Billy Ceglia insists on emphasizing something about his chosen palette. “I don’t necessarily do pink and green,” the interior design says firmly, referencing the two hues that appear often in homes in Palm Beach and its neighboring West Palm Beach. “But what I learned from this client, a dear friend, when working on her West Palm Beach house, is that she taught me to step out of my color-comfort zone. Really, I don’t typically work with pink and green, but it’s what she wanted and it’s what works perfectly for this home.”
The client, who lives also in Atlanta, wanted a true pied-á-terre in West Palm Beach, and so, she gravitated to the El Cid Historic District, with its many decades-old homes that are typically more modest in scale. According to Ceglia, she purchased this two-bedroom, two-bath cinderblock house while on a jetway bridge getting onto a plane.
“I just bought a house,” Ceglia recalls her telling him on the phone, “and I want you to design it.”
An older home in West Palm Beach’s Ed Cid neighborhood opens itself up to the street, with dynamic landscaping designs from Robert Bell.
The small entry makes a big effect with a custom trellis wall, a Stark carpet, and a stool and artwork from Meg Braff Designs.
In keeping with the client’s wishes for pink and green, outside greenery works as a color that appears through the windows. Elements in the living room include a Visual Comfort chandelier, Billy Baldwin slipper chairs, and a mirror by Suzanne Kasler for Hickory Chair.
Coursing the home’s main hallway is akin to walking through a verdant landscape of palm fronds. The custom wallpaper pattern is from Meg Braff Designs.
A vintage rattan desk and mirror serve as a vanity in the primary bedroom. Walls in the primary bedroom are covered with a Schumacher fabric, while the Roman shades are from Thibaut and incorporate a decorative trim from Samuel & Sons.
A vintage rattan desk and mirror serve as a vanity in the primary bedroom. Walls in the primary bedroom are covered with a Schumacher fabric, while the Roman shades are from Thibaut and incorporate a decorative trim from Samuel & Sons.
A guest bedroom, equipped with twin beds, has views and access to a small interior courtyard.
A wide-reaching Tuuci umbrella establishes a shaded dining and lounging spot by the pool. A vintage Brown Jordan dining set seats four. The Century chaise lounges are fitted cushions from CW Stockwell.
Given the modest profile the home presented from the road, it was up to Ceglia and the visionary landscape designer, Robert Bell, to “up” its presence. Bell, who grew up in North Palm Beach and lives now in Washington, D.C., knows well the prevailing aesthetic of his hometown. He planted jasmine over the façade as a way to “make the house disappear but reappear at the same time.” He paved the driveway in a jazzy herringbone pattern, the pavers linked with green synthetic grass. He designed a vibrant frond-inspired pink fence at the entry, and lined the walkway with a variety of plants, leaving the existing tall palms. Pink Moth orchids tied to the tree trunks act as “surprise elements when you walk the route to the house.”
For the main living spaces inside, Ceglia adopted a largely pink and green color scheme, but one that’s decidedly more contemporary and unpredictable. He used a whitewashed grasscloth for the walls of the living room, where the client spends most of her time. A soft pink sofa, a 16-arm plaster-coated lighting fixture that resembles branches of coral, and tailored green and white striped cushions on chairs answered to the client’s desires for a house that fit into her new locale. “I like lots of tailored upholstery, a few well-chosen antiques, and a stripped down, simple appearance,” he says. “We leaned into a 1970s Billy Baldwin look and so, the room, all the rooms, are a perfect blend of us, my tastes and her tastes.”
He papered the home’s main hallway artery in a custom green wallpaper depicting palm banana leaves. To complete the effect, Ceglia commissioned a local faux painter to render a semblance of vines on the ceiling. “I wanted it to seem as if the vines were continuing to grow all the way up,” says Ceglia.
In the client’s bedroom, he faced a quasi-dilemma. Windows that anchor her bed look out to the driveway. While they bring in an abundance of natural sunshine, the vistas are less than inspiring. “We played off the idea of having very sophisticated, shell-pink shades and other uses of the color to keep the eye engaged.” He also purchased antique prints of shells that he assembled in a grid over the bed. Meanwhile, the guest bedroom embraces that Palm Beach green again, but Ceglia announces the hue prominently via two abstract/minimalist paintings. “They’re like origami,” he says, “and they look like super-closeups of palm fronds.”
In assessing the project, Ceglia thinks of it as “an amuse bouche,” referencing the small, delectable treat served by French restaurants prior to a meal. “We had to create something delicious and appealing in a single bite.”
