The moment you walk into this home, you are already outside. From the entry foyer of this new residence in Lost Tree Village, the poetically named community of luxury residences in Palm Beach County, you see through the entire house to a wall of windows, out to the pool and green grounds beyond.
“That window wall was a feat in itself,” explains Randy Correll, architect of the house and a Partner at Robert A.M. Stern Architects (RAMSA). “But we found a European manufacturer able to make 12-foot-high sliding windows with minimal frames and mullions.” Lauren Kruegel Siroky, RAMSA’s Interiors Design Director, adds, “The entry was a challenging spot, in that upon walking into the house you see out. You’re distracted by the beautiful view.” Her response was to furnish the high-ceilinged, all-white foyer with a low bench, set beneath an arresting abstract canvas by James Bohary. Suddenly, the eye is able to take in the alluring view to the bright outdoors, as well as feel ensconced in an intimately furnished entry.
Indeed, much of the four-bedroom house has a feel of transparency. Among the most startling and original architectural elements is the windowed backsplash in the kitchen, essentially a glass wall upon which cabinetry appears to float. There, a prep area is backdropped by expanses of glass—at eyelevel and as a clerestory—that literally frame the property’s foliage. “Here was a way to give maximum transparency to the exterior of the house,” says Correll. “We thought it was a cool element to introduce, since, frankly, we’d never before seen this done in a kitchen.” Reflecting their long collaboration, Siroky adds with enthusiasm, “The kitchen is a masterpiece—Randy’s being modest.”
At the entry, a bench by Anthony Lawrence Belfair establishes scale and comfort.
The living room of a Palm Beach County home is populated with mid-century furnishings, vintage and ones newly made, that reflect the aesthetic. In keeping with the homeowners’ wish for unconventional seating, the designer grouped a variety of chairs. Benjamin Moore’s Simply White provides a neutral backdrop for design elements.
The glass-walled gas fireplace features a veined marble surround.
A living room corner is defined by a Walter P. Sauer console, above which hangs Howard Hodgkin’s Summer Evening.
A lacquered cabinet from Inner Gaze makes a colorful and practical contribution.
While eating, washing dishes, or preparing a meal, the outdoors remains in full view. Elements in the kitchen include Calacatta Borghini countertops, a trio of Lamp Touch pendants, and Watermark faucets.
A Howard Hodgkin work is centered over a custom credenza in the family room.
Portions of the walls of the primary bedroom are clad with Holland & Sherry’s soothing Patagonia Fog, a wool flannel material. A Vladimir Kagan sofa appears to float on Lucite legs.
From a sitting area in the primary bedroom, there are private views of the half-acre site.
White onyx, noted for its elaborate veining, is used in the primary bath.
The swimming pool and its manicured setting, visible from the front door, is furnished with Brown Jordan chaise lounges and Harbour Outdoor sofas, while a welcoming swan raft is able to accommodate two floaters at a time.
While the homeowners had purchased existing architectural plans, they commissioned RAMSA to wholly revamp them. “We don’t usually work with existing plans,” explains Correll, “but because RAMSA had worked with these clients beginning back in 1985, we took this on. When we got the actual drawings, we discovered there wasn’t a single drawing of the interiors. So, this wasn’t just about adding décor but designing full interiors.” And when asked why he chose 14-foot-ceilings for a one-story house, Correll adds, with humor, “Because we could. We seldom do one-story houses, but the clients wanted a single story, so we built it higher.”
With that directive came a challenge to the interior design. Siroky had to devise ways to accommodate the clients’ penchant for mid-century furnishings so that such pieces would scale properly in the vaulting volumes. Most furnishings of the era are low to the ground, unembellished, so Siroky undertook a self-imposed crash course in figuring out how to design pieces with proportions able to fit the rooms, but that would also retain the profiles endemic to modern pieces. Her hands-on collaboration with them included “sit tests” to try out proportions, comfort levels, and fabric textures. Siroky cleverly mixed custom pieces with vintage finds. In the primary bedroom, for instance, she found a classic sculpturesque Vladimir Kagan sofa, had it reupholstered, and paired it with a chair by Adrian Pearsall and a new bedside table.
While Siroky adhered to a neutral palette for walls and finishes, in keeping with mid-century design, as well as the bright locale of Florida, she ensured that the homeowners’ then-growing collection of vibrantly hued abstract works be well positioned to animate rooms. An ethereally blue abstraction by Leonard Nelson fills a living room wall, while other canvases throughout the home are placed in ways that they “force” the viewer to look at compositions that charge spaces with color and form.
Both Siroky and Correll feel confident that they attended to, and answered, the exacting wishes of the clients. “When all was done,” says Siroky, “I can see how both the husband and wife are both reflected here. It’s a house that represents the clients.