Alessandra Branca x Red Antler Bungalows
The Branca Bungalow Showcase Opens for Tours Benefiting Round Top Family Library
BY Anne Lee Phillips // 03.08.23Alessandra Branca speaks at The Halles, Friday, March 17, 9 to 11 am
Über-chic guest houses Red Antler Bungalows are upping the interior design ante. Designer Alessandra Branca has been tapped to design a showcase, The Branca Bungalow, which will be open for tours during the Spring Round Top Antiques + Design Show.
Red Antler proprietors John Cone and Greg Fourticq hatched the plan while Branca was in Dallas emceeing the PaperCity Design Awards in 2021. Fourticq has known Branca for years from time spent on Harbour Island, where Branca has worked on numerous projects.
“The [antiques] shows have become increasingly more design-driven,” Fourticq says. “Alessandra does a really cool, casual look that is very highly designed but approachable and comfortable.”
Branca brought in VERANDA as national media partner for the showcase, then reworked the architectural layout of the bungalow design. For the interiors, she turned to her new Casa Branca collection of fabric, wallpaper and furnishings for a stunning, high-minded take on a country getaway. She utilized her nature-inspired verdure camo fabric, segueing into darker linens, and papered the grand living room with vaulted ceiling in a faux bois paper in a nod to the countryside.
Casa Branca’s CEO, Branca’s son Andrew Uihlein, and his wife Georgia McElveen (who serves as brand director), have found a welcoming market in Texas since their 2020 launch of Casa Branca, which is represented by James showroom in Houston and Dallas.
The Branca Bungalow at Red Antler is open to VIP ticket holders Friday through Sunday, March 17 through 19, then open to general ticket holders through April 1, with ticket proceeds through the run of show benefiting Round Top Family Library, the smallest accredited library in Texas. Adjacent to the Red Antler Bungalows, Casa Branca pops up a tent filled with fabric, wallpapers, furnishings, lamp shades pillows, decoratives and an impressive array of antique and vintage furniture from Branca’s personal inventory. (Branca, an Italian native who lives in Chicago, has been antiquing across the globe for more than 40 years.)
In addition to Branca’s collection, Stephanie Landess brings The Poppy Caravan, Peacock Alley, Maison Maison, Glamour Puss and more to join the fun. Watch for Casa Branca Design Day on Monday, March 27, with speakers Alessandra Branca, Cathy Kincaid, Doniphan Moore, Stephanie Stokes, Julie Dodson and Meredith Ellis.
The Branca Bungalow at Red Antler is open March 17 through April 1, VIP tickets $50, general tickets $25; tickets through redantlerroundtop.com. The Branca Bungalow at Red Antler Bungalows, 125 Gretchens Way, Round Top.