A bonafide Cliffie who has lived in three terrific North Oak Cliff houses since 1999, Jason Lenox still marvels at the pretty corner house he's called home for five years. He and his partner, Matt Taylor, bought the 1950s house from the original owners. The father was an architect who designed the house and landscape.
"They built it, lived in it and raised a family," says Lenox, owner of Anteks Home Furnishings in the Design District. "It was a time warp."
The couple have brought the house into the present beautifully, without sacrificing the past. Gone is the '70s foil wallpaper, multicolor shag carpets and pocket doors. In came the antique pine and renovated built-ins outfitted with sleek, modern hardware.
They kept the original windows, which are just big enough to allow a view of the treeline but not so small that the house feels dark. It is in the front room that Lenox feels the most at home — and the most himself.
"I like to see what's coming and going," he says of the view outside. The inside "makes me happy," he says. "I love the colors in the room and the white walls [Silver Lining by Pratt & Lambert]."
Lenox's love affair with Santa Fe style and art is evident. The room is filled with eclectic finds ranging from a vintage oak pig slaughtering bench to Navajo rugs, Acoma pottery and a Day of the Dead cockfight tableau. A vintage Cassina sofa, scored at a resale shop, is covered in camel hair fabric that had to be sent to HQ in Italy for approval before they'd make a slipcover for it.
Glass, chrome and mirrored tables add a modern finish, while a vintage Knoll white table and chairs are "totally '80s," he says. "We'll probably part with that at some point." Collections of books, copper boxes and Murano glass ashtrays are displayed thoughtfully — striking a balance between interesting and cluttered. Still, he's a shopper.
"If I see another copper box I love, I know what I'm going to do," he says. "I'm going to buy it. I'll just have to figure out what to do with my least favorite one." And because the last thing he wants to do after a long day at work is think about the office, you won't find a single piece of Anteks.
Anteks Home Furnishings owner Jason Lenox has lived in three different North Oak Cliff homes since 1999.
