Beyond Brown’s library/dining room stand lamps made from high-voltage insulators in the entryway.
I always wanted a library–slash–dining room,” says Jill Brown, who owns a housewares shop in Houston. “I always wanted to eat and entertain among books.”
Perched at her ebonized mahogany Napoleon III table in a corner lined with shelves of art tomes, an Hermès scarf casually tossed around her neck and a spread of cheeses and crusty breads laid before her, Brown exudes the unmistakable air of someone who has spent a fair share of time in Europe. This three-bedroom country home northwest of the city, near the town of Bellville, looks equally civilized. Brown’s little pocket of East Texas, where the coastal plains give way to gently rolling hills carved into small farms and vacation acreage, lends itself well to the finer pleasures of country life.