Fifty-five stories above the shoreline, interior designer Barry Dixon has filled the interiors of a commodious penthouse with enough sand and sea references to make its inhabitants feel an intimate connection to the beach so far below.
Everything begins with a monumental splash as a pair of bronze-and-glass doors open to reveal a 13-foot mounted ichthyosaurus skeleton (think: prehistoric shark).
“The fossil is positioned to be looking at the sea as if it is trying to return home,” says Dixon, who backed the form with an open weave screen reminiscent of fish netting and a chandelier composed of glass spheres mimicking ocean bubbles.
Throughout the space’s 4,600 square feet, terrazzo floors in two color ways–gray like damp sand and gold to reference the sun–reflect light like the surface of the water. From the purposeful pillow on the curved living room sofa–“The pearl in the oyster,” he says– to the glass wall tiles in the master bathroom that shimmer like fish scales, nothing here is left to chance.
Tour the space via the gallery, above.