By Jimmy Kontomanolis for Fleurs de Prairie By Jimmy Kontomanolis for Fleurs de Prairie | June 3, 2019 | People, Lifestyle,
Three years ago, Laureen Vellante and her daughters founded a company that brings the beauty of the world around us right into your home. Partnering with creators globally, Destination Haus offers a curated selection of works from artists around the world with a mission of helping people turn their homes into a destination.
So what inspired this family collaboration? Vellante combined her career as a photojournalist and passion for art and interior design (she also enjoys remodeling and flipping homes) to create Destination Haus with her daughters, Kendra and Carlyn. “Kendra, who is the Creative Director, currently works for an African safari company, Singita. Throughout her travels to different countries, she brings back an array of home furnishings,” says Vellante.
Carlyn is the company’s Art Director: “Having studied at The Art Institute of Boston, she began working with an art advisory, curating for private homes, hotels, yachts and restaurants. She represents our artists and works closely with clients to complete their decorating needs, from framing to art placement in their homes or businesses.” This combined loved of the arts and travel made building Destination Haus a family business.
While Destination Haus is located in the heart of the coastal community of the East End, the company brings a global aesthetic to the Hamptons. “Wanting to reflect the coastal aesthetics of a beach area, many of our artists are inspired by the movement and light of the ever-changing ocean. We complement that work by representing artists like ceramicist Lauren Kaplan to Australian artist Lily Nicholson,” says Vellante. “Each work of art enhances one another so our clients can curate their entire home using a variety of our artists’ works.”
The artists Destination Haus works with are selected because of their love for nature and the ocean—which makes the art perfect for any Hamptons home. Vellante says: “Art tells a story of a home and expresses personality. Since most business or home owners are not necessarily artists, they want to purchase art to reflect their own expression.” This is what Destination Haus has set out to accomplish—and successfully achieved.
Vellante says working with her daughters has been a rewarding experience, since they each have diverse strengths that make it possible to co-create and continually reinvent. But have there been any struggles as a female entrepreneur? Luckily for Vellante, the answer is no—but there have certainly been obstacles to overcome as an artist and business owner. “I am constantly thinking about our next way to evolve at Destination Haus and where I am going to go to create new images,” she says.
So what’s next for Destination Haus? Expansion is on the horizon! They just launched their website, and this past winter, Vellante and team brought Destination Haus to Charleston for a special pop-up. Following its success, Vellante has partnered with a five star hotel and its sister restaurant to curate a selection of artworks. The plan? To continue to bring beautiful images and artworks to the homes and businesses in these areas and beyond.
To learn more about how Destination Haus creates and shares beauty in its own unique way, visit destinationhaus.com.
Fleurs de Prairie supports individual creators of beauty in local communities around the country. Learn more at fleursdeprairie.com.
Photography by: Photography courtesy of Destination Haus