Unmistakably Palm Beach, with touches of Moroccan romance, Persian exoticism, tropical Jazz Age panache and 1950s swank. It was a potent design brief that could only come from clients with a deep passion for Palm Beach. Both homeowners had grown up spending time on the island, each treasuring their early memories as well as the area’s distinctive worldly and historic design vernacular. “They wanted timelessness—and a sense of romance, no matter what,” designer Marshall Watson recalls. “They wanted a house that harkens to a lifestyle that means a lot to them, one they hope to share with their children and grandchildren.”
Where some might see the faux Mediterranean 1980s home the couple purchased as a non sequitur for crafting this narrative, Watson—along with firm partner Kate Reid, architect Mark Marsh, builder Amadou Dial and landscape architect Mario Nievera—saw only promise. And so began an ambitious renovation aimed at fashioning a soulful family home that gracefully mingles with the neighboring Addison Mizner-era estates the longtime clients so adore.
Home Details
Architecture:
Mark Marsh, Bridges, Marsh & Associates
Interior Design:
Marshall Watson and Kate Reid, Marshall Watson & Reid Deane Ganes
Home Builder:
Amadou Dial, Woolems, Inc.
Landscape Architecture:
Mario Nievera, Nievera Williams Landscape Architecture
“The house is welcoming and relaxed, but there’s a magical aspect to everything.”
–KATE REID
Brunschwig & Fils linen panels decorate the primary bedroom. The armchair from Bamboo & Rattan faces a bureau from Incollect. A Vaughan sconce emerges from C&C Milano sheers framing the bed by Ritz Upholstery. The chest and bench are from FS Henemader Antiques.
“We wanted to create more of a Venetian Mediterranean look, as opposed to primitive Spanish Mediterranean,” Marsh explains. Through the addition of larger repositioned windows and doors, new Venetian-style archways and thoughtfully realigned columns, the design was transformed. “We created a much more handsome fenestration,” he continues. Within, the architect collaborated closely with the team on changes large and small, from the kitchen—which was fit with clear cypress cabinetry, a generous banquette and an intricate, Moroccan-inspired case opening—to the foyer, where they lifted the ceilings for a gracious welcome. Perhaps the greatest evolution: an outdoor gathering space crafted as an homage to the husband’s late aunt—a re-creation of her games room. Formerly an interior space, the team opened it up to the gardens, trimming the architectural canvas with coral stone walls, a pecky cypress ceiling and pistachio green shutters.
Beyond, Nievera tackled the landscape with a similar goal of heritage. An oversize pool and cabana were removed in favor of a modestly scaled pool and tidy expanse of lawn dotted with palms, citrus trees and gardenias. For “an everblooming wall of color,” he describes, the landscape architect swathed the rear façade in Barbara Karst bougainvillea. “As you look out at the lawn and lush gardens, you feel like you’re at a historic Palm Beach property,” he notes.
When the time came to decorate, Watson and Reid used imaginative aplomb to bring the design directive to life. Moroccan zellige tiles layer with 1950s bamboo furnishings and Persian garden textiles, while vintage chintzes and an array of fine antiques further support the narrative of an heirloom home. Throughout, an artisan hand is evident, seen in details like the stenciled pecky cypress ceiling beams (a nod to Mizner and his affection for Byzantine-influenced Venetian design) and the ethereal mural that wraps the dining room. A convivial space that readily seats 18 for dinner, the canvas called for something special, and the designers answered by commissioning artist Susan Harter to capture Palm Beach’s natural majesty.
Amid one such level of design, it’s a bit of a surprise that a laid-back spirit permeates. “There’s a cheeky sense of humor in Palm Beach,” Watson muses. “It’s formal but in a tropical environment, so it doesn’t take itself too seriously.” Elegance meets comfort in moments like the sisal rugs—designed for sand to sift through them—and tailored dining chairs that are also slipcovered.
“The house is welcoming and relaxed, but there’s a magical aspect to everything,” Reid notes, calling out the many Moroccan lanterns whose perforations dust rooms in glitter and the dolphin-festooned birdbath the designers reinterpreted as a powder room sink. “There are many beautiful homes out there that feel like lovely hotels. But when you have clients that let you take it to the next level, everything changes. It becomes this rich, deep, complex experience.” Echoes Watson, “There is something about this house that everybody gravitates toward. It feels like it has been loved—and that people have loved each other here.”
Dining chairs from Mecox Gardens surround a 19th-century mahogany table. A Cox London mirror centers bronze Rose Tarlow Melrose House wall lights. The draperies are made of a Rogers & Goffigon fabric with Samuel & Sons trim.
Tour The Home:
The entry’s pecky cypress ceilings and the stairwell’s iron balustrade both nod to Addison Mizner’s Venetian-inspired traditions. Jamb’s Hyde lanterns light the way to an outdoor room, while Patterson Flynn abaca rugs offer a beachy note underfoot.
The hue of the living room’s Gracie coffee table echoes that of the lamps from Objets Plus, Inc. atop the Ritz Upholstery tables. A sofa from JED Interior Design and Antiques and bamboo chair gather with O. Henry House chairs.
In the same room, framed by antique wall brackets, a 19th-century Burmese mirror from Jacqueline Adams Antiques reflects the painted ceiling beams by Artifex Crafted. An abaca Beauvais Carpets rug anchors the space.
Accenting the breakfast nook’s Phillip Jeffries grass-cloth wallpaper, Lee Jofa’s Sameera print enlivens the banquette and Roman shades. Style by Annick chairs partner with a Daniel Scuderi table beneath a Tazi Designs lantern and Lamptouch sconces.
Mosaic House’s Batha porcelain tile injects the kitchen with color. Visual Comfort & Co. lanterns hang above an island fit with a faucet from The Brass Center and Style by Annick’s Pere Tranquille stools. Leeds Custom Design constructed the cabinetry.
A Susan Harter mural wallpaper steals the show in the dining room, home to an 1820s Irish mahogany serving table from O’Sullivan Antiques. The woven sea grass Patterson Flynn rug adds texture.
Dining chairs from Mecox Gardens surround a 19th-century mahogany table. A Cox London mirror centers bronze Rose Tarlow Melrose House wall lights. The draperies are made of a Rogers & Goffigon fabric with Samuel & Sons trim.
Brunschwig & Fils linen panels decorate the primary bedroom. The armchair from Bamboo & Rattan faces a bureau from Incollect. A Vaughan sconce emerges from C&C Milano sheers framing the bed by Ritz Upholstery. The chest and bench are from FS Henemader Antiques.
Cast in Benjamin Moore’s White Dove, the primary bathroom exhibits patterned tiles from Mosaic House. The Vaughan table enhances the home’s Moroccan theme.
A tribute to the husband’s late aunt, the outdoor game room showcases seating and a cabinet from Bamboo & Rattan. The white Emissary garden stool joins a coffee and side table from Devonshire on a Doris Leslie Blau Khotan rug under a Tazi Designs lantern.
Mosaic House tiles define the jewel-box powder room alongside Vaughan mirror sconces and Sherle Wagner International’s oil-rubbed Harrison tap. The design team reappointed a birdbath from Devonshire as a sink.
Deliberately simple grounds designed by landscape architect Mario Nievera are meant to lend an Old Palm Beach air. The antique marble urn, one of two, was salvaged from a nearby rose garden.