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TXDW Houston — Thomas Lloyd and Bryan Huffman at The Sarofim House

Celebrating Tastemaker Bunny Mellon

BY // 07.22.22

At one point during his Texas Design Week Houston talk, Thomas Lloyd remarked that his grandmother — the iconic tastemaker and philanthropist Bunny Mellon — would have loved that the two sets of French doors at The Sarofim House, where the talk took place, were left open for the evening breeze. Grandbunny, as Lloyd called her, would most certainly have felt at home in the classical 1938 John Staub-designed estate among the priceless works of art and exquisite architectural details. Fayez Sarofim, who passed away months after this event, called the white mansion on River Oaks Boulevard Maison Blanche. He and his wife Susan Sarofim haven’t lived in the house in more than a decade, although it’s beautifully maintained and used occasionally for charitable and philanthropic functions.

Susan Sarofim generously opened the home for an exclusive evening to host Lloyd and co-author Bryan Huffman, who discussed their book Bunny Mellon Style (Gibbs Smith). In true Bunny Mellon fashion, the party flowed freely between indoors and out and made ample use of the beautifully landscaped grounds, where a delicious al fresco spread by Tony’s Catering was served on the terrace beneath moss-shrouded oak trees.

Lloyd, who is president of the Gerard B. Lambert Foundation (named after Bunny’s father) and also serves on the board of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art (one of the evening’s sponsors), opened by recognizing the shared interests of those in attendance. “My grandmother would have been thrilled to meet so many of you who are fostering and promoting the things she loved — architecture, art, and gardens,” he said.

Lloyd and Huffman — the latter, a dear friend of Mellon’s for decades — regaled the group with tales and personal anecdotes about the design and gardening enthusiast’s life and indelible imprint on style, from the way her homes always smelled like flowers fresh from the garden to her influential friendships with Jackie Kennedy and Hubert de Givenchy.

PC Seen: Susan Sarofim, Kelly KrohnTaylor Eichenwald, Jane Wood, Hill Swift, Janne Williams, Anne Lee Phillips, Valette and Russell Windham, Greg Fourticq, John Cone, Betty Hrncir, Diane Gendel, Antonio Cortez, Bret Duhon, Meredith Grover, Karen Sachar, Ruth and Neill Davis, Katherine Ginzburg Treistman, Katherine Warren, Ceron, Tarek El-Bjeirmi, Dawn Ginn, Sarah Eilers, Greg Schenck, Julie Koch, Minnette Boesel, Elyse Lanier, Oscar and Bruce Banta-Guevara, Tracy Motley, Alli Ryan Motley, Hannah Swiggard, William Finnorn, Patrick Suarez, Kristy Geary, Paul Benavente, Abbi Parker, Fay Kirby, Mia Bonner, Connor Sullivan, Beth and Wayne Gibbens, Christopher Chavez, Rachel Davis, Maureen Farrah, Sari Imber, Helene Dameris, and Camille Scott.

Thank you to our Texas Design Week sponsors: New Orleans Auction Galleries, Monogram Luxury Appliances, ICAA – Institute of Classical Architecture and Art, Decorative Center Houston.

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