volume 2 issue 4 | NovemBeR 2009 | theVIPmag.com VOLUME 6 ISSUE 4 | February 2013 | theVIPmag.com of southeast texas feb & fab 20 Fashion tips for Groundhog Day, RED Super Bowl Sunday, Chinese New Year, HOT Valentine’s Day, accessories President’s Day Anchor & author Mix Jackie love and Simien work without killing your spouse Atribute to Bill Leger A fresh look for the Hollywood artist Curtis Willard Schnell historical home Two Film & Music Fests complimentary sdf World Class Surgery. Personal Attention. 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Palafox, MD Chief, VIP and Breast HELP Centers Christopher Timmons, MD Chief, Paraesophageal Hernia and GERD HELP Center Beaumont 409.835.9500 www.prevityclinic.com Orange 409.886.1111 Now Accepting Workers Compensation and Tricare vip magazine contents Editorial Editor DAVID CONSTANTINE 07 vip home [email protected] 07 The Willard ancestral inside february home — modernized Contributing Writers CATHLEEN COLE AmANDA COrbELL 12 vip style LArENA HEAD 12 20 red hot accessories grACE mATHIS 07 jANE mCbrIDE 15 Festive February wear HOLLI pETErSEN CHEryL rOSE 20 vipersonality Editorial Assistant 20 Anchor and author LAurEN mCgEE Jackie Simien 24 TV designer and artist Photography Contributing Photographers Curtis Schnell SCOTT ESLINgEr rENé SHEppArD 29 vip worthy LEE E. STINSON 29 Power couples: How to Graphic Designer mix work and love DAVID CONSTANTINE 32 vip leisure Advertising 20 To advertise in VIP, 32 Beaumont’s two film 409.880.0700 and music fests Contact Us VIP of Southeast Texas 35 vip spotlight 380 main Street 35 SE Texas events beaumont, TX 77701 to sUbsCribE 39 food&drink pLEASE CALL 409.838.2821 Or SubSCrIbE 39 Recipe: Shades of ONLINE AT www.THEVIpmAg.COm Love cake to disPlAy thE mAgAzinE AT yOur buSINESS LOCATION, 42 vip voices pLEASE CALL 409.838.2821 42 A tribute to Bill Leger sUbmissions 46 The importance of TO SubmIT AN EVENT, OrgANIzATION Or pErSON Black History Month fOr CONSIDErATION IN AN upCOmINg ISSuE, SubmIT ONLINE AT www.THEVIpmAg.COm Or TO [email protected] 43 vip adviser 12 Or by uSpS AT ADDrESS AbOVE. 43 5 great dates this month 44 Calendar 45 Crossword puzzle A division of hearst newspapers Publisher 39 bILL OffILL jOIN uS ON fACEbOOK! www.facebook.com/thevipmag on the cover Whether you are part of a couple of not, Valentine’s Day is an oppor- tunity to flaunt your romantic side. Model Erikka Walker was stunning in this timeless beaded silk dress and pearl tassel necklace from Bella Bella in Beaumont. Find other February fashion looks on page 15. Photography: Rene Sheppard; Styling: Grace Mathis and Larena Head; Hair and makeup: Grace Mathis; Shoot location: Burns Antik Haus 4 F ebruary 2013 | theVIPmag.com WHERE THEY TAKE YOU IS CRITICAL. HOW THEY TAKE CARE OF YOU IS VITAL. The moment CHRISTUS Hospital –St. Elizabeth receives word a seriously injured or critical patient needs immediate care, specially trained personnel of varying disciplines immediately begin preparing for their treatment. The first of it’skind in Southeast Texas, amultialert rapid response system mobilizes resources, doctors, specialists and staff to evaluate and treat severe traumas, heart attacks, strokes, cardiac arrest-induced comas and major life-threatening infections known as sepsis. 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Beaumont,TX77701 Nederland Beaumont Lake Charles, La 409.724.2045 409.347.4010 337.478.0901 409.212.8121 •fpsbeaumont.com Classic Custom Homes...WePay Attention to Detail. Jimmy Rippeon Owner 409-656-3939 WWW.CLASSISHOMESBMT.COM 6 February 2013 | theVIPmag.com vip home williard home A New Chapter The Willards restore their family’s ancestral home with fresh style text by Cheryl rose hen Kim Taft was a girl growing up in Beau- mont, she walked back and forth in front of the WWillard home every day as she went from her parents’ home to the family funeral business to the family florist shop. “That house looked like a mansion to my sister and me,” she remembered. “It was grander than all the rest then. It just stood out as the showpiece of the neigh- borhood.” Thirty-some years later, she calls that special house home. She’s now Kim Wil- lard, the wife of David Willard, the fourth generation Willard to own the home. The couple recently finished a total interior renovation to once again make it a show- piece. Community pride The first Elmo Willard was the son of two former slaves. He was born in 1867, just two years after the abolition of slavery, on the Old Calder Plantation. A true entrepreneur, he became a barber by trade and a real estate mogul by talent. In 1925, he built the first o-tw storey, brick home owned by an African American in Beaumont. According to Willard family lore, neighbors would gather to watch the construction of the home, as it represented a source of community pride. Elmo Willard died shortly after the >> photography by lee e. sTiNsoN theVIPmag.com | February 2013 7 house was finished, passing away in 1926. However, his descendents, including his son, Elmo Jr., his grand-daughter, Marguerite, and grandson, Elmo III, would keep the house in the family. When famed civil rights attorney Elmo Willard III died in 1991, his son David inherited the family homestead. Though David grew up in Beaumont, he had ventured away, attending Morehouse College in Atlanta, working in Chicago and Washington, D.C. and then attending Harvard University for mas- ter’s and doctoral degrees. Though he had a busy life far from Beaumont, he kept the ownership of the home. “Selling was never an option,” he said. “There was too much history, too much feeling to the family as a whole. My father’s last law office was in this house for three years before he passed away. Selling never crossed my mind.” Potential and plans When his brother, Michael, died, David returned to Beaumont for the funeral. In making the funeral arrangements, he met Kim for the first time, even though their family homes were only a block apart. Kim was working in her family florist shop at the time. While the couple was dating, Kim got her first chance to see inside the Willard house. David had rented the home for many years with the assistance of his mother, Pat. The house was between tenants, so Pat took Kim through for a look. “I was just curious, but from the moment I walked in the door, it was like this is what I need to do. I need to bring this house back. This is like home,” Kim said. “Ideas started spilling out then and there that very first time.” Kim’s background and current job are in graphic design, but she loves design in all forms and has also worked in interior and floral design. She knew she would have to put together an impressive pitch to convince David that renovating and living in the home would be a smart move. With her experience from working at Ethan Allen, she created a visually detailed presentation and sold him on her ideas. David moved back to Beaumont and the pair mar- ried in 2007. Preserve and replace By the time they began renovating, the house was showing its age and the wear-and-tear of mul- tiple tenants. “It was so bad, it made me sad,” Kim said. “The house, that to me, was once so grand.” The couple hired an architect and contractors. Installing new plumbing, new wiring, knocking down walls, replacing the rotten staircase, add- ing new bathrooms and a new kitchen took seven months. They were able to preserve some of the original wood floors that run throughout the house, adding checkerboard tile as an accent. Kim chose to cover the brick fireplace with marble, but kept the original mantel. One unusual feature of the home was floor-to- ceiling bookshelves in nearly every room. A neigh- bor, Lula Seymour, remembers the house being like a library, complete with Dewey Decimal System organization. The current Willards removed almost all the shelving, though they repurposed some in an upstairs bedroom, converted now to a study. Kim used her creative design powers to trans- form several existing features.