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Usually, Leanne Ford and Grace Mitchell leave the Round Top Antiques Fair with a truckload of furniture. “We can do some damage,” shares Ford. But on one of their more recent trips to the designer-favorite quarterly market, they didn’t buy a single piece. They bought a house.
One thing led to another—Ford’s husband has a habit of looking up real estate wherever they go, then Mitchell tagged along to check out an 1880s farmhouse with them—and before they knew it, the HGTV alums were putting both their names on the mortgage. “We were walking through the house, and Leanne and I kept exchanging glances like, this is happening,” recalls Mitchell. Nerve-racking as it may be to buy a house with one of your friends—not to mention renovate—the duo had their shared love of vintage treasures and “doing things the wrong way” going for them. It also doesn’t hurt to have someone to lean on when things inevitably go over budget. “Everything felt half off,” Ford jokes. “One person buying a marble bathtub is bonkers, but two? It’s 50% off!”
The designers admit there wasn’t anything wrong with the home as is, but still, they saw plenty of opportunities to bring some soul back into the house. The best part yet: You can stay in it. The three-bedroom retreat just became available for short-term rentals starting at $520 a night. Ahead, Mitchell and Ford give us a tour.
Ford: Anyone else on the planet would think that table was too big for the kitchen, but we loved it, and we wanted to fill that space. It’s crazy how when you put big furniture into a room, the space feels bigger instead of smaller. Sconces, Leftovers Antiques; Vintage Table, Architectural Artifacts; Vintage Chairs, @jerseyjunker.Ford: We had a debate—Grace likes color, and we were trying to figure out how to make the stained-glass window not so pastel. I tried some things that did not work (like gold-leafing it, which was messy and pointless). At the end of the day, the window is gorgeous as is. Mitchell: I love that marble: It’s Calacatta Rosa. I actually happened to find a broken piece that the stone yard wasn’t going to sell. They were like, “If you take it, you have to move it.” So we bought it and got someone to truck it out to Round Top. Mitchell: We had seen this cabinet at Round Top and thought that it was on hold for us. When we went back, it was sold. I could not move on. The vendor told me who had bought it (it was another vendor), so we threw in some extra money to get it back. It was worth it. Vintage Cabinet, originally from @jerseyjunker; Range, AGA; Counters, Aria Stone Gallery.Ford: The sink is German silver from our friend Jill at LooLoo Design. She’s got incredible sinks and tubs. We had our contractor, Sam, add drawers below it. Sink, LooLoo Design.Ford: We did custom extra-long Ever sofas from my Crate & Barrel collection everywhere. If you put furniture wall to wall in these little rooms, it makes them feel bigger. The painting is by Alexandra Valenti out of Austin. Grace pointed out that there are two ladies on there with matching outfits—like us! Vintage Lamp, @prizekc; Sofas, Crate & Barrel.Ford: The family room was really strange, because you just walk into it from the front door. We couldn’t wait to get that coffee table in place, because that was our final pièce de résistance of making sense of this layout. Table, Eneby Home.Ford: There were 30 of these sconces at a shop in town. We initially only wanted four, but the vendor said he was only selling them as a set. We left, did the math, and convinced each other to buy them all. We put them everywhere. Vintage Vanity, Leftovers Antiques.Mitchell: The shower was fully tiled with subway tile and black grout. We plastered over it, which ended up being great because we didn’t have to demo and make a big mess. Ford: We found the massive steel shower door from our friend who owns Jardin de France, where I’ll be doing a book-signing party on October 14. Shower Door, Jardin de France; Showerhead System, Brassna.Mitchell: We had to put extra support under the house to make it a lot stronger to hold the stone tub. I think it took six guys to get it in the room; it was a little harrowing. Tub, Architectural Artifacts; Towel, Baina; Tub Filler, Brassna; Doors, Antiques and Vintage Texas.Ford: You can’t see any neighbors from the bathroom. It’s all greenery behind you. Ford: In this bedroom, we put Dutch doors going out to the screened-in porch. You can sleep with them wide open on beautiful days. Rachel Ashwell Bed Frame, Shabby Chic; Bedding, Matteo; Vintage Side Table, Architectural Artifacts. Ford: We mimicked the family room on the back porch by filling it with Ever sofas. Sofas, Crate & Barrel.Ford: The record nook is across from the wall where the art is in the living room. We love making good use of a nook, and in Texas, everything is about music. Lamp LooLoo Design.Ford: There was so much original beadboard throughout the house, so we saved it wherever we could. The tadelakt walls behind the tub in this bathroom are waterproof. Tub, LooLoo Design; Showerhead, Brassna.Ford: There was beadboard that was new, and then there was the old wood beadboard—they were reading very differently when we would put all the white paint samples on them. We ended up doing Joa’s White on the original beadboard and Lime White on the new walls, but they translated to the same color. Ford: We must have carried those marble tables on the left into every room of the house—we certainly didn’t buy them for the front porch! But being able to be out there and sit and have your coffee or, you know, do your work if you must—this is the spot to do it. Exterior Paint, Oxford Stone by Farrow & Ball.Ford: Our friend delivered that firepit on a tractor the day we left, so we haven’t sat around there yet. But you better believe we’re excited to do that.
