respectful design

New Montrose studio brings bespoke European design to Houston

Houston’s newest interior design showroom is a dazzling display of how historic preservation and swanky European design can slip into a harmonious dialogue that quietly dismisses the longstanding notion that contemporary furniture has no place within the oftentimes rigid constraints of a traditional home.

Tucked between The Upper Hand Salon and The Phoenix Pub in the historic Winlow Westheimer buildings, Armazem.design is a lifestyle design boutique carrying elevated European design and architectural solutions from century-old brands such as Arclinia, Lema, Barausse, Foscarini, Gaggeneau, and Sub-Zero Wolf.

The name Armazem pays homage to founder and principal Jon Fante’s Brazilian roots. Traditionally, armazems were community cornerstones — general stores where people not only shopped but also learned, connected, and built long-term relationships. Appropriate then, that Fante would choose to nestle himself between a salon and a pub, two businesses that are traditional archetypes for familiarity and community.

Armazem.design is set up like a bespoke home as opposed to a traditional contemporary design concept space. With everything from stately 1920s Victorians to cozy 1930s bungalows still in play in Montrose, setting up shop in a “Houston Browns” brick building from the 1930s — complete with original wide plank floors, exposed brick interior, and open rafter ceilings — allows clients to get a genuine feel for how the product lines work within the framework of these older homes.

Fante, who was born, raised, and educated as a civil engineer in Brazil, came to the States in 2006 to handle US operations for Florense. Fante retired from his position as CEO in 2017 to start Armazem.design in Chicago. The decision to expand to Houston is something that Fante says was a no-brainer, as Houston has been moving towards a more contemporary style overall.

“What we are trying to show here is that you don’t have to be in the extremes. You don’t have to be in the extremes of classic American design, which is beautiful, and what is also perceived here as European design, which is super contemporary, which is also beautiful,” Fante tells CultureMap. “There is a breadth of solutions in the inbetween.”

The buildout for Armazem.design takes clients on a journey through two kitchens, a living room, dining room, generously-appointed closet and dressing space, home office, and casual den space, all outfitted with wall units, complex storage solutions, and warm, comfortable furnishings. Formerly open spaces have been divided into distinct concepts using architectural partitions that can be designed for any space.

Every aspect of Armazem.design is custom made to order. The design may follow a more European school, but there are wooden elements and handmade objects that protect their environment from the contemporary curse of feeling cold, uninviting, or institutional. With lead times around three to four months, going bespoke here is as accessible as placing orders from mainstream retailers.

“While there is a focus on kitchens, there are a lot of different products that we bring,” says Fante. “We are a showroom that is focused on interior architectural applications for home. We have partners in doors, partitions, wall paneling, closets — there is a lot. We got this historical place in Montrose and we made it as a home. We want people to walk in and feel like they could live here. It’s very comprehensive.”

The owners of the building are currently working with the city to gain historical recognition, something that would mean a lot for the neighborhood, and to Fante.

“We were very lucky to find this space. We preserved every historical element in the showroom — you see these very rustic floors, these floors are almost 100 years old.” Fante discovered more of the historic “Houston Browns” brick during the renovation (the classic Houston brick has been out of production for decades), all hidden behind swathes of drywall. “We ripped that all out to expose the true character of the space,” Fante explains. “Of course we kept the brick.”

Fante shares that the decision to restore the building led to a phrase from an architect in their Chicago showroom that has remained their motto here in Montrose: “Let’s not bully the space, let’s respect it.” That’s a sentiment that the entire neighborhood can get behind.

Armazem.design is located at 1911 Westheimer Road and is open Monday through Friday from 9 am-5 pm.

Photo by Laurie Perez

Armazem.design is located in the historic Winlow Westheimer buildings.

shopping home-design

gold pony club

Inside the creation of the rodeo cook-off’s most over-the-top tent

Courtesy of Cotton Holdings

The Gold Pony is the ultra-private VIP lounge behind the stage.

The Cotton Q Club is arguably the glitziest and most exclusive tent at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s annual World's Championship Bar-B-Que Contest. Hosting nearly 800 invited guests-per-night, the 5,000-square-foot space includes a 50-foot bar, a new pop-up martini bar by Sophie Cocktail & Terrace Bar called “The Stirrup,” the ultra-exclusive “Gold Pony Club,” and a full stage for private concerts. This season, county music acts include Gabby Barrett, Sammy Kershaw, Josh Turner and Braxton Keith.

Aside from the obvious, what sets the club apart from the rest is the sheer magnitude of its operation. Once inside, guests are encapsulated by velvet-draped ceilings illuminated by crystal chandeliers, three-layer tartan-topped carpeting, richly-colored wooden-paneled walls, plus thousands of red roses swathed acrobatically throughout.

To coincide with the year of the horse, five enormous ponies made entirely of red roses have been suspended from the ceilings. The second additions this year hang on either side of the bar in The Gold Pony, the club’s even more exclusive VIP area. The kinetic artworks were created by Houston artist Sneha Merchant —all for a three day fête. This begs the question: how do they do it?

Cotton Holdings and its subsidiaries are well positioned to carry out the entire project themselves — so they do. Never bothered or besmirched by the possibility of running into issues with rental companies, everything at The Cotton Q Club is procured, purchased, and stored in-house. As one would expect from a company that provides disaster relief around the world.

“There is a lot of love and care put into this because we’re not in a hotel, we’re not in someone’s home,” Cotton Holdings chief marketing officer Zinat Ahmed tells CultureMap. “So for us to be able to create this entire infrastructure under a tent — down to the walls and chandeliers — it is much more than throwing a party. It’s about the details that make people feel that they are at a hotel, they are in an extravagant room, they are at The Polo Bar.”

Ahmed notes that a lot of the company’s culture is mixed into the tent, such as what Cotton does as a disaster relief company (including providing food by Cotton Culinary).

“Cotton Logistics puts up tents during a natural disaster. Seeing the Cotton team, whether it’s cleaning or moving things around, welcoming everyone, that’s part of our Cotton GDS — we restore communities after natural disasters. Our synergies in different parts of our day-to-day are here,” she says.

Ahmed’s team has complete creative control over the interior aesthetics of the club. Always sourcing anything that cannot be made in-house to local vendors is something she feels is important. Nothing is rented, not even the furniture or accessories.

“Every single thing, unless it was done by a local vendor, was done in-house: design, signage, execution — even the embroidery,” she explains

Everything is checked over during the summer months so there won’t be any surprises when the cook-off comes back around. Every item is organized, labeled, and stored either in Cotton’s warehouses, Conex boxes, or in special climate-controlled safes — down to the matchboxes.

“We are always prepared and ready to go,” explains Ahmed. “It’s not chaotic at all because we’re used to it — it’s a normal day at Cotton.”

When asked for her favorite parts of the tent this year, Ahmed readily answered that it has to be the five rose ponies in the main area of the club. Secondly, the two commissioned works by Sneha Merchant. Sprinkled in diamond dust, one is a female mallard wrapped in a boa, champagne flute in hand, while the other is a smartly-suited jackalope complete with cowboy hat and martini.

Both pieces are lit by antique sconces Ahmed sourced from Round Top, while the taxidermy Zebra heads are on loan from the Columbus, Texas ranch of Cotton Holdings’ Chairman Pete Bell.

“Every detail, down to the swatches of velvet has been thought of with a lot of love and care,” says Ahmed. “You use that mindset with something like this. So, if you have a mindset like before you deploy to a hurricane, you can do it for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.”

Courtesy of Cotton Holdings

The Gold Pony is the ultra-private VIP lounge behind the stage.

houston livestock show and rodeo home-design cotton holdings