Visiting the Mineola Train Depot

One of my favorite things to do when we visit East Texas is go to Mineola, a town of 5,611 (as of the 2000 census) with an adorable downtown full of cute shops and restaurants tucked into historic buildings. Mineola came into existence because of trains, so it is fitting that there is a wonderful little train depot museum in the middle of town to explain the birth of the town. A brief history:

In 1871 a southern transcontinental railroad was proposed by what came to be known as Texas and Pacific (T&P) and was built in 1873. The company also built lines connecting Marshall, TX to San Diego, Sheveport, LA to Longview, TX, with plans to connect from Longview to Dallas. The world was quickly becoming smaller! In 1973, T&P and another railway raced to cross lines at the future location of Mineola (the winner would operate out of the tiny town). They crossed at essentially the same time, so a winner was not determined. However, both railroad companies began to operate out of the town.



In the 1870s Mineola was the center of East Texas' timber belt, with lumber and timber sold for making railroad ties. A a post office opened in 1875 and in 1876 the Union Hotel Depot was constructed. In 1905 the train depot was destroyed by fire, but was rebuilt in 1906. In 1929 a terminal opened connecting Longview to Mineola, creating the largest population in the city's history. Oil was discovered in Wood County in the 1940s, bringing in more people and more industries, including sweet potato farms, a creamery, a nursery, a pole and pulpwood company that supplied telephone companies and, finally, cattle ranching. In 1951 a new depot was dedicated but was eventually used for different purposes. The depot we visited recently is a restored replica of the 1906 building, and is currently in use as a depot for Amtrak.







I always like to take a look at bathrooms; sometimes they are completely overlooked while other times they are fully considered as part of the design scheme. This time, they were considered:


Snazzy passes, tickets and other items preserved from the depot's heyday:



Nails with date stamps on the ends:


A conductor's hat:




Finally, for your viewing pleasure, a goofy picture of me outside the depot:


Our internet connection is horrifyingly sluggish right now, and we're headed off to Austin for a few days, so I'm sorry to say I wasn't able to schedule a post for Wednesday. Hopefully the kinks get worked out soon, so I can return to posting regularly.

Austin Treats

Hello, dear readers! As I mentioned last week, Oliver and I spent some time in Texas recently, and I wanted to share with you some of the fun stuff we came across.

One of our favorite finds was La Boite Cafe, a little pastry and coffee shop operating out of a repurposed 20-foot shipping container by Design Studio.

We love all varieties of macarons. There are the dense coconut macaroons typically consumed around Passover in the US, there are the Turkish versions, which are smoother and feature an almond on top, and, finally, the light, many-layered merengue-based French confectionary made famous by Laudree and Fauchon in Paris. Learn more about this complex little treat here.

Macarons appear to be sweeping the nation now, replacing the ubiquitous cupcake as the specialty dessert at weddings and events and they are popping up in cafes and bakeries all over. I've never met a macaron I didn't like, but I can't say I'm all that picky. Oliver, however, has an extremely acute sense of smell and taste. He has the capacity to discern distinct and subtle flavors in all foods and beverages ("do I detect a hint of cardamom?") while I just oafishly consume and make blanket statements like, "it's good."

Oliver, ready to dig in

Well, at La Boite, Oliver was rendered speechless by the culinary excellence of La Boite's macarons, going as far as to say they are the best he's ever had. That's big; he's had a lot. They were scrumptious. We were lucky enough to sample the lavender (Oliver's favorite), green tea, honey and pepper (my favorite), fleur de sel, and pistachio.

Remnant of a lavender macaron from La Boite

When we weren't eating or hanging around with our friends from Knifight or Akina Adderley and the Vintage Playboys (bands who's music you should buy, or check out a live performance if you're in the ATX area), we were poking around Austin's many wonderful shops. One standout was Uncommon Objects, a collective of twenty antique sellers under one enormous, seemingly never-ending roof.

Each seller carved out a beautifully styled "shop," complete with color stories and countless curiosities to look at. The prices are outstanding, especially from the perspective of a New Yorker. If you're into beautiful, unique treasures for the home, we highly recommend making time for this emporium.

On the same South Congress strip, we popped into STAG, an apparel and lifestyle store catering to the casual but well-appointed man. Talk about a well-curated shop. Oliver was convinced he needed just about everything in there (we walked out with a business card. We're trying to save money). But seriously, it's a gorgeous – in a manly way – store featuring rugged but classic clothing, outerwear and shoe labels, books and records, masculine trinkets, furniture, personal care and some fun taxidermy. My dear friend's men's clothing label, Life/After/Denim, is also represented. Go Alexis! Started by five stylin' guys, this is a shop not to be missed if you know a modern man with classic style. 

Photos courtesy A Continuous Lean

One spot on North Lamar boasts three shops we enjoyed checking out. The first was Wildflower Organics, which was already bookmarked as a go-to when shopping for my own projects (lovely bedding, textiles and accessories). Next door, we happened on Jaya, which also has locations in Dallas and Houston. The East-meets-West decor was all well-priced and easy on the eyes. Sadly, I didn't get any pictures, but check out this video for an idea of the aesthetic. Our jaunt on N. Lamar concluded at The Khazana, another lovely shop with the most luxurious hand-picked rugs and textiles from India, Pakistan, Turkey, Afganistan, Uzbekistan, and more. Furniture (stocked, antique and custom) and accessories abound. But, those textiles were divine.


Photos courtesy All Things Austin

The last place I'll share is The Driskill, Austin's landmark hotel located in the heart of downtown. Built in 1886 as the showplace of a cattle baron, The Driskill is a magnificent architectural gem. In 1969 the hotel was saved from the threat of demolition by the Heritage Society of Austin and locals. What are people thinking when they crusade to crush such stunning buildings??

The lobby and various meeting rooms are well-appointed with historic details and peppered with whimisical accents like cowhide chair backs, stuffed animal heads, equestrian and cattle-related imagery that give a nod to the Texas location.

The lobby

The Driskill does not skimp on details: their "D" emblem pops up everywhere, classic telephones sit at tables in the lobby, and art nouveau sconces flank the elevators.

The Driskill Bar



Oliver and I had a delicious breakfast at The Driskill's 1886 Cafe and Bakery, which felt a little bit like Balthazar in New York, but with decidedly Texas twists: stained glass complete with the Texas Lone Star and star-shaped chandeliers? Love! While I loved the hunter green tufted banquettes, the bistro chairs, however, were a bit of a departure from the rest of the look. They were oversized and cheap looking, upholstered in a weird "contemporary" pattern. But, let's try to ignore that, shall we? The food was delish and the whole experience was excellent.

Image courtesy 1886 Cafe and Bakery

Sail Away, Sail Away, Sail Away

Photographer unknown - if you know, tell me!

Did you catch the Enya reference? Did I take you straight back to the '90s?

It's 105 degrees in New York, so today I'm sending my obsession with compact spaces out to sea – we're talking boats, friends. My interest in transportation design goes deep. I explored the depths of this arena while doing research for my master's thesis, which was a tour bus modified to cart around a six-person cast and crew who would theoretically live and perform in the bus, which transformed for the different uses. I coined it StageCoach: A Mobile Live/Work Performance Space. Clever, right? I think I'm the only one patting myself on the back here.

I'll write about magic buses another day. Today I'm all about boats. In my limited experience (ie: an afternoon of scanning the interwebs for images and yacht design theories), it seems boat interior designers often take most of their queues from cookie-cutter suburban homes with over-stuffed furniture:

Grody!

Or they create fairly unremarkable interiors that hit you in the face with their over-the-top boaty-ness. We get it, you're a boat...mahogany...solid navy blue...on a boat...daring!

I'm more jazzed about the ones that really make a splash, if you will. The ones that discard pre-conceived notions of what a boat interior usually looks like and come up with something unique and fresh. When layered with various textures and unexpected elements (butterfly chair residential table lamp), the navy-and-wood palette actually works beautifully:

Yacht interior by Michael Turnbough via katiedid

Oculus Yacht by Schopfer Yachts

Lovely houseboat kitchen

Via Design Shimmer

Not surprisingly in this world of celebrities crossing over into other fields (Kate Spade designing tabletop, Lenny Kravitz, the decorator, etc.)....some of the most well-known architects have taken a stab at boat design.

Foster + Partners' Ocean Emerald:

The bathroom layout, with that cramped toilet situation, is a little odd, but we'll let it slide because the finishes are nice.

Never one to miss an opportunity, Phillippe Starck has designed a few yachts. Some images of Yacht A, which cost more than $300 million:

Images courtesy Superyachts.com and The Wall Street Journal

UK-based interior designer John Pawson was commissioned to put his luxurious minimalism stamp on a client's sailboat:

Images courtesy Elle Decor

An finally, while Christian Louboutin didn't necessarily design and outfit his boat himself, he has an exquisite houseboat in Egypt:

Photos by Francoise Halard, via Habitually Chic