Ender Tasci is the man behind The Elephant Walk. In the business for three decades, he’s been coming to Round Top for more than 25 years, finally moving his residence from Orlando, Florida, to Round Top, Texas, and his showroom to Market Hill. When we caught up with Ender, he was still on the hunt – “I am working today!” he told us – but we were able to get some insight into his process and a peek at what he’s bringing to the spring show.
In making his selections for Market Hill, Ender says, “What we sell is components to a good design, each and every one of those components has to have redeeming qualities – texture, color, shape – and they need to read modern. That’s basically the key to success in today’s design world. Everything is going clean, simple and modern,” he says. “It used to be that to see a good-looking home, you’d have to see it in a publication. Now all we have to do is go on Pinterest or Instagram or Facebook, or any other website that is creative, and we get to see designs from all over the world being shared. That’s pretty inspiring. For people who are creative, inspiration is endless at the moment. The hardest part is when you do get inspired, where do you go to find that thing?”
That’s where Market Hill comes in. “With Market Hill, first and foremost, we have cultivated some of the best vendors under one roof who work very hard to bring the best-of-the-best they can possibly find, every show, show after show,” Ender says. “These are the leading people who inspire one another and make one another work twice as hard. When we start with good dealers who understand the business and motivate one another, we have an environment where all of these ideas pour in.”
Being able to present his collection in a sophisticated way is also important to him. “We each have an incredibly beautiful showroom with high ceilings and all of these skylights that bring daylight in. It’s the perfect setting to feature our merchandise.” Another benefit of Market Hill is being out of the elements. “When everyone else is being washed away with storms out there,” he says, “we are able to conduct business in a civilized fashion. When I say ‘civilized fashion,’ the profile of our clientele has changed over the years. We all want comfort. Market Hill provides all of those comforts to anyone who is coming to experience Round Top. It gives them a break from the elements, a break from the diversity [of high and low pieces]. We carry the top quality in the marketplace, and we’re proud of it,” Ender says.
When we asked him which pieces express his individual style and which ones he thinks will go first, he says, “You never know. Things that are really strong in personality, they take another strong personality, and they take a strong space to accommodate them. Sometimes some of the strongest items we have that are most featured, most talked about, most photographed are not the items that are first to sell.”
“I have two things that are very, very striking. One is a big, giant, hand-blown Murano glass chandelier. The scale and color are breathtakingly beautiful to me. It has morning glories hanging down from this giant bowl with a wrought-iron frame. It was made in the 1960s. It’s just a gorgeous light fixture that has never been electrified, and it’s hanging in my booth. I think it’s going to be a sought-after piece.”
“I also have some beautiful, old 1950s Venetian mirrors. The scale is wonderful. Then I have a set of 12 needlepoint Louis XV chairs made in Paris that are to die for that I’m extremely excited about.”
“And I am bringing a wonderful collection of concrete and marble garden benches. A lot of garden stuff that I’ve collected over the years. Basically, I was hoarding them,” he laughs. “So, now all of that collection is going to be displayed at Market Hill. We’re going to create a garden environment in our booth. We are excited about that.”
Follow the Elephant Walk on Instagram @elephantwalkantiques.