Thirty-two-year-old Gable Shaikh has stitched together an enviable existence: two darling daughters (Hadleigh, 3-and-a-half, and GG—short for Gable Gillian—13 months); a thriving business co-owned with her husband, Ed; and a gorgeous Kessler Park ranch house that she describes as a work in progress.
Hectic? Yes.
Thrilling? Absolutely.
Challenging? And how!
“We are about to open a small shop,” she says of the storefront in Highland Park Village next to Mi Cocina and directly below the couple’s current by-appointment-only digs. “We will stock shirts, sweaters, jackets, pants and our hugely popular slippers. The retail space will be an extension of what we do now.”
Two years ago, Gable and her husband, Ed, launched Hadleigh Bespoke in their Oak Cliff rambler, which was built in 1956. Gable, an NYC native and Fashion Institute of Technology grad, had worked with high-end maternity designer Liz Lange and Ralph Lauren prior to moving south to Big D. She and Ed met on the job at Ralph Lauren, their current neighbor in Highland Park Village. The pair eloped on New Year’s Eve some seven years ago, tying the knot on the shores of Palm Beach, Fla.
“We had been planning this huge wedding in New York, and my mother could tell it wasn’t what I wanted,” says Gable. “I ended up turning the pink gingham taffeta bridesmaids’ dresses into the curtains in Hadleigh’s room!” The couture fabric pops against the periwinkle blue walls.
The couple ensconced Hadleigh in the master suite. Toddler GG, meanwhile, enjoys a smaller bedroom done in bubblegum pink. (“We have lots of pink in this house!” Gable says with a laugh.) She and Ed chose the Jack-and-Jill setup, turning the secondary room, connected via a bathroom, into an enormous closet. (Both have wardrobes that Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn might envy!)
“We are planning to have new bedding made in one of our factories in Italy, which does all our cashmere,” she explains. Currently, the couple has elegant (yet off-the-rack) charcoal gray and white bedding paired with heather gray cashmere pillows.
This new master bedroom along with most of the rest of the house reveals the couple’s affection for gray. To make each room work its best, the Shaikhs called on longtime friend, decorator Brad Hatton (who travels around the country creating window displays for Hermès stores) to take the residence back to its mid-century roots.
“Our house has really evolved,” Gable admits. “Brad is not the kind of designer who goes by the book. If I love something, he says he’ll find a way to make it work.”
Together, they introduced lime green and citron yellow accents to liven up the subdued neutral palette.
“The pops of yellow and green are so fun,” she says.
So, too, are the furnishings, which range from fine antiques to Philippe Starck’s iconic Lucite Ghost Chair.
“We just redid a Louis XIV settee—the first piece my husband gave me when we moved into the house—in navy and white awning stripe.” Contrast that to the couple’s burgeoning collection of contemporary art, which includes edgy pieces by local artists Lisa Bolin and Lucretia Wagner as well as Jeff Scott, whose work is included in the permanent collection of the Dallas Museum of Art.
Their large lot, what originally attracted Gable to the property, also continues to exact the family’s attention.
“I love all the big trees,” she says. “The trees and the hills in Oak Cliff reminded me of the East Coast.”
At its highest point, the three-tiered deck nearly reaches the treetops. The couple hacked back overgrown jasmine and planted pretty specimens of crepe myrtles. The home’s connected sunrooms look out onto a glamorous swimming pool. While the Shaikh’s are about to redo a side yard, the expansive front yard beckons the girls outdoors to play.
“We spend a lot of time outside,” says Gable. “Lots of bubbles. Both girls love bubbles. We all do!”
