{"id":83128,"date":"2025-12-10T14:08:22","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T14:08:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/83128\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T14:08:22","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T14:08:22","slug":"hotel-daphne-in-houston-garden-gun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/83128\/","title":{"rendered":"Hotel Daphne in Houston \u2013 Garden & Gun"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 1891, Texas developers came together to form one of the state\u2019s earliest planned communities just north of downtown Houston. Oscar Martin Carter, the head of the project, saw the \u201cstreetcar suburb\u201d of Houston Heights as a place for business leaders and working families to live and flourish outside the hustle and bustle of the growing city. Carter\u2019s vision, along with the well-preserved Arts and Crafts architecture around the neighborhood, sparked excitement in Tenaya Hills, the head of design at Bunkhouse Hotels<\/a> and its newly opened Hotel Daphne<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom a hotel concept perspective, the starting point was really Houston Heights itself\u2014its history of a planned, utopian community, with historic character and big intentions,\u201d Hills says. \u201cThe secret drinking houses that popped up during Prohibition, the counter-culture energy of the 1960s, and all the patina and personality that came with those eras. You end up with a [neighborhood] that feels layered, lived-in, and shaped by generations of rebellious characters.\u201d<\/p>\n

That defiant spirit inspired the name of the hotel, which nods to the myth of Daphne\u2014the Greek goddess who, in order to escape the pursuit of Apollo, shape-shifted into a laurel tree. \u201cWe loved the idea of a place defined by independence, transformation, and the quiet power of choosing your own form,\u201d Hills says.<\/p>\n

Below, take a closer look at the art- and antique-filled Hotel Daphne.<\/p>\n

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For the lobby, Hills sourced textured seating and vintage tables from antiquing trips to Round Top, Austin\u2019s Joint Detail<\/a> and Uncommon Objects<\/a>, and Houstons Heights\u2019s Antiques on Yale<\/a>. Reupholstering furniture, such as the round entryway couch from Holler & Squall<\/a> in Round Top, allowed for Hills to collaborate with Houston designers and incorporate pops of red to echo the trim and Vernon Fisher\u2019s Physics Questions painting. House of Hackney pillows, overlaid with orange and dusky-blue flowers and griffons, amp up the whimsy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cOur hope with Hotel Daphne is to create a community living room for both residents and guests,\u201d Hills says. In the cozy library pictured above, guests can peruse the art within teal lacquered built-ins, thumb through art and design books, or play a game of chess with onyx pieces on custom game tables. A reclining figure, painted by Kelli Vance<\/a>, takes center stage and ties in the room\u2019s rich gold and dark blue hues. \u201cThe overall palette is eclectic and grounded in timeless architectural colors inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, including deep blues, earthy greens, and terra-cotta.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The guest rooms play up that earthy palette and the mythological woodlands of Daphne. Hills sourced the fabric for the headboard from the English design brand Osborne and Little and felt drawn to its \u201cmoody mix\u201d of coneflowers, grasses, daisies, and poppies from the Trebah Gardens in Cornwall. Overhead, the organic curves and silky fabric of the light fixture, crafted by Copenhagen maker Oi Soi Oi, balances the intricacy of the botanical textile.<\/p>\n

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160 pieces from the Cat Spring Collection\u2014Bob and Nora Ackerley\u2019s private art holdings\u2014color the walls of the hotel\u2019s library, lobby, guest rooms, and restaurant. Curated by Hesse McGraw (the former executive director of Contemporary Arts Museum Houston), this cache of museum-worthy works includes a 1992 lithograph from Joan Mitchell (pictured here in the dining room of the Terrace Suite) and paintings from Thomas Nozkowski, Vernon Fisher, Dorothy Hood, and Mark Flood, plus commissioned pieces from San Antonio artist Matt Kleberg<\/a> and Austin-born multimedia artist Alexandra Valenti<\/a>. \u201cDaphne is full of art that\u2019s accessible and relatable,\u201d Hills says. \u201cThere\u2019s something special about getting to experience a collection like this in such an unpretentious, home-like setting.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The team worked closely with Valenti, whose original paintings of surrealist scenes of women in nature hang in the guest rooms. \u201cWe\u2019ve always wanted to collaborate with her on a hotel, and Daphne finally felt like the right fit,\u201d Hills says. \u201cIt was a chance to bring her point of view into the project in a way that feels authentic to the Heights and to the spirit of the property.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Dark jade-green tiles pad a guest room bathroom.<\/p>\n

\"Inside<\/p>\n

The on-site restaurant Hypsi<\/a> specializes in seasonal Italian fare from chef Terrence Gallivan, including house-made focaccia; roasted snapper drizzled with salsa verde; black squid ink radiatori; and roasted beets studded with blood orange, gorgonzola, hibiscus, and pistachio. The drink menu plays up Italian flavors, too: negronis with tomato- and black olive\u2013infused campari, tiramisu milk punch, and pepperoncini martinis. A mozzarella cart delivers cheese, pickled fruit, aged vinegars, and squares of focaccia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gabriela Gomez-Misserian<\/a>, Garden & Gun\u2019s digital producer, joined the magazine in 2021 after studying English and studio art in Virginia\u2019s Shenandoah Valley. She is an oil painter and gardener, often uniting her interests to write about creatives\u2014whether artists, naturalists, designers, or curators\u2014across the South. Gabriela paints and lives in downtown Charleston with her golden retriever rescue, Clementine.<\/p>\n