24 Apr Dinner for Two at The Roosevelt Library? How About Art, Architecture and Design for 22!

Wow, what a whirlwind of a spring it’s been!  Having recently enjoyed celebrating my birthday and anniversary in gorgeous spring weather here in Austin, while many of you are still dealing with snow and ice, we’ve been attending lavish dinners and posting lots of pretty floral outdoor scenes in our Insta Stories for you. My cousin, visiting for my birthday, and I had great fun cutting the roses from the trellis and making beautiful indoor arrangements.

This week on the blog we’re sharing what happens when interior designers get together for dinner. Not just any group of interior designers, but ones that work on luxury million dollar homes. Not just any dinner, but a Downton Abbey-themed dinner.  Not just at any restaurant, but at the historic Roosevelt Library, a residence and showroom bringing art, architecture and design together in the most beautiful and fascinating setting. (Learn more about the history of the library HERE.)

I had the honor of attending this spectacular dinner fit for royalty last month with members of the Design Society Dinner Club (DSDC) at The Roosevelt Library in San Antonio. I joined this Dinner Club last fall because I wanted to learn more about, and collaborate with, luxury interior designers. I’ve really enjoyed being a member, and was delighted to find many of the members I had met at the first event I attended last winter. Below are the 22 members who were guests at this fabulous Annual Downton Abbey event.

Going to San Antonio for this incredible dinner party was perfect timing for me and just the inspiration I needed to gear up to clean out TWO huge storage units in April. (Why do I mention this you ask? You’ll see.)

With the help of 6 friends, we did it! Here’s proof of our empty units. Boy, does it ever feel great to purge after 34 years of living in the same home. I highly recommend it!

I’m excited about clearing out the storage units because we discovered 4 more leaves to my Grandmother’s antique dining table! My husband and I love to entertain, and ever since the Downton Abbey dinner I’ve been dreaming about how to pull off something similar.  And now with the extra table leaves, we can seat up to hopefully 15 guests. Its not the 22 in San Antonio, and we won’t have butlers (or maybe we will, you never know??), but it’s darn close. Now all I have to do is find a white linen tablecloth that will fit the new length! (You can tell which ones are the 4 extra, non-finished, leaves, and I think we still have 3 more and lots of miscellaneous antique chairs!)

But back to the dinner party. It was put on by the Design Society Dinner Club’s founder and Kravet rep, Oscar Lupibo, sponsored by Holloway Interiors, and hosted by Leland Stone of Stone Standard. Since Oscar and I are working on starting an Austin chapter of the DSDC, I heavily recruited my dear friend, interior designer Patrick Landrum, of PL&D Patrick Landrum Design, to join the club and attend the dinner. Although his new vintage jag was not ready to drive to San Antonio for the evening, it was ready last weekend to drive me to my birthday dinner as you can see below. Don’t you think it suits me just fine? When I win the lottery, this is the car I’m buying!

Patrick is always the perfect gentleman and we had such a wonderful time in San Antonio at the DSDC’s Annual Downton Abbey dinner party. (Note: I got chilled and host Leland offered up his mother’s mink stole that was hanging in the in-house barber shop. Vintage Joske’s no less. Texans remember department store Joske’s).

More fun photos below, with art and design that only added to the rich and unique ambiance of The Roosevelt Library. But let me first tell you a little bit about the Design Society Dinner Club (DSDC) It was founded by Oscar Lupibo to create a synergistic group of interior designers that share and celebrate their achievements in luxury design and elevate awareness of high end interior design. Members have either designed multi-million dollar homes, or, like myself and many others, are vendors for designers who work on multi-million dollar homes. Here are the membership benefits.

DSDC hosts several events throughout the year from Kravet textile trunk shows and luncheons to special dinner parties, sometimes at client’s homes like last year’s Annual Holiday Affair through interior designer Linda Love (see our blog post HERE).

The Dinner Club also travels throughout Europe together and the next exciting trip is THIS August to London! No, I won’t be attending, but you can if you become a Design Society Dinner Club member. 

If you are a designer or architect interested in joining as a member of the Austin/San Antonio Design Society Dinner Club, or going on this fabulous trip “Eight Days in London”, please email Oscar at:
oscar.lupiba@kravet.com for more info.
Visit the club’s website (www.designsocietydinner.club) for photos of previous trips or Facebook: Design Society Dinner Club – Austin & San Antonio.

After attending the BOLD Summit last September where I learned a lot of tips to take my business to the next level, I was thrilled to be invited by Oscar to become a member of the DSDC, and now a sponsor to help grow the Austin chapter. I was a little shy at the first event I attended (yes, I know, hard to believe, but I can be quite shy!), but by the 2nd event, the Downton Abbey Annual Dinner Party, I was not only delighted that Patrick came along, but that several members who had only met me once immediately came up to me to say hello. I had so much fun!! Love that Texas Friendly approach to life!

Now onto the dinner, the guests, and the incredible Roosevelt library and showroom..

Let me try to capture the mood of the event through the wonderful photos by professional photographer Alfredo Vazquez and a few of my own photos as well.

The lobster bisque and dinner were delicious (I don’t think I’ve ever tasted a Tiramisu so divine!) and the atmosphere absolutely transformative and inspiring!

Far from English stuffiness, the DSDC members had a fabulous time – loads of fun, laughter, and stories – all shared in an exquisite romantic showroom and the residence of Leland Stone. These photos below capture the essence of spirit of the group.

The Downton Abbey Dinner was truly one of the most memorable evenings I’ve ever had!

Leland even took time during dinner to introduce all his long-time butlers, assistants and chef. That was a very unique and special moment  How many Dowton Abbey dinners do that?!?

One of the things I loved most about this intimate evening was the simple white table cloth, silver candelabras, surrounded by glowing votives and rich red rose centerpieces, my favorite flower.  As a child my family used to have dinner by candlelight, so I think I’ll soon be on the hunt for some silver candelabras!

It was so beautiful and a style of table top decor I love – simple elegance. This photo below by Alfredo Vazquez really captures the beauty.

Many thanks to Oscar Lupibo, Leland Stone, Michael Morrison, and my escort Patrick Landrum and all the other guests, butlers, chefs and even the bass and piano player for a fantastic evening!  Thinking about hosting a lavish dinner party?  Be sure to reach out to The Roosevelt Library, or better yet, become a member of the Austin/San Antonio Design Society Dinner Club!

Please enjoy the photos below and maybe they’ll inspire you too to entertain more. One thing that was so fascinating about the Roosevelt Library is that it was a showroom and residence all wrapped into one, with such unique details like a barber shop and a tailor!  Thank you Leland for the private tour.

Till next time, I’ve got two days intensive training here in Dallas at the BOLD Summit Logistics course with dear friend and mentor, Julia Molloy. More on what I learn coming soon!  Happy Spring! XO PG

Note: This blog post is sponsored by the Design Society Dinner Club.  All photography is by myself and photographer Alfredo Vazquez (where noted); opinions are my own.

And last but not least, the cool barbershop with its collection of brushes and cologne bottles.

Oh, I almost forgot! I was given a tour of the kitchen too and of course melted when I saw this showstopping luxury La Cornue range!

One more candle light scene of the elegance of the evening (and dont you love those pendants?) and then I will say farewell from the barbershop chair for fun!