It's October and I'm starting to plan for Florida, my haven from the brutal New York winter. Hot off the presses, via Quintessence Blog is the just released interior design book, Palm Beach Chic, written by Jennifer Ash Rudick with photography by Jessica Klewicki Glynn.
Although most of my time is spent working on interior design projects in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, I do pop up to Palm Beach every now and again to get together with friends. The vibe is completely different from Fort Lauderdale or Miami and Palm Beach Chic renewed my appreciation for the area's architecture and interior design sensibility.
I'm reveling in the rattan & cane outdoor furniture, elaborate white trellis room and grand loggia, all signature looks of the quintessential Palm Beach lifestyle. Although there are many spectacular Addison-Mizner style mansions on the oceanside, my personal preference is for the more intimate, but no less well appointed human-scale Howard Major cottages.
The classically appointed Villa Artemis, built for the Guest family in 1916 by architect F. Burrall Hoffman, who also designed the equally beautiful Villa Vizcaya in Miami.
A Major Alley cottage by architect Howard Major - though intimate in scale it's long on charm and style.
Terry Allen Kramer's home La Follia's indoor/outdoor loggia, designed by Pauline Pitt is built on the grand scale of an Addison Mizner mansion Mizner was the architect who established the Palm Beach Mediterranean Revival style mansions built in the early 1920s, giving Palm Beach its unique look and feel.
Continuing with indoor/outdoor living at the Kramer mansion with this Elsie de Wolfe inspired trellis room with Palladian style doors leading to the ocean
Jean Pearman's Major Alley cottage - designer Mimi Kemble's backdrop of Cantaloupe glazed walls really makes the antiques and artworks in this room pop!
Lizzie Pulizer, daughter of Lilly, puts a bohemian spin on her mother's interior decorating aesthetic with rattan bar stools and a beachy distressed driftwood bar.
Howard Slatkin famous for his fabulous candles opts for a more contemporary formal terrace - reminds me of East Hampton.
The Slatkins serve lunch on the terrace with hibiscus blossoms from their garden decorating the table.
Laura Slatkin decorated the master bathroom with a similar floral theme of Porthault linens.
Kathy & Billy Rayner's house after a radical transformation by Peter Marino from a regular ranch into a magical oasis. The library shown here includes an intricate hand painted wall finish.