Estate of Mind

photography Pär Bengtsson

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Walls at both ends of the gallery are covered in antiqued mirrors to create an infinity illusion. Designer Shelby Wagner inherited the Baker secretary from his mother. Antique chair belonged to his grandmother. Christopher Spitzmiller lamp. (Photo by Pär Bengtsson)

Shelby Wagner and Niven Morgan open the doors to their antiques-filled Volk Estates residence in University Park, designed by O’Neil Ford protégé Duane Landry.

On a Sunday in 2018, interior designer Shelby Wagner got a call from a friend and client. She had her eye on a newly listed house in University Park’s historic Volk Estates and was eager for a second opinion. Would Wagner and his husband, Niven Morgan, the noted creator of candles and home scents, join her for a walkthrough and share their insights? To their delight, the house was one the couple had admired for years while strolling the nearby neighborhood with their dog, a Catahoula named Harlow.

The house’s front entry, concealed behind a pair of metal gates with a modern trellis motif, beckoned further inquiry.

“That one element gave it so much intrigue and interest,” Wagner says. He was thrilled to finally glimpse inside. “We had no idea we were going to fall in love with the interiors at first sight.”

When his client ultimately changed her mind about the house, Wagner and Morgan purchased it themselves.

Screenshot 2025-04-24 at 3.29.17 PM (Photo by Pär Bengtsson) — Shelby Wagner and Niven Morgan with their Catahoula, Harlow. (Photo by Pär Bengtsson)

The Texas Modern-style residence was designed in 1993 by O’Neil Ford protégé Duane Landry, who began his career in 1959 at O’Neil Ford & Associates in San Antonio. Ford is considered the originator of the Texas Modern architecture style and likely inspired Landry’s concept for the Volk Estates residence. Landry and his wife, architect Jane Landry, continued their collaboration with Ford and his firm for decades, even after establishing their own practice.

SHOP FOR MOM

The association with O’Neil Ford holds special significance for Wagner, who grew up in Amarillo admiring the great architect’s many contributions to the region, including the building where Wagner’s father worked.

The Volk Estates house is just a few decades old, but it has a distinguished legacy. Late philanthropist Beatrice Haggerty, the widow of Texas Instruments co-founder Patrick Haggerty, was 80 years old when she commissioned Landry to design her dream house — a decision no doubt influenced by her longstanding connection with O’Neil Ford, who died in 1982.

As patrons of education and science, the Haggertys had enlisted Ford to create notable civic projects, including buildings for St. Mark’s School of Texas and University of Dallas, along with a technologically advanced design for Texas Instruments’ Semiconductor Building. In 1958, Ford devised the Haggertys’ Preston Hollow house, considered one of the architect’s most important residential designs.

Duane Landry’s concept for Bea Haggerty’s house in Volk Estates may not carry the same name recognition as O’Neil Ford, but its design is a tour de force. Built as a series of pavilions connected by long, light-filled galleries around a central courtyard, the house combines a slate roof, stucco exterior, and clean, simple lines to striking effect. This elegant, modern project stands apart even in a neighborhood renowned for its architectural heritage. Noted for grand and historic homes on expansive scenic lots, Volk Estates has attracted such eminent architects as Hal Thomson, George Dahl, Frank Welch, Fooshee & Cheek, Peter Marino, and Thomas Kligerman.

Screenshot 2025-04-24 at 3.36.00 PM (Photo by Pär Bengtsson) — The gallery’s original French-Brown floors were restored. Wicker plant stands from Atelier Vime, Paris. (Photo by Pär Bengtsson)

Shelby Wagner drew inspiration from the past when designing the interiors of their new house.

“It was important to create something timeless, so rather than looking for what’s new in the market, I went back to things I have always loved,” he says.

A search through old magazine tear sheets and photos he’d saved elicited a trove of favorites that eventually made their way into the house. Among them are a pair of parchment-and-brass coffee tables by Frederick Victoria, the New York City manufacturer of bespoke furniture whose early clients included the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Grace Kelly, Elsie de Wolfe, and Billy Baldwin. Wagner had the dining-room walls papered in Gracie Tobacco Leaf, with de Gournay African Savannah in the bar, and hung a large plaster chandelier by Stephen Antonson in the dining room.

Other long-revered pieces that made the cut were a hand-knotted rug by Doris Leslie Blau for Stark in a classic Greek-key pattern; yards of exquisite Clarence House, Rogers & Goffigon, and Holland & Sherry fabrics; and a hoard of glazed Christopher Spitzmiller lamps — the latter, an obsession of his. A pair of handwoven rattan fern stands from Atelier Vime in Paris dominates the entry gallery with the drama of architectural columns.

“I’ve loved all these things for so long, I don’t imagine changing my mind about them anytime soon,” Wagner says.

Screenshot 2025-04-24 at 3.30.32 PM (Photo by Pär Bengtsson) — The dining room’s antique table, breakfront, and Baker chairs belonged to Shelby Wagner’s grandmother. Antique rug inherited from his mother. Walls covered in Gracie Tobacco Leaf print. Phillip Jeffries Platinum Leaf paper on ceiling. Stephen Antonson plaster chandelier from Wells Abbott. (Photo by Pär Bengtsson)

In the living room, the custom blue velvet sofa and corner banquette were both influenced by rooms designed by Jeffrey Bilhuber, whose work Wagner has always admired.

“A really long sofa was important to anchor that wall,” he says. “Niven asked for a banquette, and it fit perfectly in the corner. It’s the first place people go to sit in that room — even the dog.”

The monumental old Zuber mural that hangs over the sofa was discovered by Morgan while he was shopping at Muse on Slocum.

Wagner recalls, “He called me and said, ‘Oh, you need this for one of your clients,’ and I said, ‘No, actually that’s absolutely perfect for our living room.”

The piece was originally 14 panels long — far too big for their available wall space — so the dealer agreed to sell them half of it in 30 days if no one purchased it. Wagner had it restored, leaving just enough patina to retain its original vintage appeal.

Wagner wanted the interiors to feel collected rather than designed, so they brought a lot of furniture and art from their previous house on Greenbrier. Morgan’s collection of outsider art from Louisiana, where he grew up, is an engaging mix with the antiques passed down from Wagner’s family, including his interior designer mother and Amarillo grandmother, who often bought at auction, traveled the world, and lent him her books on Billy Baldwin.

In the living room, Wagner has a bronze faux bois table with a chinoiserie top that his grandmother bought from the estate of Sybil Harrington, an Amarillo grand dame and Slim Aarons muse. A rope mirror designed by his mother hangs over a red snakeskin Karl Springer console in the entryway, and he’s devoted a guest bedroom to the hand-painted floral furniture and decoupage lamps his grandmother collected on her global jaunts.

Screenshot 2025-04-24 at 3.40.34 PM (Photo by Pär Bengtsson) — In the living room, vintage Zuber panels from Muse on Slocum. Shelby Wagner designed the sofa in Fox Linton velvet. Frederick P. Victoria & Son brass-and-parchment coffee tables. Vintage bouclé club chairs and pouf. In foreground, the chair in original Clarence House cut velvet belonged to Wagner’s mother. Cameron Collection game table, Doris Leslie Blau rug for Stark. (Photo by Pär Bengtsson)

With so many different styles and periods, the designer looked to seating, beds, walls, and windows, to tie things together.

“I was careful to make the upholstered pieces, drapery fabrics, and wall coverings cohesive so it wasn’t just a jumble of random stuff,” he says.

Morgan, it seems, was in charge of the fun. He picked out a red games table from Cameron Collection for the living room, and an upstairs study (which they’ve dubbed Niven’s lair) is an Africa-inspired hangout for watching TV while stretched out on a plush persimmon velvet sofa.

“Niven is a little bit flashy,” Wagner says affectionately.

A cast-iron tub plated with chrome is Morgan’s happy place, an evening retreat for streaming a show and trying out a new candle scent. When Wagner sent him to the stone yard to pick out countertops for the kitchen, Morgan chose a marble with busy green-and-gray veining — way too much for the kitchen, but just right for the bar.

Art direction Michelle Aviña. Interior design Shelby Wagner Design. Original architecture Duane Landry, Landry & Landry. Renovation architecture Christy Blumenfeld, Blume Architecture. Flowers Jackson Durham.

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Shelby Wagner and Niven Morgan Open The Doors to Their Antiques-Filled Residence in Dallas' University Park