Palm Court was designed and built by an American architect in the early 1930’s and is a magnificent example of Colonial style with deep wraparound verandahs and 3,500 sq meters over 3 floors. The sense of light and space and layout is what made this house a joy to work with. The central reception area was formerly a relatively wasted space, so to enhance the continuous flow from the living room through the central reception area to the dining room, I brought in a couple of easy chairs to create another informal seating area next to the fireplace. Now a space to sit and enjoy a pre-dinner drink, complete with vintage cane and bamboo cocktail cart and colourful bottles of Cornish Gins and Rum. The concept for the interior was to celebrate it’s American colonial style and simple elegance by accentuating the period architecture with walls painted in Farrow & Ball’s All White throughout, replacing the white floor tiles for deep oak wooden boards, a look reminiscent of a Californian or Caribbean beach house. Punctuated with pops of bright colourful original modern artwork and film posters; a soft palette of pastels in the downstairs area from the Kelly Wearstler ‘California Collection’ in collaboration with Farrow & Ball (Faded Terracotta, Tar, Palm Green and Citrona) and beautiful wallpapers by Divine Savages (Crane Fonda in Palm Green). I wanted to use mostly all natural sustainable materials such as light oak (dining table), mango wood and teak, jute, cane and raffia; various textures from flax linen to boucle and Aztec inspired patterns and prints; an eclectic blend of modern yet traditional colonial furniture, pulled together to create a relaxed, fun, informal yet sophisticated modern Californian inspired home with that all important holiday home feel.
