Niki is a Chicago girl and ex antiques dealer who now works for Head Start in Litchfield and Mark is a residential therapist. Maia is an aspiring architect and self professed fan of “shabby chic”, she comes from a family of people with an eye for style.
Niki’s mom Mari smoking under the porch in true beatnick style.
Niki’s Parents Neel & Mari Davis met at the art institute of Chicago and were talented artists and collectors. The Moranville’s home is filled with original work by both of her parents, and it’s easy to see the deep talent this couple possessed.
A dress design by Mari.
A woodcut by Niki’s father Neel
Painting a of a woman by Mari
I believe this is also Mari’s
An ivory frame holding a photo of Niki’s mother and aunt in Greece in the 50’s
Mari in a dress of her design at the Art Institute.
The bright modern living room that they continually referred to as “in progress” but seemed pretty magazine ready to me! On the right is a farmhouse style credenza with deco style tin doors by local furniture builder Richard Cox.
A refinished dresser in the entryway. I love the wild color!
A niche in their living room featuring a poster from Atelier Mourlot in New York. (I’m pretty jealous of that one!)
Sarah Thomack (interviewer from W.S.M.I.) along for the interview checking out the red wicker chair on the back porch. Listen for her upcoming feature of Small town cool on WSMI!
At this point I start to realized that there’s some stuff going on here that I really, REALLY like.
Devo hats, Charlie’s Angels, and Tony Basil. All pretty easy to agree with- 
Niki’s Wonder Woman, Charlie’s Angels, and Bionic Woman collection gets prime real estate on the shelves of Marks music room.
Mark said that as a kid he tried to collect the whole set of “Freakies” a cereal box toy collection that he was able to scoop up again later in life at a re-sale shop.
Towards the end of the interview we start getting really deep, pulling out the record collection, mix tapes, and Marks very intense collection of cd’s including The Flaming Lips, Medeski Martin and Wood, Beck, The Clash, and other deeeep stuff.
I went ahead and made this playlist for you fine folks here on Youtube… Here’s a second of the mix tapes of a more funky nature “so romantic!”, Niki called them!
Pin collection inherited from Niki’s Parents.
Marks Hi-Fi setup and some of his concert poster collection.
Maia’s designed and decorated her room herself. It’s really exciting to meet someone so young already leaning towards something interesting and developing her talent with confidence. The earlier you start learning and honing your skill at something the quicker you can get your 10,000 hours in and become a master at it! (Malcom Gladwells idea not mine..)
This guy has got to have a name. Dale? Robbie? Bernard?
Some 1980’s papercut artwork from a friend of Mari and Neel. Reminds me a lot of Irving Harper!
I hoped you enjoyed the Moranville home tour as much as I did! Such cool, immersed people! Thanks so much for letting all of us into your home!
If you know of anyone exhibiting large amounts of creativity, color, style, or character please let us know! Thanks friends for continuing to share Small Town Cool’s articles and posts! There is a lot of exciting stuff going on in Hillsboro and surrounding areas and we are really excited to share it with you! Please “Like” us to keep up and follow us on Pinterest! See you soon!
P.S.-You can hear the audio interview from WSMI here.
-Small Town Cool
Small Town Cool. 