When a historic house speaks, smart designers know to listen. So what exactly did architect Peter Pennoyer and interior designer Ashley Avrea Cathey hear from this century-old Hollywood Regency grand dame in Dallass tony Highland Park enclave? Tantalizingly whispered sweet somethings of restrained glamour and easy elegance, with gentle touches of whimsy and fantasy thrown in too.From these whispers, the duo developed an aesthetic narrativeone as much about soigne soirees as fun family dinnersthat would celebrate the houses past while simultaneously improving upon its design to help it best serve its present-day owners: a husband and wife who love to entertain both formally and more casually, and their three young children.This family knew that we love working on old houses, says Pennoyer, explaining what drew the preservation-minded homeowners to his Manhattan-based firm. We love making them the best they can be and also changing them, weaving our design eye through, but in a subtle way. Cathey echoes Pennoyers point of view on the need for a designer to have a light hand, also noting the leading role the homeowners can take. She says she never wants the work of her firm, Dallass Avrea and Company, to be overly apparent: Our mantra is always to be the best version of what our clients vision is.Pennoyer added gentle vaults to the sides of the entry gallerys plastered ceiling, which Cathey then had lacquered, commissioning glomis artist Miriam Ellner to decorate the glass panels of the central lantern. Its floral pattern recreates, in miniature, the print on the Fromental wallpaper seen in the stair hall behind. The artwork hanging on the wallover a Jamb console and between vintage sconces from 1stDibsis by Jay Shinn.Art: Jay Shinn/Barry Whistler Gallery, Dallas, TXThe sweeping curve of steps Pennoyer designed sits in a slightly different place than the original, much more pedestrian, staircase. Theyre now a sculptural object that floats in front of these huge windows, the architect says, noting that in a historic home, its wonderful when you can do something new but it fits better with whats there.