Let your watchword be order, and your beacon beauty.

- Daniel Hudson Burnham, Williams' great-great-grandfather

 

I was born in San Francisco and grew up in Palm Springs in a mid-century, ranch-style house on the hill. My dad and I used to ride our bikes around, checking out job sites after work hours. If you ever saw American Gigolo, that house was being built then, and I also watched the 1978 Lautner house go in, and remember when Arthur Elrod was starting as an influential young designer.

Our family were architects and that’s all we knew and loved. My great, great grandpa was Daniel Hudson Burham. He architected the master development plans for many cities: Chicago along with its "1893 White City", Manilla and Washington DC, including DC's Union Station. He also designed the Flatiron Building in New York City along with many others. His two sons, Daniel II, and my great grandpa Hubert, were the architects who built the Carbon & Carbide building (now the Hard Rock Hotel) in Chicago.

My grandmother and great grandpa were always talking about architecture. She bought and renovated houses — leaving notes on people’s door asking them if they wanted to sell — and then flipped them. I always knew I would be a designer and I lived with her most of my life and while I studied interior design in college.

History and legacy are important to me. I’m interested in the big picture of your home — the bones, grounds and structure — and will help you curate your collection of furnishings, antiques and art over time. Like my great, great grandfather, I believe that space must be ordered and the beauty will come from that organization, it just makes sense. Like him, I also love working on projects with a wild scope, that seem impossible to do. With the right plan, there is nothing that can’t be accomplished.