TRUITT RQGERS
Dream Home Designers
Dream Home Designers
Tammy McBee was working at an auto dealership in Weatherford when she used $10,000 from a 401(k) account to open a small shop on the city’s downtown square, selling knickknacks and a few furniture pieces. “I wanted to have a little place,” McBee says. “And it just got bigger.”
Twenty years later, McBee and business partner and ex-husband Ron McBee have two stores, 30,000 square feet of retail and a design service. Western Heritage Furniture and The Design Center sit side by side on Fort Worth Highway outside of downtown Weatherford. The company maintains a strong Western flavor, but the design service offers all styles. The company’s niche: sell products and offer its design service for free.
“We design for free; we decorate for free,” Tammy McBee says. “The only thing we sell is the product.”
McBee and Debbie Hundley, who came on board six years ago, are handling the interiors for the magazine’s 2019 Dream Home, a 5,300-square-foot, luxury contemporary hacienda under construction by Sean Knight Custom Homes in west Fort Worth’s Walsh development. Hundley manages The Design Center and directs interiors for both stores.
As in our years-long series of Dream Homes, the magazine collaborates with builders and some of the region’s finest vendors to build luxury homes sporting the latest features. The home, at 13708 Nouvelle Circle, is listed by Realtor John Zimmerman of Compass. The home, due to be complete this fall, will be open for a month of tours benefitting a Wish with Wings, the magazine’s charity.
McBee’s store grew quickly after she opened the original 1,500-square-foot location in 1998, with a mix of knickknacks, candles and accessories. “I didn’t even like Western furniture,” McBee says. “We had, maybe, five pieces of furniture.” And she didn’t know what to expect. “We were scared to death,” McBee says. “Ten-thousand dollars doesn’t go too far.”
Fort Worth’s growth as an equestrian center created clients and drove early growth, and the McBees moved the store three years after its opening to Fort Worth Highway. “Everybody was moving here from California,” McBee says. Of her well-heeled clients, “you really didn’t know who you were talking to when they came in.” In 2007, they opened The Design Center, expanding beyond Western. “We didn’t mean to do design,” McBee says. “It just kind of happened. People just started to come in and ask, ‘Can you do this?’”
The design business grew quickly, with the retail floor absorbing the loading docks. “We’ve done modern; we’ve done contemporary; we’ve done traditional urban,” Hundley says. “We do it all.” Says McBee: “It’s just an advantage. We have everything at our disposal. We’ve done an empty home, floor to ceiling, and decorated it in three days.” The design service even offers to move clients’ furniture. “We try to build real relationships,” Hundley says.
McBee and Hundley are picking a colorful palette for the Dream Home and what Hundley calls its Spanish revival style. Expect navy, corals, greens and neutrals, she says. “The industry seems so monochromatic with the whites and the grays, and we want to stay true to the Spanish tradition of colors,” Hundley says.
The stores and design service offer substantial opportunities for custom-designed and -made furnishings, fixtures and accessories, working with the company’s broad network of suppliers. Most of the stores’ beds, all bedding and some living room pieces are custom. Ron McBee produces custom light fixtures made of metals and woods for clients. “When customers come here, they’ll have a unique experience,” Ron McBee says. Hundley: “We try to stay a step ahead. When people buy here, they’re not going to find it anywhere else.”
During the holidays, the McBees convert the stores and parking lots to a winter wonderland, drawing families and children to see Santa. Ron McBee also sets up a miniature train circuit, giving rides to the kids. “We have people drive from all over to see it,” Tammy McBee says.