When you walk through the designer front door of this year’s Kips Bay Designer Show House at 3240 N. Flagler Drive in West Palm Beach, you are greeted by Philip Thomas Vanderford of Studio Thomas James’s White Lotus-inspired entry, complete with a large-scale sawtooth crocodile rug.
Reminiscent of a Sicilian palazzo, complete with Murano-glass chandeliers, the entry celebrates everyday opulence and sets the tone for the rest of the house.
Sitting directly on the Intracoastal Waterway, the 9,000-square-foot Mediterranean-style home, built in 2007, highlights the design work of 21 interior designers and architects. Open to the public through Sunday, the event raises money for Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club and Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County.
“We are delighted to welcome visitors near and far this spring to the sixth annual Palm Beach Show House,” says Daniel Quintero, executive director of the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club. “Each year, the Palm Beach community continues to support the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club and Boys & Girls Club of Palm Beach County by raising critical funding.”
Also taking inspiration from Italy, South Florida designer Amanda Lindroth’s “Great Room” is inspired by the great rooms of European estates, particularly the Palazzo Brandolini in Venice as photographed by Horst in the 1970s. With its live palm trees framing the entrance, pink and white orchids and pink bougainvillea, a trellis of vines, wicker furniture and Cedric DuPont antiques the room showcases Lindroth’s expertise in island décor.
Stepping out from the Great Room is the “all things Palm Beach” loggia overlooking the Intracoastal waterway, designed by Billy Ceglia of Billy Ceglia Designs of Palm Beach and New York. With glamour and elegance and Palm Beach iconography in mind, Ceglia created an all-white aesthetic with Brown Jordan’s Calcutta collection of lounges, white wicker and rattan tables, white umbrellas and white metal agave plants around the pool space.
It is the perfect complement to the blue waters of the pool and the waterway beyond.
Back inside, the “not-so-kitchen-y” kitchen, designed by Christopher Peacock, a specialist in couture cabinetry, is open, functional and decorative. Designed to be part kitchen, part hangout, the multi-functional space allows for prep work on one side of the counter with chairs on the other side to sit and relax.
Peacock, English by birth, has worked on the homes of two U.S. presidents.
Taking inspiration from the outside views, New York and Palm Beach designer Scott Sanders’s “The Palm Beach Story,” creates a family room that he says embodies the “eccentric energy and design that Palm Beach is famous for.”
Mixing vintage and new furniture with fabrics in shades of blue, white, green and coral with hints of yellow juxtaposed with lucite and chrome accents, 1940s-era bamboo chairs in a Pierre Frey linen print, all create an atmosphere of casual elegance. Sanders designed the hand-woven carpet, fabricated in Thailand, to emulate the waves of the ocean.
With multiple spots for entertaining, visitors can sit and watch the black-and-white movie (The Palm Beach Story) playing on the TV.
On the second floor, in a departure from the European aesthetic of the rest of the house, Brooklyn-based designer Delia Kenza of Delia Kenza Interiors infuses an African-inspired aesthetic along with clean, bold lines, natural materials and a neutral palette. Blending past and present, the focal point of Kenza’s staircase and landing is a large industrial-pipe bench by contemporary design firm Dune and a sculptural, tracer bar rope-like chandelier by Luke Lamp Co. Bouquets of baby’s breath in vases by L’Objet add a touch of softness.
Also on the second level, Miami husband-and-wife design duo Katie and Ruben Gutierrez of Errez Design Studio created The Welcome Bar — a vibrant salute to Henry Flagler and Palm Beach Island, with their bright neons and whimsical motifs.
Employing “biographical design,” a movement pioneered by Katie Gutierrez that uses a structured approach to finding clients’ unique self-expression so their home can reflect that expression, the two take a personal approach to their clients’ lifestyle and sensibilities.
“It’s all about biographical design,” says Ruben Gutierrez, an architect by training who mixes architecture, art and design into new forms. Dressed in a pink blazer, Gutierrez complements the space they created to pay homage to the glamour of the Gilded Age and to Henry Flagler’s impact on Palm Beach.
Other designers include Amy Studebaker Design, Danielle Rollins Interiors, David Frazier, Eneia White Interiors, Honey Collins Interiors, Katherine Shenaman Interiors, Katie Ridder Inc., Lang Design Group, Lindley Arthur Interiors, Lucy Doswell Interiors, Mabley Handler Interior Design, Megan Grehl, Paladino Rudd Interior Design and Stephen Mooney Interiors.
Kips Bay Decorator Show House Palm Beach, 3240 N Flagler Drive, West Palm Beach; open 10 am to 4 pm today. General admission $40; virtual tours available for $20. Visit kipsbaydecoratorshowhouse.org for more information.