An Expansive Mediterranean Paradise Valley Retreat
From the start, designer Lynne Beyer understood exactly why this Paradise Valley project would stand apart from others in her portfolio. First, it came complete with an amazing collection of contemporary art that is bound to induce pangs of envy in any major museum curator. Second, this home would be a vacation destination for a British client whose family once owned the luxury wallcovering brand Zoffany. With this in mind, Beyer would need to create an elegant sun-soaked retreat that mixed a modicum of informality with the client’s luxury leanings.
“He is a man of impeccable taste, that’s for sure,” says Beyer, who incorporated the many heirloom furnishings and other high-end trappings from her client’s storage facility in London. He would send her photographs of what he had stockpiled, and she would tell him, “Just send it. We’ll make it work.” And indeed they did.
Upon entering, one is met with the first of the many works from the homeowner’s extensive collection—a dramatic piece by English artist Rachel Howard. Steps away, the living room displays Ladies and Gentlemen, a painting by Los Angeles artist Matt Greene. It is a canvas so monumental that it naturally commands the space, a difficult task given the room’s long rectangular dimensions. The furniture includes two seating groups: one clustered around the fireplace next to an ebonized wood chest the designer originally purchased for her own home, and the other featuring a sofa of the homeowner’s, two antique heirloom chairs that Beyer modernized with a geometric textile and a custom black walnut cocktail table. All the pieces are shapely and substantial, but quiet in color, taking their palette from the room’s sizable artwork. “The furniture balances the strength of the art and the immense scale of the spaces,” Beyer says.
This sheer magnitude is practically a requirement of the residence’s Andalusian-style architecture—designed by architect Andrew Carson III and built by Frank Adams and Jerry Bloom of Paradise Valley Building Company. The style’s signature arches, stone columns and dark finishes are the combined masterworks of Carson and designers KT Tamm and Michael Marlowe. “The owner wanted the residence to reflect his refined taste, but not look foreign to its surroundings,” Carson says.
Throughout the home, ceiling beams emphasize the lofty room heights, but their hand-polished sheen prevents an overly rustic appearance. “We were going for a more subtle, refined look,” Tamm says. While these stunning architectural accents grace almost every space in the house, the focal point of the kitchen is a backsplash wall of glossy three-dimensional tiles. The room is a mix of light and dark, where satin-finished travertine flooring is a stark contrast to the dark alder cabinetry. “The kitchen has a crisp modernity yet it is grounded in the simplicity of the patterns and textures of old-world style,” Marlowe says. “Our client travels extensively, so we designed many of these spaces to reflect his sensibility and familiarity with design elements found in places such as North Africa and southern Spain.”
In the master suite, the main event is something else entirely: gold damask wallpaper by Zoffany, a nod to the homeowner’s family legacy. The elegant space features a mix of the client’s furnishings and looks out onto a resort-style pool area, where views of Camelback Mountain provide a breathtaking backdrop for a swim. “We set out to create an oasis in the desert,” Carson says of the home’s sophisticated yet tranquil style, and with its many luxury appointments, it is safe to say the mission was accomplished. “The result is an ideal environment for entertaining and relaxing when the owner is here in the valley.”