Signature homes without the stress. You grant approvals. We handle the rest.
GUT RENOVATIONS FULL-HOME FURSNIHINGS NEW CONSTRUCTION KITCHEN & BATH DESIGN
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"The designer is skilled in discovering the nuances of a building and its spaces and using these as points of interest to highlight and celebrate."
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Your home should look like you, not like anyone else's. Full stop.
And just like the Michelin-starred meals, the bespoke Cucinelli suits, and the exclusive hotels to which you're accustomed, we create masterpieces. Our idea of luxury is a home so defiantly unique and spectacularly sexy that it's impossible to replicate.
That's why the ones youll find here are as singular as the people who live inside them. A reflection of their most authentic self and an expression of their wildest fantasies. No run of the mill. No rinse and repeat. No copy and paste. Only the rarest. Always the finest. Because you deserve better than a recycled template of someone else's dream. Our signature style is the one you couldn't have ever imagined... the one we make exclusively for you.
Marc Houston
Founder + Creative Director
"I WANT EVERY COMPOSITION TO BE A REVELATION... TO BUILD ONLY THE BEST AND EXPLORE THE FURTHEST REACHES OF WHAT SANCTUARY CAN BE."
WHAT OUR CLIENTS & PARTNERS SAY
"I had absolutely no clue how to furnish my apartment or even lay it out. In a matter of seconds, Marc blocked the entire space out. He assembled precisely the right ingredients to turn my blank, awkward apartment into a true showpiece."
"One thing was clear, and that was Marc's vision. He was going to will this project into existence no matter who was involved. It was a beautiful collaboration. "
"Marc is like your favorite therapist—kind and patient when you're feeling hesitant but always pushing you toward that one-of-a-kind vision."
"Marc's organizational skills and approachability made the entire process enjoyable. He was professional and easy to work with, despite the headaches of the construction project from other stakeholders beyond our control.
Best Residential Stone Design
COVERINGS
"The designer is skilled in discovering the nuances of a building and its spaces and using these as points of interest to highlight and celebrate."
MARC HOUSTON
Founder + Creative Director
Our idea of luxury is a home so defiantly unique and spectacularly sexy that it's impossible to replicate. Not just a retreat, but a revelation.
WELCOME TO OUR WORLD
It's not our award recognition, international experience, and industry praise that wins our clients over. It's the confidence and clarity that comes with our streamlined process, concierge-level care, and fearless vision.
I founded this studio to bring the best-kept secrets of the global ultra-luxury market to clients who demand the rarest and the finest.
Here at MHLI, our offer is distinct: an insistence on the highest quality, deep technical expertise, and steadfast client advocacy. Paired with an instinct for exploration and an unwavering rebellious streak, we reject the limitations of tradition, possibility, and expectation to build castles and sanctuaries that exceed your wildest imagination and stand distinctly above the crowd.
Your success is legendary. Your home should be, too. I invite you to experience a signature space of your very own.
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20+
YEARS OF INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE
12
PROJECT CITIES
3950
AVERAGE HOME SQUARE FOOTAGE
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![[CLAIRE-ESPARROS]_StudioMHLI_75ABond5721.jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7ec4a2_cb13e8a4d3974387ade1d476f572b207~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_1372,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/%5BCLAIRE-ESPARROS%5D_StudioMHLI_75ABond5721.jpg)
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Services
Dynamic architectural
and decorative lighting
Globally-curated, genre-spanning artwork
View Before
Limited-edition, vintage, and collectible designs
Layouts optimized
for comfort, function, interaction, and views
Bespoke luxury carpets from
distinctive global
weavers
Custom furniture
crafted with
premium textiles
and materials
Site-specific
built-ins and
metalwork
IMAGINATION WITHOUT LIMITS
We're not personal shoppers. We're universe shapers with the expertise, premiere resources and elite alliances to tailor your home to the unique contours of your life. Unrecognizable transformation is our our superpower. And not only do we deliver outsized vision, we deliver the finished product.
Luxury doesn't scream,
it seduces.
Less neon, more nuance. From first impressions to fine details, every surface demands interaction and drips with pure imagination.
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Your home should look like you, not like anyone else's. Full stop. That's why the ones youll find here are as singular as the people who live inside them. A reflection of their most authentic self and an expression of their wildest fantasies. No run of the mill. No rinse and repeat. No copy and paste. Only the rarest. Always the finest. Because you deserve better than a recycled template of someone else's dream. Our ultimate service is crafting you a signature style you couldn't have ever imagined...
one we make exclusively for you.
And just like the Michelin-starred meals, the bespoke Cucinelli suits, and the exclusive hotels to which you're accustomed, we create one-of-a-kind masterpieces.
FEATURED IN
"I WANT EVERY COMPOSITION TO BE A REVELATION. to BUILD ONLY THE BEST. to EXPLORE THE FURTHEST REACHES OF WHAT SANCTUARY CAN BE."
"I WANT EVERY COMPOSITION TO BE A REVELATION. to BUILD ONLY THE BEST. to EXPLORE THE FURTHEST REACHES OF WHAT SANCTUARY CAN BE."
Marc Houston
Founder + Creative Director
20+
years of
international
industry experience
12
project
cities
3950
average
project
square
footage
86%
percentage of custom installations in projects
31%
average
increase in
property
value
0
prisoners
taken
Convenience
Full-spectrum service from first ideas to fully-realized home.
Optimization
Visual & aesthetic cohesion informed by opportunities and constraints.
Access
An exclusive global network of elite builders, artists and artisans.
Customization
Elegantly executed, site-specific solutions tailored to your profile.
Curation
Hand selected premium finishes, furnishings, art, and decor.
Advocacy
High-touch, dedicated client care and construction representation.
Security
Expertise to mitigate the risks of navigating unfamiliar processes alone.
Transformation
Revolutionary spatial identities crafted for elevated, easy living.
OUR ESSENTIAL VALUE:
WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT?
Simply, we're here to make your life better—inside your dream home and on the journey to it. All of the benefits. None of the friction. Here's what you can expect:
Exclusive Access
Skip the queue to world-class artisans, off-market offerings, limited-edition works, and custom capabilities. Our creations are free of mass-produced furnishings and crafted to embody your exacting standards, status, and sensibilities.
Effortless Experience
Make informed decisions confidently while we manage project complexities on your behalf. Our process is built to actively defend your time against disturbance and your investment against inferior execution.
Expert Leadership
Align your priorities and investment before you sign your contract. Our unique Client Intake and proprietary Essence Extractor discovery system prevents late-stage changes, cost overruns, and avoidable project delays.
Exploratory Spirit
Differentiate your home from the mainstream. We
zealously explore the unknown and we're committed to producing work that rejects conventionality in favor of a unique and daring perspective.
Benefits
01
Convenience
Full-spectrum service from first ideas to fully-realized home.
02
Customization
Limitless personalization through site-specific design tailored to your profile.
03
Curation
Hand selected, premium finishes, fittings, furniture, art, and decor.
04
Optimization
Visual and functional cohesion informed by opportunities and constraints.
05
Transformation
Revolutionary spatial identities crafted for elevated, easy living.
06
Advocacy
High-touch, dedicated client care and owner representation.
07
Security
Expertise to avoid the risks of navigating complex unfamiliar processes alone.
A smarter process and clearer choices to keep you comfortably in the driver's seat.
You may think you only need furniture. But we know that your dream home demands singular vision, a high ROI, and a perfect fit for your life. We've honed our approach to protect your time, your investment, and your peace of mind. Through a series of deliberate phases, you'll know exactly where we're headed so you can confidently follow our lead. That's how we deliver your signature home without the stress. You grant approvals, we handle the rest.
"I'M HERE FOR THE RENEGADES.
THE MAVERICKS.
THE REBELS."
THE CLIENT JOURNEY
01
Discovery + Alignment
Through a two-part, paid Client Intake, we collaborate with you to establish your project investment and deliverables before you sign a contract.
02
Concept, Spatial + Detail Design
With your input, we explore and resolve all components of your design and get your feedback and full approval before we start swinging hammers.
03
Coordination + Execution
We orchestrate full production of your design and collaborate with building partners to make sure what we've sold you is what shows up in your house.
04
Installation + Execution
We manage a single delivery and installation of all furnishings and prepare a turnkey final reveal so you enter a fully-realized home.
Interested? Let's discuss.
Begin with your Discovery Profile.
Click below to share your details.
Before we partner, here are some things you should consider:
Our approach is first and foremost client-centered. Your best interest is our priority, and you can trust that you'll always receive our unfiltered, objective advice. Every decision we make is in service of crafting a design that supports the way you live. We understand that creating radically individualized spaces requires trust. We initiate that bond through a rigorous discovery process to understand your needs and resolve your your financial investment before we agree to work together.
We also reject the widely-accepted industry business model where wholesale products are paired with cut-and-paste design formulas to maximize profits. We've made a conscious decision to step away from mainstream industry resources where knockoffs and derivatives abound, and we vet each of our merchandise partners thoroughly to ensure the products we specify are of unquestionable quality and authenticy.
To us, interior design isn't just about selecting fabrics and furniture. We believe that artistry and beauty must also be paired with technical proficiency, a willingness to do hard things, and a fearlessness to test ideas in real life. Our firm is uniquely positioned by 20+ years of international experience and interdisciplinary expertise spanning furniture design, lighting design, interior architecture, and construction management.
We specialize in high-end residential interiors, including primary residences, vacation homes, penthouses, estates, and legacy properties. Our work primarily involves full-scale renovations, new construction, and comprehensive furnishing projects, though we selectively accept furnishing-only engagements when aligned.
We work in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Long Island, Boston's Beacon Hill and Back Bay neighborhoods, Brookline, Newton, Wellesley, Cape Cod, and throughout Greater Houston in River Oaks, Tanglewood, the Memorial Villages and the Heights. If your project is outside of these areas, please share your location details in your inquiry form. Our portfolio includes residences from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles, and we'd be happy to discuss how we can work together.
While we want our work to be recognizable for its exceptional craftsmanship, attention to detail, and innovative perspective, we don't impose a signature look. We favor longevity over trends while considering how you live, entertain, and retreat so that our design responds to you, the architecture, and setting. Our role is to translate your vision into a cohesive, enduring environment.
We value mutual trust, decisiveness, and open communication, and our most successful projects are true partnerships built on shared vision and respect. Our clients prefer a concierge-level experience where options are streamlined and thoughtfully curated for them, so you'll enjoy working with us if you appreciate clear guidance, refined judgment, and an unconventional perspective. Click to learn about our most successful partnerships.
Discretion is fundamental to our practice. We don't publish client identities or information without explicit permission, and we are happy to work under NDAs. Many of our most notable projects remain entirely private, and we regularly collaborate with estate managers, personal assistants, security teams, and household staff to ensure smooth execution with minimal disruption.
Our clients understand that thoughtful design is an investment in quality of life, property value, and longevity, and our fees reflect the value of our expertise, access, and results. MHLI charges hourly for all time associated with your project. Additionally, we establish a minimum investment for furniture and materials purchased through our studio as a condition for our engagement. We'll discuss your priorities and expectations during your Clarity Call and advise an investment range for maximum impact and long-term value as part of your Client Intake process.
The process begins with a Project Inquiry, followed by a Clarity Call and a paid two-part Client Intake to align on your goals, budget, and scope. We want to ensure mutual fit, an experience that exceeds expectations, and results reflective of our portfolio. Click to begin the inquiry process.
YOU'RE PROBABLY WONDERING
Contact
My email is:
Hello, my first name is:
Last name is:
My phone number is:
I'm interested in:
I'd also like you to know:
TALK TO US
EMAIL look@marchouston.com
Essential Value
Optimization
Visual and functional cohesion informed by opportunities and constraints.
Curation
Hand selected, premium finishes, fittings, furniture, art, and decor.
Customization
Limitless personalization through site-specific design tailored to your profile.
Convenience
Full-spectrum service from first ideas to fully-realized home.
_edited.jpg)
Transformation
Revolutionary spatial identities crafted for elevated, easy living.
Advocacy
High-touch, dedicated client care and owner representation.
Security
Expertise to avoid the risks of navigating complex unfamiliar processes alone.
A DESIGN LEADER
YOU CAN TRUST
Time. Privacy. Peace of mind. Life's true luxuries.
We guard yours fiercely while delivering all of the benefits and eliminating all of the friction. Here's what you can expect from our partnership:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
A DESIGN LEADER YOU CAN TRUST
Time. Privacy. Peace of mind.
Life's true luxuries.
We guard yours fiercely while delivering all of the benefits and eliminating all of the friction. Here's what you can expect from our partnership:
Convenience
Full-spectrum service from first ideas to fully-realized home.
Optimization
Visual & aesthetic cohesion informed by opportunities and constraints.
Access
An exclusive global network of elite builders, artists and artisans.
Customization
Elegantly executed, site-specific solutions tailored to your profile.
Curation
Hand selected premium finishes, furnishings, art, and decor.
Advocacy
High-touch, dedicated client care and construction representation.
Security
Expertise to mitigate the risks of navigating unfamiliar processes alone.
Transformation
Revolutionary spatial identities crafted for elevated, easy living.
Smarter process.
Simpler choices.
Superior living.
We know you're out there slaying dragons, stacking accolades, and commanding your industry. And when you return from hopping time zones on red-eyes or inking that IPO, you want to drop anchor in a safe harbor. Step into a vision that fuels your ambition. Enter a castle of unparalleled distinction. Find sanctuary for your grandest dreams.
That's why we've made iconic residences for modern living our specialty, with a clear, simple, proven path to get there. We craft a fantasy of how you want to live then engineer it for how you actually live. Your signature homes without the stress. You grant approvals, we handle the rest.
Different from them means better for you.
Exclusive Access
Skip the queue to world-class artisans and dealers, limited-edition works, and custom capabilities. Our creations are free of retail and wholesale, mass-produced, to-the-trade furnishings to ensure your home reflects your exacting standards, status, and sensibilities.
Expert Leadership
Align your scope, timeline, sequence, and investment from the start. Our proprietary Essence Extractor discovery system delivers consistent results and proactively mitigates endless revisions, late-stage changes, cost overruns, and unnecessary project delays.
Effortless Experience
Make informed decisions confidently while we manage project complexities quietly and throughly on your behalf. Our streamlined design phase and white-glove service are built to actively defend your time against disturbance and your investment against inferior execution.
View Before
Boreum Hill Townhouse
"HE IS A VISIONARY, AN ARTIST, AN ARTIST, AN EXECTUOR WHO DELIVERS RESULTS FAR BEYOND ANYTHING YOU COULD HAVE IMAGINED."
(01)
Discovery + Alignment
(02)
Concept, Spatial + Design Development
(03)
Coordination + Execution
(04)
Installation + Resolution
You may think you only need furniture. We know that your dream home demands much more. Sure, our design will boost your long-term equity and stun your guests into spellbound silence. But most importantly, our process has been honed over 15 years to ensure your experience with us is world-class and your home fits your life perfectly.
LUXURY DOESN'T SCREAM.
IT SEDUCES.
From first impressions to fine details, every surface demands interaction and drips with pure imagination.
Who we serve
High-net-worth homeowners who value clarity, artistry, and ingenuity. We partner with doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, hedge fund managers, TV and film producers, C-suite executives, and other successful professionals with full lives. They're big city dwellers. Worldly aesthetes. And increasingly, they're transplants from the East and West Coasts who want the same artistic, cosmopolitan sensibility in their new location. We produce our best work with clients who fit a unique profile.
What we do
Bespoke, done-for-you, high-end residential renovations, new builds, and full-home furnishing projects. These are generally primary and secondary homes, penthouses, pied-à-terres, estates, and legacy properties.
Why we do it
Simply, we're here to improve your life. We crave magic over mass appeal, imagination over imitation, and quality over quick wins. We dream of immersive, transportive experiences that stimulate the senses, summon emotion and stand distinctly above the crowd. We're compelled to bring them to life.
"Marc is not afraid of a challenge and is incredibly resourceful. His ability to synthesize budget, vision, and floor plan pushed the project forward in a very interesting and sophisticated way. "
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![[CLAIRE-ESPARROS]_StudioMHLI_75ABond5927.jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7ec4a2_d5a956ed241e4f058f3057332f5294da~mv2.jpg/v1/crop/x_3622,y_439,w_3840,h_5179/fill/w_519,h_700,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/7ec4a2_d5a956ed241e4f058f3057332f5294da~mv2.jpg)
Boreum Hill
"Marc Houston Designed This Brooklyn Townhouse with a Focus on Art, Color and Whimsy"
Our Signature Service
We do more than design homes. We define spatial identities.
Our brand of luxury merges function and fantasy in one-of-a-kind homes that capture your most authentic expression from the moment you cross your threshold until your head touches your pillow. Success for us is elevating even your most mundane routines into rituals of ease and delight.
Central Park Pied-à-terre
View Before
How do we build iconic homes?
By sticking to our guns.
Who we serve
We partner with high-net-worth homeowners who value clarity, artistry, and ingenuity. Our clients are doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, hedge fund managers, TV and film producers, C-suite executives, and other successful professionals with full lives. They're big city dwellers. Worldly aesthetes. And increasingly, they're transplants from the East and West Coasts who want the same cosmopolitan sensibility in their new location. We work best with those who:
• Recognize design is an investment
• Seek elevated, custom interiors over trends
• Respect expertise, trust and decisive leadership
• Have a significant project and thoughtful timeline
• Share our values and confident, cosmopolitan aesthetic
What we do
We provide bespoke, done-for-you, high-end residential design and full-scale implementation for renovations, new builds, and full-home furnishing of primary and secondary homes, penthouses, pied-à-terres, estates and legacy properties. Simply, we're experts at delivering signature homes without the stress. You grant approvals, we handle the rest.
Why we do it
We crave magic or over mass appeal, imagination over imitation, and quality over quick wins. We dream of immersive, transportive experiences that stimulate the senses, summon emotion and stand distinctly above the crowd. We're compelled to bring them to life.
MHLI TIES ALL THE
DAUNTING PIECES OF
DESIGN TOGETHER TO
TURN THE ORDINARY
INTO EXTRAORDINARY.
Marc more than delivered for our space.
He embraced our ideas, took inspiration from our travels,
and challenged our limits to create a space
we now look forward to spending time in.
Back Bay
Boston, MA
Windsor Hills
Los Angeles, CA
Courthouse
Washington, DC
Marina Bay
Boston, MA
West Village
New York, NY
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Central Park Pied-à-terre
View Before
Every experience with us guarantees:
Transformation is our technique.
Signature is our standard.
View Before
You're running a multi-million dollar investment fund, but your home office is more college student than CEO. We've got power moves for power brokers.
View Before
A primary bathroom with a miniature tub, finishes from 1998, and a shower stall that attacks your forehead every morning. We're your best line of defense against bad design.
Our only style is the one we design exclusively for you.
Each of our unique creations reflects decades-honed expertise, dedication to detail, and deep bonds of trust built with our clients to excavate their most authentic expressions in the spaces they hold sacred. We know that these life-changing transformations demand mastery of infinite calculations, anticipation of opportunities and challenges, unwavering focus, and a proven strategy. And just like a couturier structures and stitches with artistry and authority, we tailor your home to the unique contours of your life.
RADICAL INDIVIDUALITY IS THE ULTIMATE LUXURY
MHLI is a full-service, Black-owned interior design boutique specialized in luxury residential renovations, new builds and comprehensive furnishing projects. Read more
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