by Nanci Theoret
Post Woos Miromar Crowd
Sure, some interior designers have a my-way-or-the-highway motto. And if you peruse NYC designer Jennifer Post’s portfolio, with its omnipresent palette of white, gray and cashmere and contemporary styling, you might assume the same for her.
But as attendees at Post’s talk last week at Miromar Design Center were likely to deduce, it’s because of this distinct look that clients seek out the Architectural Digest darling.
Post, originally from the Cincinnati area, retains that down-to-earth quality Midwestern girls are known for, even though her clients have included L.A.’s glitterati, among them Simon Cowell and Jennifer Lopez. Even she’s astounded by the vastness of Hollywood homes, some more than 60,000 square feet, and the idol-like worship of the boob tube.
“There’s a joke in L.A. that no room has books, but every room has a TV,” she says.
You’d also think Post would be difficult to impress. After all, she’s been there, done that. But, the affable designer, who has no formal design degree (she majored in theater design), was mesmerized by the architecture and finishings of our very own design center. She even extended her visit to take in the architecture around Fifth Avenue South, Port Royal and Old Naples—the latter, I’m told, resounded with her because of the tin roofs.
As she showcased recent projects on screen, Post wondered aloud if her “elegant minimalism” would appeal to the Naples crowd: “A lot of people don’t like my work.”
The audience’s oohs and ahs were evident it did.
Post also spilled the beans on Cowell, a man whose reputation has been manufactured by the media (“He is a wonderful man; he treated me like gold.”). His home, an English Tudor on Beverly Hills’ largest lot, took four years to complete (“He changes his mind constantly.”) and includes a 1,500-square-foot bathroom.
Post also shared some of her design secrets: the use of plinths and fixed-glass panels; 8- and 9-foot doors to make a home seem larger; hidden rocks; the absence of baseboards; and beach- and family-friendly upholstery, usually white but easy to clean. (I asked.)
Post later held court in the MDC’s newest showroom, Chalon, whose beautiful cabinetry is made exactly as it was 200 years ago. Original pieces are so coveted in Europe, they’re more expensive to buy used than new, Sales Director Andrew Jones told me.
New Amenity Alert: Bocce Courts
Mediterra’s new bocce gardens combine two of residents’ favorite pasttimes: camaraderie and wine. The lighted two-court facility, which opened in January, has proven so popular, the Naples community now has a 418-member bocce league and annual bocce tourney and dinner.
As regular players tell me, bocce is a game that requires no athletic prowess, isn’t age restrictive and is likely the only sport one can play with a ball in one hand and a glass of wine in the other.
All that's missing is the wine.
Sanctuaries Open Saturday
You don’t have to be in the market for a new home to explore Bonita Bay, beginning this Saturday. Six high-rise homes, appropriately dubbed “Sanctuaries in the Sky,” will open through March 13 for the Southwest Florida Symphony’s annual designer showcase.
Credit local designer Ruth Condit for making this happen. She personally located the site and worked with developer Lutgert Cos. “This is my pet project,” she tells me. “All of these retreats offer cutting-edge, high-end interior design concepts that will inform and inspire.”
The showcase features condos priced from $1.5 to $2.5 million and designs by Collins & DuPont, Gary David, Marc-Michaels and Robb & Stucky. Woefully lacking, unfortunately, is a home designed by Condit.
Collins & DuPont-designed condo
Let Us Eat Cake
Covering the real estate business has its perks. Developers and builders often lure us into their communities and homes by way of our palates. I remember happily munching on just-baked chocolate chip cookies eight years ago as my husband and I toured the model home we would eventually buy. I could probably tell you more about the yummy cake I savored during a 2005 golf course groundbreaking than I could about the course or the all-out fêtes some developers hosted during the real estate boom years.
This trend hasn’t gone by the wayside. Sandoval in Cape Coral hosted last Saturday’s “Taste of the Tropics,” an afternoon of tropical treats, beverages and music by its cool and très tropical pool. Tarpon Point, also in Cape Coral, stages its second annual “Taste, Tunes & More” Saturday, March 12, from 1 to 7 p.m., featuring music and food in a lovely waterfront setting. Fingers crossed there’s cake or cookies!
— Have tips on a must-see open house, unusual marketing strategy or other residential real estate news? Post your comments below or e-mail me at theoretink@gmail.com.
Catching up with the Kenos
As I followed Leigh and Leslie Keno through Robb & Stucky’s Naples showroom last week, I noticed them stop frequently to check out some of the competition. The twins, regulars on PBS’s Antiques Roadshow and hosts of their own Internet show, Collect This!, on MSN, were in town to launch their new furniture collection for Theodore Alexander. But it didn’t stop them from running a hand along the sleek finish of a chest or getting a closer look at the hardware of an armoire. At one point, Leslie—or maybe it was Leigh (they are identical)—opened the drawer of a nightstand, pressed his face inside then stooped low to check the finish under it.
As experts of American antiques, and furniture in particular, the brothers know quality and attention to detail don’t stop at the surface. It’s what they call a “mouse view”—the finish and craftsmanship should be just as superior on a hinge or side not readily seen. They demonstrated this philosophy repeatedly during their afternoon appearance at Robb & Stucky, turning over their Keno Bros.-designed tables and bookshelf to show the quality and finish. And, yes, it would impress a mouse.
It reminded me of a builder I observed while we were judging multi-million dollar homes in Palm Beach. He kept running his hand along the top of a door, shaking his head if it was rough and unfinished.
In designing their new collection, the dynamic duo told me their goal was to create furniture that would remain classic, work with a variety of interior design styles and become heirlooms, much like the 200-year-old furniture they love. As homage to the past way of doing things, the brothers sketched their designs, which include handcrafted dove-tail joints and lost-wax castings.
“Were getting away from using our hands and our strength and chisels,” says Leslie. “We didn’t use computers. We used the best woods and did it the old-fashioned way.”
“We didn’t want to copy anything,” adds Leigh. “We could have done Chippendale and altered it, but it becomes an aberration. We designed piece we would want to live with.”
Should you decide you can’t live without a Keno Bros., buy now. The brothers are signing certificates of authenticity with each piece purchased through Robb & Stucky by March 31.
Fendi Casa Goes Hollywood
I’ve been enamored with Fendi Casa since the design house launched its furniture line a few years ago. Now Hollywood is gaga over it, too. Fendi Casa was showcased in the green room at the SAG Awards in January, hosting the likes of Angie Harmon and other celebrity presenters. While the actual furniture was supplied by a West Coast retailer, there is a Southwest Florida fame connection. I’m told Rebecca Lange, a visual designer at the Miromar Design Center Fendi Casa showroom, designed the room.
Designer to the Stars
Speaking of celebrity, NYC interior designer Jennifer Post, whose clients include Simon Cowell, Jennifer Lopez, Matt Lauer and other Hollywood A-listers, is Miromar’s next distinguished speaker. Her free talk “Elegance! Elegance! Elegance!” is at 2 p.m. Feb. 24.
Neat Knobs
They might be a little too kitschy for the Kenos, who got their start collecting hinges and hardware from old barns in upstate New York, but I liked the fun factor of these knife-, spoon- and fork-shaped drawer and door pulls I discovered recently in the kitchen of a for-sale home in Apalachicola. Great for a gourmet chef, I found several online sources and prices starting around $2 each, such as this online retailer.
Pillow Talk Former Naples adwoman and gallery owner Darlene Cecil has found a new calling since relocating to Montana: making beautiful, bejeweled, lavender-filled accent pillows. Darlene tells me as a child she loved running her fingers across the velvets and soft fabrics her dad imported for his fine antique upholstery business. And she’s still finicky about fabric, importing brocade, tapestry, embroidered silk and chenille from Italy, Belgium, England and other parts of the world. Darlene hand-bejewels each pillow—front and back—using semi-precious gems like amethyst and tiger’s eye or Brazilian agate, Madagascan jasper and other earth stones. “No two pillows are alike. After I make so many I retire the fabric; I don’t want them to become common.” Darlene’s company, Pillow Talk (cwestpillows.etsy.com), took off shortly after she gave lavender-filled pillows as Christmas presents in 2009. “I live in a remote part of Montana and grew lavender because it was the only thing the deer wouldn’t eat,” she says. “I gave them as gifts, and then it started. Before I knew it I was talking orders and sold to my first boutique a year ago in May.” She no longer grows her own lavender (she uses more than 700 pounds a year) but has found a vendor that harvests and preps it to her specifications, a process that retains the oil and the calming lavender scent for years. Darlene designs pillows specific to a boutique’s location. Many of her creations, priced from $40 and sold locally through Norris Home Furnishings’ Fort Myers and Sanibel showrooms, have palm, sea and fish themes. She’ll unveil a new grouping during a trunk show Saturday, Feb. 12 (yes, two days before Valentine’s Day), at the Sanibel store.
Pillow Talk's seashore-themed pillows.
Model Mania My husband always rues the days I tour model homes. No matter the price tag—$300,000 or $3 million—I always seem to find something I have to have. Case in point: I now want to paint one of our wooden chests with a sea, sand and palm mural like the one I recently saw in a Fort Myers model home. I’ve warned him other ideas are forthcoming as more than 60 models open their doors this month during Parades of Homes in Lee and Collier counties. The Lee Building Industry Association’s 25th annual event, offered Thursday through Sunday from Feb. 3–20, covers a lot of ground: more than 30 custom homes and high-rise condos from Naples to North Fort Myers. Tour hours are Thursdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. Admission is free. Lely Resort once again hosts Collier BIA’s single-site parade Feb. 4–6 and Feb. 11–13 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Parade-goers will have the opportunity to tour 34 furnished homes. Admission is $5 per person.
A GL Homes model. A model at Oasis, Fort Myers.
Sweet Melissa Melissa Galt isn’t impressed by celebrity or one to sugarcoat the truth, which I learned just minutes after meeting the great-granddaughter of America’s most famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, and the daughter of movie star Anne Baxter. Realistic and right to-the-point, Galt offered observations about stardom—“Celebrities are just people like you and me” —and Wright—“He was a dictator, and that was fine because people wanted to be told what to do”—as we chatted prior to her talk at Miromar Design Center. Galt, an Atlanta-based interior designer and lifestyle creator, drew upon her own life experience to urge the capacity crowd to design their lives, not just room interiors. “Life is in the living, not the getting away with it,” she said, explaining that she gave up a lucrative hospitality career after realizing she’d spent the last 30 years living her mother’s dream for her. “Stop being an imposter in someone else’s dreams. Establish the architecture of your dreams." Next up: David Easton’s “Timeless Elegance” talk tomorrow at 2 p.m.
Melissa Galt speaks at Miromar Design Center. A packed house for Melissa Galt at Miromar Design Center.
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