there isn’t a single piece of art hanging on the Saint Augustine’s walls. Best not to compete, after all—and all the more reason for guests to head outside and start exploring.
Tour the Hotel Saint Augustine
