“By bookmatching slabs of CHENHOW MARBLE’s Luxury Stone across an entire wall, the composition changes with the light—from early morning to dusk, and from every angle. It feels as though the homeowner and I have created something together: a work of art that belongs uniquely to this home. For a designer, moments like these are priceless.”
— Amy Hsu, Design Director
HOYEN Design
By bringing together Neoclassical elegance and American-inspired design, Amy Hsu, Design Director of HOYEN Design, translates each family member’s tastes and preferences into elements that shape the character of the home. Amy speaks with clarity and decisiveness, a quality that also defines her approach to design. She takes time to communicate closely with her clients, understand their preferences, and, in some cases, accompany them through different stages of life—witnessing how the idea of “home” evolves alongside them. The results reveal a simple truth: when design begins with genuine communication, a home can become a work shaped by both love and beauty.
Stone as the Leading Motif, Elevating the Sense of Refinement
Amy’s warm, straightforward manner and decisive approach reflect the same clarity found in the American-inspired interiors for which HOYEN Design is known. Rather than imposing her own preferences on clients, she begins by understanding them.
“Establishing the overall style is essential, and that starts with understanding how the homeowners live and the habits that shape their everyday lives.”
This residence in Taoyuan spans more than 150 ping of interior space. Ten years ago, Amy designed the homeowners’ first home. When they moved into their second residence, they once again invited her to lead the project. From the first conversations to final completion, the process took two full years.
“The homeowners had a generous budget, which gave the designer considerable freedom to explore different possibilities,” Amy says.
The wife has a romantic personality and, like Amy, is drawn to American-inspired interiors, although her preference in furnishings leans towards more ornate and luxurious French-style pieces. The husband, meanwhile, was clear that he wanted to avoid materials such as wood veneer and painted finishes. To reconcile their different preferences, stone became the natural choice for creating a cohesive visual language throughout the home.
Image / Decorative moulding plays an essential role in defining the home’s Neoclassical character. | HOYEN Design
Decorative moulding is an important element of American-inspired interiors. Here, clean-lined cabinetry and wall panels are paired with rare and distinctive natural stones, adding a sense of grandeur and refinement to the space.
Once the overall design direction had been established, Amy visited CHENHOW MARBLE and walked through the entire stone collection, considering which materials might work best in each area of the residence.
“I understand my client’s personality. He wanted materials that would feel different from anything found in other homes, and CHENHOW MARBLE could absolutely meet those exacting standards.”
Image / Living room feature wall — Alpinus | HOYEN Design
For the living room feature wall, Amy selected Alpinus, one of CHENHOW MARBLE’s signature Luxury Stones.
Two large-format slabs were bookmatched to create a dramatic mirrored composition. Within the red-and-green natural patterns, different images seem to emerge: a pair of wings, perhaps, or a Gypsy woman wrapped in a flowing cape.
“When the installation team arrived, I asked each of them what they saw in the pattern. Everyone had a different interpretation and imagination. That’s what makes natural veining so fascinating.”
The homeowners were equally delighted with the finished result, particularly the crystalline quality of the green stone. Its exceptional translucency allows light to pass through and refract across the surface, creating an organic interaction between the stone, the changing light, and the home itself.
A Homeowner Drawn to the One of a Kind
Moving from the living room towards the dining area, an archway clad in “藍水晶” stone marks the transition between spaces. Small blue crystalline details scatter across the white stone like a pale-blue galaxy, introducing a subtle wash of colour while fulfilling the homeowner’s wish for a transition that feels clean and understated.
Image / An archway clad in “藍水晶” stone creates a graceful connection between spaces. | HOYEN Design
The rectangular dining table also features stone from CHENHOW MARBLE, this time “綠翡翠” stone. A titanium-finished frame accentuates its rich interplay of green and white, while the jade-like veining brings a calming quality to the dining experience.
Above the table, a crystal chandelier casts soft light across the room. Its reflections play across the stone tabletop, complemented by French-style dining chairs to create an atmosphere of understated opulence.
The dining area also includes a bar topped with Ice Age Onyx. Amy introduced backlighting beneath the stone to reveal the richness and depth of its natural patterns.
“The husband has a particular appreciation for one-of-a-kind stone. He values the expressive quality of natural veining and prefers to let the material speak for itself without excessive decoration.”
Rather than obscuring these rare natural patterns, Amy allows them to remain as close as possible to their original state, bringing geological formations shaped over immense spans of time directly into the home. Through detailed conversations and a clear understanding of the homeowners’ preferences, CHENHOW MARBLE was the first place that came to mind when Amy considered where to take them for stone selection.
Image / Dining table — distinctive green stone brings an elegant presence to the space. | HOYEN Design
There is another highlight within the residence. On the basement level, Amy designed a private karaoke room for the wife, who loves singing and entertaining close friends.
Upon entering, visitors are immediately greeted by what appears to be a blue-and-purple abstract masterpiece framed against an ivory-white wall. Yet this artwork was not painted by a celebrated artist—it was created by nature itself.
The homeowners fell in love at first sight with two stone slabs they discovered at CHENHOW MARBLE. Amy bookmatched the pair and framed them like a monumental painting.
The result is a work that exists nowhere else in the world: an artwork born alongside the family’s new home, destined to remain something they will treasure for years to come.
Image / Entrance feature wall — bookmatched blue-and-purple stone displayed like a work of art. | HOYEN Design
Discovering Luxury Stone
Q: What role can stone play in interior design?
A: Stone comes directly from nature, and every piece has its own delicate, one-of-a-kind patterns. If you look closely, you may even notice something different each time you see it.
Artificial veneers tend to create a more uniform visual impression. Natural stone, by contrast, has been shaped over tens of thousands—or even hundreds of millions—of years. Some stones are quiet and understated, while others are bold and magnificent. To me, every piece of stone carries its own distinctive energy.
Natural stone also has an inherent material presence that contributes to the sensory experience of a home. That connection to nature is one of the greatest added values of working with natural materials.
Image / Bedroom television wall — blue-and-white crystalline stone. | HOYEN Design
Q: From your perspective, what is CHENHOW MARBLE’s greatest strength?
A: Whenever a homeowner tells me, “I want to use something rare and unusual,” I immediately arrange a visit to CHENHOW MARBLE.
At many stone suppliers, you tend to encounter similar materials again and again. At CHENHOW MARBLE, however, you simply don’t see ordinary stone. Every slab has been personally selected in Italy and Brazil by Chen Po-kun, Founder of CHENHOW MARBLE, and each one has the quality and character of a luxury piece.
Whenever I visit with a client, we walk from the very first slab all the way through to the final selection. Every piece has a personality of its own. Viewed from any angle, the experience can feel like standing in front of a painting and becoming completely absorbed in it.
As we walk through the collection, I’m already imagining possibilities in my mind. Sometimes the client and I become so excited that we start discussing ideas right there in the showroom, both of us eager to see what the final composition might look like once the slabs are brought together across an entire feature wall.
Image / Bathroom walls and flooring — white Granite with black veining brings an elegant finish to the space. | HOYEN Design
