Leta Austin Foster Boutique, located in Palm Beach’s Via Mizner, is a shop that has carried a legacy since 1990. Leta Austin Foster, an interior designer who incorporates the Mediterranean Revival Style in her work, spoke with C&G Media Group about her journey.
Originally, Foster’s store was located in Phipps Plaza. When finding a new location for her store, Foster said she wanted a “wreck” that she could renovate and call her own. She was drawn to Via Mizner architecturally and historically, with the bonus that it was built by Addison Mizner. It was here where she found her “wreck.”
Foster recalls there were “old box air-conditioners in all the windows on the upper two stories, leaking rust down the sides of the building, broken doors, and inside, an eight-foot-high ceiling.” The building was said to be a hotel for bachelors. In the 1950s, architect John Volk redesigned building’s facade with larger windows on the ground floor and bay windows on the third floor. He also increased ceiling heights to 15 feet and added a lobby.
What makes Foster’s store and Via Mizner unique are the glimpses of European lifestyle implemented in the design. On the third floor of Foster’s store, there is an apartment—which makes her commute to work less than a minute. Since the building is mixed-use with both residential and commercial spaces, it needed two fire escapes—one interior and one exterior. “The exterior fire escape landing at the top is a little balcony where I sit every morning to drink my coffee, read the paper, and look out over Palm Beach, which, from this elevation, looks as though it is Italy or the South of France,” Foster shares. The designer says she tries to keep European influences in mind with her own interiors and wares within her shop. “I scoured for small antiques such as vases, prints, and textiles across the U.S. and Europe,” she says.
Foster originally set up shop because there were design elements she needed to complete projects that she couldn’t find. “I couldn’t find all the things I needed to finish my jobs—special pillows, fine bed linens, personal stationery, and most importantly, believe it or not, a beautiful wastepaper basket. So, I decided that I would start a shop and have my own things in it,” she shares. Today, most of the products she carries are customizable and are from various countries. Her store is also the only shop in the Southeast to carry Porthault, Baroni, and Nouez-Moi. It’s no wonder her shop continues to be a go-to in Via Mizner.
Foster voluntarily landmarked her building, hoping to preserve the incredible history that Via Mizner and Via Parigi have to offer. She has also helped redecorate and repurpose many buildings both in Palm Beach and across the country. “I would like to go on telling people about the history of the wonderful things we sell: How they came about, the little towns in Europe and America which produce them, how a certain fabric or wallpaper was designed and produced, and so on, and so on.”