Above Austin

A luxurious, black and white marble floor, leather studded walls, Jeffrey Gibson painting on the wall. An Austin, Texas penthouse designed by Fern Santini, art collection curated by Dylan Turk. Leading Austin designers.

A penthouse on the 37th floor of a downtown Austin tower, designed by Fern Santini with architecture by Michael Hsu. Double-height ceilings, glass to the floor, the whole city underneath. We were brought in as art advisor to build a contemporary collection that could hold its own in a room like that.

When the architecture is this confident, the art has to meet it. So the process was the full arc: getting to know the clients, research, acquisition, installation. I wanted to understand not just what they responded to but what they aspired to, and use that to introduce them to artists who could stretch them. The goal was never decoration. It was building a real collection, at the top of the market, for people who were ready for one.

Large works anchor the double-height rooms with the authority the space asks for. Elsewhere the scale shifts: a beaded, graphic Jeffrey Gibson electrifies a studded-leather foyer; sculpture threads through the rooms without raising its voice. Every placement was a conversation with Fern and Michael’s vision, not an addition to it.

It lives now as a great interior and a serious collection at once, each making the other better. That is what advisory is for.

Luxury Austin penthouse living room with double-height ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows, navy velvet sofas, and large-scale contemporary abstract art--Dylan Turk.
A modern interior bar with black cabinets, glass shelves with bottles and glasses, and decorative objects. The bar has a gold and black color scheme with a checkered black and white marble floor. The upper wall features vertical gold paneling and three spherical pendant lights hanging from the ceiling.
Living room with black walls, leopard print furniture, a colorful glass chandelier, gold side tables, and a window showing outdoors.
Penthouse living in downtown Austin, contemporary collected double-height living room with contemporary art collection by Cruz Ortiz. Dylan Turk
A Vivian springford painting from the 1970s hanging in luscious, saturated bedroom. Art collection curated by Austin Based designer Dylan Turk
Modern living room and bedroom with geometric wall decor, colorful neon wall art, and a black and gold chandelier.
Modern living room with large floor-to-ceiling windows showing a city skyline, featuring a gray sectional sofa with decorative pillows, a blanket, and a small table with a vase of pink flowers, and metallic spherical pendant lights hanging from the ceiling.
Modern dining room with a black table, yellow patterned chairs, a gray area rug, large windows, a chandelier, and a decorative hanging sculpture.
Living room with leopard print sofa, gold metallic side tables, black and white tiled floor, black walls with built-in display shelves holding decorative vases and art pieces, and a colorful glass chandelier near a window.
Luxurious interior with black and white checkered marble floor, mirrored walls, gold accents, and green vases with black flowers.
Luxury kitchen with black and white marble walls and floors, gold accents, a black island with gold trim, three black bar stools with gold legs, a green plant, and fresh vegetables on the counter.
A bedroom corner with a beige bed and purple bedding, a black bedside table with a gold floral pattern, a white lamp with a gold decorative base, and a pink vase with dark red flowers, next to a white wall and a colorful abstract painting.