{"id":418282,"date":"2026-08-27T15:10:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T15:10:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/418282\/"},"modified":"2026-08-27T15:10:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T15:10:17","slug":"tour-todd-romanos-daring-home-in-san-antonio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/418282\/","title":{"rendered":"Tour Todd Romano\u2019s Daring Home in San Antonio"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Estimated5 min read<\/p>\n

It turns out you can go home again. That is precisely what decorator Todd Romano<\/a> did in 2016, returning to his birthplace of San Antonio after three rollicking and successful decades in Manhattan.<\/p>\n

Not only did Romano boomerang back to his hometown\u2014and to the Monte Vista neighborhood he\u2019d known since boyhood\u2014but he settled down in a singular house he\u2019d had his eye on for roughly a quarter of a century. \u201cMy parents lived a few blocks away, and I\u2019ve always loved this neighborhood,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"toddDouglas Friedman<\/p>\n

Todd Romano in the entry with English Lab, George.<\/p>\n

The house, a modest two-story Georgian Revival structure on a low rise set back from the street, was designed in 1936 by Atlee B. and Robert M. Ayres, a father-and-son architecture firm best known for their municipal structures throughout South-Central Texas and for the Spanish Revival behemoths they designed for the San Antonio elite. The two also produced plans for more modest Georgian Revival structures to house the local professional class. Romano\u2019s is one. Let him explain: \u201cThe house was built for a doctor and his wife, people from an old Texas family, and, at 3,100 square feet, it\u2019s probably the smallest house they ever did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Visiting town one weekend a quarter century ago, he detoured through Monte Vista on his way to a cocktail party and abruptly hit the brakes. \u201cI just screeched to a stop\u201d at the sight of the house, he says. When a real estate agent and friend later informed him that the house\u2019s longtime owner had recently died, he called on the widow to see if she wanted to sell.<\/p>\n

Several jolly cocktails later, it became clear that she did not. And so decades elapsed before Romano found himself established again in Texas and midway through renovating another structure when, out of the blue, in came a call saying his dream house had suddenly come on the market. \u201cI had a ton of money tied up in this Georgian wreck I was fixing, but I came to see it anyway,\u201d he explains. \u201cI was here for 10 minutes and told the agent, \u2018Just get it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"toddDouglas FriedmanLayered atop a m\u00e9lange of printed percale bed linens (D. Porthault<\/a>) is a 19th-century floral Texas quilt. Peruvian and Spanish Colonial mirrors shimmer atop red wool felt walls (Claremont<\/a>). A Louis XV\u2013style step stool in gauffrage velvet (Lee Jofa<\/a>) serves as decadent doggie steps.<\/p>\n

Yet why this old house? \u201cI love funny, small houses\u2014the scale, the cozy spaces, these 10 oddly tidy little rooms,\u201d says Romano. “Even though this is a modest house, it has proportion and style. And when I think about this place, I truly think of it as coming home\u2014geographically, physically\u2014in terms of lifestyle. It\u2019s a deep emotional thing for me because, for all that I\u2019d done in New York, I realized at a certain point that my life there wasn\u2019t making me happy. I wanted some connection to nature, dirt, and plants and a garden. I\u2019m a country boy, I\u2019ve always said it, though a fancy one. And I love sky.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the hoard of assorted objects Romano had amassed through the years, there was also a southward migration. Called in from storage in three separate states, Romano\u2019s magpie collections soon found their way to Texas, where they settled into his new dwelling in surprisingly easy, if off-kilter, juxtapositions. The result, Romano says, is somewhat like having all the people you\u2019ve ever been intimately involved with walk into the same room at once.<\/p>\n

\"toddDouglas FriedmanOn exhibit in the dining room: Roy Lichtenstein, George N. Morris, Josef Albers, and Robert Goodnough. A McGuire<\/a> rattan-and-leather table is paired with Louis XVI painted chairs. Carved 18th- century case clock, ReVue Antiques.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnybody who knows me would recognize right away that I decorated with things from my other houses: my Warhol silk-screen print of Liz Taylor; my dining room chairs from Sutton Place; a reupholstered sectional sofa from the Los Angeles apartment; doodads from my various shops. The house became a kind of Todd magnet, attracting this big mix-up from all over the country and the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a sense, Romano continues, he was also returning consciously to a style of decorating that he grew up with and was forged through his admiration for that generation of storied professionals (Mario Buatta and David Easton among them) who directly preceded him.<\/p>\n

\"toddDouglas FriedmanA virtuoso\u2019s guide to owning the color wheel: Taxicab yellow, pure red, and cobalt are a mighty foundation for soft pastels and nuanced naturals. A pair of Chinese baluster vases fitted as lamps bookends a custom button-tufted sofa. Central artwork, C-Ring 1, Todd & Fitch<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn that regard, the house is traditional,\u201d he explains. \u201cAt the same time, I used color intentionally and intensely\u2014lacquered walls of checker-cab yellow or salmon pink; this odd, very Parisian stri\u00e9 carpet going up the stairs; and all these wackadoodle combinations like natural burlap or tomato-red wool felt\u2014precisely because I didn\u2019t want the place to look like my grandmother\u2019s house.\u201d<\/p>\n

If he dared himself to push taste to its limits, that is because, says Romano, \u201cI very much wanted a place that would make my pictures and objects pop. I freely admit that the colors are kind of insane, but it\u2019s meant to be provocative and nonserious and fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"toddDouglas Friedman<\/p>\n

Glass walls and a chic awning-stripe ceiling give the sunroom the liberating air of a country lawn party.<\/p>\n

Friends from childhood routinely come around for games of Onze or canasta, Champagne pick-me-ups on the terrace, and ensuing, well-lubricated laughter. Romano\u2019s English Labrador retriever, George, is given run of the house. \u201cI couldn\u2019t care less about the furniture,\u201d Romano says.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, the last thing I\u2019d ever want is for any place of mine to feel stuffy,\u201d he adds. \u201cThere are some nice things here, yes, and I do get a kick out of having these painted wood Louis XV side chairs from Jackie Onassis\u2019s apartment. But at the end of the day, it\u2019s all just a frame for your life. I honestly get as much excitement out of a plastic snake that I bought for five bucks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Living Room\"todd<\/p>\n

Douglas Friedman<\/p>\n

A curvy cane-backed Louis XVI fauteuil with an 18th-century ormolu bureau plat. Silk taffeta drapery fabric, Clarence House<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dining Room\"todd<\/p>\n

Douglas Friedman<\/p>\n

A subtle fret pattern floats across a vintage silver-leaf paper (Gracie<\/a>), giving it a mercurial sense of movement. A Chinese Chippendale\u2013style mirror (KRB<\/a>) and a Louis XVI mahogany-and-marble commode in the dining room.<\/p>\n

Kitchen + Breakfast Room \"todd<\/p>\n

Douglas Friedman<\/p>\n

\"todd<\/p>\n

Left: Custom Talavera tiles are arranged in a graphic chevron pattern with glossy ebony cabinetry (Black, Fine Paints of Europe<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Right: A collection of Portuguese and Italian cabbageware on display in the breakfast room.<\/p>\n

Staircase\"todd<\/p>\n

Douglas Friedman<\/p>\n

English and Dutch dog portraiture mingles with allegorical and scenic paintings from across Europe.<\/p>\n

Library\"todd<\/p>\n

Douglas Friedman<\/p>\n

Romano plays up contrasting materials in the library with glazed lacquer walls, Ultrasuede seating, and fur and sisal rugs. A 1930s cast-iron star lantern hangs over a French bronze-and-\u00e9glomis\u00e9 glass coffee table. Sconces, Hinson<\/a>, with Illum\u00e9 NYC<\/a> shades.<\/p>\n

Bath\"todd<\/p>\n

Douglas Friedman<\/p>\n

In Romano\u2019s bath, a rose-festooned wallpaper (de Gournay<\/a>) is trimmed in purple grosgrain ribbon (Samuel & Sons<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Become a VERANDA Design Society Member\"Become<\/a>Become a VERANDA Design Society Member<\/p>\n

This feature originally appeared in the May\/June 2021 issue of VERANDA. Interior design by Todd Alexander Romano; architectural renovation by William Lancarte, Curtis & Windham; photography by Douglas Friedman; styling by Anita Sarsidi; written by Guy Trebay.
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