interior appeal spring/summer 2016

70OLD FLORIDA ELEGANCEInterior designer Bridget Ray layered muted tones of blue, green, coral and off-white to transform a dark, heavy Old World décor into a lighter, Old Florida elegance at a Winter Park home, while creatively integrating the existing furniture and artwork of the homeowners, architect Bill Platts and his wife, Heather, into the overall color scheme.

76DYNAMIC DETAILSA very narrow waterfront lot meant building up and not out, but the Charleston low-country style house with island plantation features is a perfect fit in more ways than one. From the first step inside the architec-tural and interior detailing makes its own statement. And the designers from Godfrey Design Consultants made sure it was cozy and extremely livable.

82VIEW FROM THE TOPA totally raw penthouse in an established downtown tower is a rare find. But it means the design possibilities are virtually limitless and very customizable. With the designer right at home — Ted Maines had designed the common areas of the building when it was first opened almost 10 years ago — it got even better for Kimberly and Dan Dias.

88A CURATED CLASSICLike a fairy tale swan this beauty on Lake Maitland was not always so attractive. It took some very visionary collaborators to look beyond the surface and see the potential. This was more than a remodel — it was basically rebuilt to take advantage of the setting — and designer Kristen LeSchander made sure Annette and Gavin Ford got exactly what they wanted inside.

cover: A spectacular renovation that took full advantage of a rare lakeside setting. Photographed by Eric Cucciaioni. Story on page 88.

88

76

82

70

ERIC

CU

CC

IAIO

NI

LORI

HA

MIL

TON

PH

OTO

GRA

PHY

STEP

HEN

ALL

EN

MIC

HA

EL P

ELZE

R, U

NEE

K PH

OTO

GRA

PHY

FEATURES

FEAT

URES

S P R I N G | S U M M E R , 2 0 1 6

SPRING | SUMMER 2016 1

96

16

20

46

31

40

4 WELCOME

8 FIRST LOOKA beautiful table, set for the season, utilizes jeweled objects.

10 COLOR: PURPLE REIGNSIt’s the “it” color for Orlando and here are some ways you can show it off.

16 TOP 10: BARSTOOLSDesigner Anne Rue shares her favorites for function and style.

20 TRADE SECRETSKitchen Style 2016: color, personalization and stealth wealth highlight trends from the National Kitchen and Bath Association.

28 EYE ON ARTS The Cornell Fine Arts Museum’s collections and special exhibits enrich the community; A new gallery in the Mills Park district features major installations and pop-up shows;

Embark on a downtown gallery tour or participate in Orlando Story Club.

34 DESIGN EXPERTSAcclaimed architect and author Sarah Susanka continues to espouse the “no so big life;” Highlights from the 10th Annual James Gamble Rogers Colloquium on Historic Preservation.

38 SHOWROOM SHOPPINGFireplace & Verandah offers every-thing for outdoor living; Saturday Models sells almost-new furnishings from model homes.

42 HISTORIC RESTORATIONA downtown church is reborn as Samsara — five urbane townhomes with a sense of the past.

46 DESIGN DILEMMAThe growing tiny home movement has plenty of converts who give up space for simplicity.

52 ENTERTAININGWhat’s in your picnic basket? Chef Jamie McFadden offers some new recipes.

60 NEIGHBORHOOD WATCHLuxurious living in Lake Nona where amenities abound on a lakefront setting.

64 ROOM BY ROOMSix designers showcase individual spaces with details and inspirations.

96 LAST LOOKJeanine Taylor Folk Art specializes in showcasing locally and regionally sourced contemporary folk art.

INSID

E

S P R I N G | S U M M E R , 2 0 1 5

Interior Appeal and Orange Appeal make great gifts! Subscribe at orangeappeal.com. Get all the event info by signing up for the e-newsletter or visiting our interactive website. For changes of address, please e-mail [email protected].

42

BEN

VA

N H

OO

K

2 INTERIOR APPEAL | ORANGEAPPEAL.COM

WELCOME

The heat is on — in more ways than one. This is the season locals often dread as the temperature and humidity levels rise to new heights. But I embrace it because for me, it is all about relaxing a little. With schools on break, traffic is easier. With special events on hold, the calendar is a little lighter. And with daylight longer, there are more opportunities for

beach or poolside parties. Slow is a good thing. While many take to the mountains for an escape, as a

near-native Floridian I am quite fine to stay put for most of the season. It gives me the space to tackle personal projects — I am determined to finish my novel this year — and enjoy the small things that get overlooked during the higher seasons.

Staying put is also nostalgic in many ways. Growing up here meant spending weeks building forts and adventuring through the outdoors without watches or cell phones. One year we dug tunnels under a vacant lot with stolen spoons and a rusty shovel. Another year we had Gilligan’s Island fun with an abandoned wooden boat. And on many occasions we ventured deeper into the woods and creeped each other out in an abandoned cemetery. Our parents would have been appalled to know we sometimes crossed busy 17-92 to buy an Icee at 7-Eleven. And even in our own yards we dared each other to climb palm trees, and we often ran home with those sharp needles piercing our skin.

And when we got home we would lie down on the cool, cool terrazzo floors (that would later be covered with carpet) and fight for a spot in front of the single air conditioner in the dining room (that would later be replaced with central air). What I remember most is that we made our own fun with all the kids in the neighborhood — pickle ball, marble shoot-outs, kick the can.

Some days we went to New Smyrna Beach where we sprinted out of the station wagon to rent a raft for the day. Hours and hours later, after riding the waves, we were a little burned, a little tired, but always ready for a treat from Dairy Queen. And later in the evening, we would sleep on top of the sheets and still feel the ocean’s motion.

Yes, simple is a good thing.

MADE in the SHADE

Santa Barbara Designs Marquis double decker umbrella in Coral Pink with white

trim; Mirasol umbrella in Echo Lime Lite with Seaspray trim and Marisol valance;

and Paseo umbrella in Aqua Sea with gray Marquis valance. sbumbrella.com

Follow us on and @OrangeAppeal.


E D I TO R & P U B L I S H E R

Christi [email protected]

A S S I S TA N T P U B L I S H E R

Kate [email protected]

E D I TO R I A L & P U B L I S H I N G A S S I S TA N T

Christina [email protected]

M A R K E T I N G A S S O C I AT E

Wendy [email protected]

C I R C U L AT I O N C O N S U LTA N T

Molly O’Shea

C O N T R I B U TO R S

Angela GutekunstKaren LeBlanc

Chef Jamie McFaddenAnne Rue

C O N T R I B U T I N G P H OTO G R A P H E R S

Stephen AllenEric CucciaioniLori HamiltonMichael Pelzer Ben Van Hook

P R O D U C T I O N D I R E C TO R

Rita Tyrrell

B U S I N E S S M A N AG E R

Robert Ashby

F O R A DV E R T I S I N G :

[email protected]

F O R E D I TO R I A L :

[email protected]

F O R S U B S C R I P T I O N S :

[email protected]

orangeappeal.comCopyright 2016. No materials may be reproduced without permission. Please do not send unsolicited articles or pho-tographs. Publisher not responsible for individual opinions contained herein.

Orange Appeal (Permit #201) is published bi-monthly by Appeal Media & Events Group, 1111 Charming St., Maitland, FL 32751. Printed in USA. Standard postage paid at Harrisburg, PA and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Orange Appeal, 1111 Charming St., Maitland, FL 32751


FIRST LOOKTake inspiration from Neiman Marcus for an impressive and engaging table. Add some beautiful and whimsical objects like this pewter and 14k gold giraffe. An abundance of miniature flowers blankets the long-necked Goodwin Mille Fiori Giraffe figurine from Jay Strongwater. The hand- enameled piece features hand-set Swarovski crystals. Instead of a live floral centerpiece opt for an embellished vase. The porcelain Cosette Magnolia Vase – Flora, also from Jay Strongwater, has watercolor-inspired orchid sprays that are hand-embroidered and adorned with crystals. Its jeweled metal base and butterflies are crafted at the designer’s New York workshop.


COLOR

PURPLE reignPURPLE reign

In a bold nod to our own Orlando City Soccer and Orlando Pride, we explore the power of the most royal of hues.

Clockwise, from top right:

Uttermost Pippa small stool in eggplant, $394, Bed Bath & Beyond

Porcelain speckled ceramic knob, $10, Anthropologie

Fleur de Lys glass, $10, Anthropologie

Dune Flower Mersea soap, $12, Anthropologie

Arne Jacobsen Egg chair, $5,860, hivemodern.com

Natural glycerine lavender soap, $11, Owen Allen


COLOR

Clockwise, from top:

St. James extended length sofa by Jacques Garcia, to the trade,

baker.com

Small amethyst/gold paper weights, $81 each, The Paper Shop

Josie lilac glass, highball, $5.95, and double old-fashioned, $4.95, Crate & Barrel

Crate & Barrel Grasscloth placemat in violet, $5.95, and set of four Bloom

plates, $24.95, Crate & Barrel

Mission Grove Fig & Honey bar soap, $8, Anthropologie


COLOR

Clockwise:

Caspari Aubergine candles, set of two, $8, Owen Allen

Seda France Bleu Ginger candle, $30, Owen Allen

John Derian Company mini tray, $68, The Paper Shop

Finsbury personal organizers in raspberry and electric blue, $76,

The Paper Shop


Four Hands Ashford task stool upholstered in Dark Moon

canvas with wood swivel base. marketplace.fourhands.com

TOP 10:

Designer Anne Rue, Anne Rue Interiors, shares her

fave seats for your kitchen or bar. Check out these options

from sleek and modern to comfy and upholstered.

Vanguard Greer with Thatch navy fabric and

black nickel finished frame. vanguardfurniture.com

Vanguard Skye in a satin brass finish with elegant padded upholstery

in Totem Ash fabric. vanguard.com

BAR STOOLS

Vanguard Thom Filicia Home Collection Franklin with blackened silver finish, metal kickplates and Rosenthal Smoke fabric back and cushion seat. vanguard.com

Gabby Johnson sleek gold-finished metal base with a clear acrylic seat. gabbyhome.com


TOP 10:

Sarreid Roma with stainless steel back and comfortable brown antique leather seat and leg detail. sarreid.com

Vanguard Marley in dove gray with nail head trim on seat cushion in

Jinx Smoke and brushed nickel kick plate. vanguard.com

Vanguard Bistro with acrylic sides, satin brass trim and base, and cushion seat

covered in Jake Burlap. vanguard.com

Vanguard Thom Filicia Home Collection Utica fully upholstered in Hendrix Slate fabric with blackened silver kick plate. vanguard.com

Lee Industries Campaign with tailored slipcover and tapered wood legs and foot rest. leeindustries.com

BAR STOOLS

For more than 17 years Anne Rue has designed timeless interior scenes for both commercial and residential clients, working with everyone from professional athletes to the Travel Channel’s Hotel Impossible. She also appeared on HGTV’s Design Star. Anne’s

inspiration for interior design grew out of her love of fashion. Her grandmother taught her to sew at the age of 8, and she began her career by designing her own clothes. She holds an interior design degree from Seminole State College and has owned her own firm since 2000.


TRADE SECRETS

PASTEL COLORS — Calming Color Trend for Serene SpacesFrom mid-century inspired pale yellows and mint greens to shades of white and pastel pinks and blues, color is quieter and more subdued in home décor this year. Seen as an antidote to our sensory and information overloaded lives, several major paint companies, including Benjamin Moore, Behr, Sherwin-Williams and Glid-den, picked shades of white.

Color as a path to mindfulness may sound like new-age stuff but the concept is credible given the plethora of soft-shaded appliances that debuted at the 2016 KBIS. This obvious shift to softer, calmer colors,

KITCHEN STYLE 2016: COLOR, PERSONALIZATION AND STEALTH WEALTH

including gray, is satisfying a collective urge for visual quietness in one’s living space. Pantone, the global color authority, named the pastel duo Rose Quartz and Serenity Blue as the 2016 Colors of the Year.

Several luxury appliance manufacturers interpreted those colors in new collections such as BlueStar’s 48" Platinum Range in Serenity Blue with Rose Quartz handles. SMEG launched a line of retro appliances in pastels and La Cornue, a French manu-facturer of handcrafted ranges, launched the Suzanne Kasler Couleur Collection in soft shades, including its show-stopping range in Liberte, a happy pink.

Kitchens are showing their true colors as more personality peeks through with restrained styles that opt for function over flash

and a nod to the past. These latest looks steal the spotlight from their predecessor, the kitchen “showoff,” according to the latest

research from the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) in its 2016 Design Trends Report. I recently returned from the

annual Kitchen and Bath Industry Show (KBIS), held this year in Las Vegas, where the latest launches and innovations sync up

with current consumer tastes to set the course of kitchen style. Here’s a look at the top trends for 2016.

by Karen LeBlanc

The New American Home 2016


TRADE SECRETS

STEALTH WEALTH — Swapping Flash for Understated FunctionalShowoff spaces synonymous with affluent lifestyles are falling out of favor for more understated looks. The concept of “stealth wealth” is defining luxury kitchen design by choosing function over flash. To achieve this understated aesthetic, think handle-less, seamless cabinets and built-in, cabinet-depth refrigerators and freezers in flush installations that disappear into the wall.

The NKBA 2016 Design Trends Report notes there are “fewer trophy kitchens with emphasis on quality of material rather than showiness. Less flash, more function.” Poggenpohl Kitchen designed a great example of this concept in collaboration with Studio F.A. Porsche. The P'7350 kitchen features handle-less, seamlessly integrated Gaggenau appliances clad in Silestone and brilliantly engineered mitered cabinetry eliminating gaps between the doors.

faucets in dual finishes embody this trend. One example is the Artona faucet by Blanco that comes in six dual finishes includ-ing anthracite and stainless, café brown, white, metallic gray, truffle and cinders.

Winner of 2016 NKBA Design Competition, First Place in Medium Kitchen Category by Emily Miller, CKD, Kitchen and Bath Concepts of Pittsburgh. This kitchen is a great example of the “stealth wealth” style concept with its monolithic, high-gloss metallic painted walls and cabinetry and high-gloss exotic veneer bowed floating hood.

Winner of the 2016 NKBA Kitchen Design Award in the Budget Friendly Kitchen Category, by Cheryl Kees Clendenon of In Detail Interiors.

MIXED MATERIALS — Cabinets, Countertops and Faucets Combine Colors and FinishesKitchen cabinets, countertops, faucets, fixtures and fittings are mixing in dual finishes and colors to create visual interest in today’s kitchens. The NKBA notes, “Homeowners are more comfortable with bolder colors and mixing and matching colors, textures and finishes.” The latest kitchen cabinetry is done up in two or more cabinet colors/finishes often in a light/dark combo.

Countertop materials and colors also mix with one material for the island and another material for the perimeter. At KBIS,

PERSONALIZATION — Kitchens Express Personality with ColorColor is the ultimate expression of personality and today’s kitchens are full of authentic expression with custom-colored appliances and design elements. NKBA notes in its 2016 Design Trends Report that homeowners want meaningful, individual-ized features for lifestyle enjoyment rather than future resale.

Millennials are huge devotees of this design ethos. “They want to be able to personalize the space by putting their stamp on it. Every room looks different yet tied together with a distinc-tive style using a lot of colors,” says Kliff Andrews, president of Pardee Homes Las Vegas. Kliff built two millennial prototype homes based on new research on millennial homebuyers.

Appliance manufacturers are responding to consumer desire for personal expression with custom color options. BlueStar is one of several appliance manufacturers offering custom color options with its ranges and refrigerators. BlueStar has its own powder coating company, providing more than 750 colors and custom trim packages to personalize a statement kitchen.


TRADE SECRETS

RETRO-STYLED KITCHENS — A Modern Technology Meets Vintage StyleI’m also witnessing the rise of the retro-styled kitchen. At KBIS, vintage appliances with modern technology made a strong showing, capturing the hearts of consumers and imaginations of designers with their nostalgic charm. Appliance manufacturers, including Big Chill, Elmira Stove Works and AGA Cast Iron Ranges, are embracing this kitchen nostalgia with ovens, ranges, refrigerators and freezers that revive silhouettes from the past in punchy colors that are powered with the latest features.

EASY ACCESS — Today’s Kitchen Brings Everything Within Reach No more reaching into the deep recesses of corner cabinets or stretching overhead for out-of-reach upper cabinets, the gold standard of good kitchen design is easy access. At KBIS, manu-facturers launched cabinetry features to make pots, pans, spices and appliances much more accessible with ergonomic cabinetry doors that lift up with cabinetry pullouts, tilt-outs and tilt-ins. Other popular features include microwave drawers installed under the counter to save valuable counter space and provide easy access during food prep. These little details of thoughtful design make a big difference in daily life.

PET-FRIENDLY KITCHENS — Four-Legged Friends Find AmenitiesThe family pet participates in the social heart of the home in kitchens that provide feeding stations, sleeping coves and pet food storage. According to NKBA, the most requested pet amenities are pull-out drawers for feeding stations and pet food storage, followed by built-in beds and crates. Some of the pet-friendly features I’m seeing include cabinets designed with dog food and water bowls that are disguised in the baseboard with a spring release door panel, as well as dog bowl shelves between two tall pantries and dog gates with custom pocket doors.

Second place winner, 2016 NKBA Design Awards Small Kitchen Category, by Diane Foreman, CKD, CBD of Neil Kelly Company.

The designer placed a micro convection oven under the counter, freeing valuable counter space between two critical work areas. The cabinet space was filled with high efficiency point-of-use storage: blind corner pullout baskets, filler pullouts to store spices, pullout pantry and wineglass storage.

Pet Project Winner of 2016 NKBA Kitchen Design Award Large Kitchen second place by Robin R. Fisher, CMKBD, Robin Rigby Fisher Design

In order to serve the clients’ pets that have three different eating styles, three separate feeding stations were installed throughout the kitchen.

MASTER BATH COFFEE SUITES — Brew Convenience in Luxury HomesThe bathroom takes on the role of a barista as new home designs bring coffee conveniences into the master bedroom and guest suites. In my tour of The New American Home 2016 (TNAH), the official show home of the International Builders Show held


TRADE SECRETS

in Las Vegas this year, I noticed the master bedroom and the guest suite are outfitted with these coffee stations.

“It’s a trend that you are seeing in cus-tom homes. It’s a nice touch to offer your guests a completely secluded, private experience with all the amenities,” says Elma Gardner, interior designer and kitchen designer, TNAH. In addition to coffee centers, luxury bathrooms offer kitchenette amenities including micro-wave drawers, under counter refrigerators and warming drawers.

I’ll wrap up my kitchen style report with this parting thought — The modern-day kitchen is no longer aspirational (that optic-white, tricked out chef’s kitchen popularized on cooking shows) but rather practical and very personal to accommo-date the way we actually live rather than some unattainable ideal we thought that we wanted. My advice is to use these trends as a spring board to formulate a kitchen design that works with your life-style and speaks to your tastes.

Karen LeBlanc is host of The Design Tourist series. She travels the globe attending some of the world’s premiere design events in search of the latest trends, tastemakers and unique finds. Learn more at thedesigntourist.com.


And as impressive as it is, the actual museum houses more than 5,000 pieces with a European Old Masters Collection and (the only in the area) a large American art collection. The museum

also has a strong acquisitions program that has added works from notable artists — Gilbert Stuart and Paul Cézanne to Lou-ise Nevelson and Felrath Hines. Former Rollins College President Hamil-ton Holt welcomed the concept of collecting in 1937 with a donation by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation of several Ital-ian Renaissance paint-ings.

CFAM director since 2012, Ena Heller, PhD, has lead much of the movement to increase viability and visibility for the museum, which many consider to be for students of the col-lege. It was her idea to make admission free, even though it had only been $5. On a recent private tour for a group of executive women, her knowl-edge and passion was very evident.

Beyond the permanent collections, the museum excels in seasonal exhibits and community outreach. Two recent exhibits showcased both worldly and local influences. In Transcommunality: Laura Anderson Barbata, Collaboration Beyond Borders, the Mexican-born, New York-based artist brought together the story-telling costumes of stilt walkers from Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico and Brooklyn. Theatrical and sculptural, the textiles and textures were stunning examples of performance art.

The Cornell Fine Arts Museum:OLD MASTERS to CONTEMPORARY TREASURES

You may not have visited the Cornell Fine Arts Museum (CFAM) on the Rollins College campus, but if you have been to The Alfond Inn, you have been exposed to part of the museum’s collection — The Alfond Collection

of Contemporary Art generously donated in 2013 by class of 1968 graduates Barbara and Ted Alfond.

Works from an influential abstract painter and sculptor, known for founding the Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, were presented in Doris Leeper: Hard Edges. It was part of a larger exhibit, Art Legends of Orange County, to recognize the importance of artists and patrons from 1932 through 1982.

Current and upcoming exhibits include:

Conversations: Selections from the Permanent Collection — OngoingThe Conversations installa-tion features treasures from the permanent collection, recent gifts and select loans. Currently organized in broad thematic categories of History and Myth, Reli-gion Redefined, Gesture and Pose, and A Sense of Place, Conversations encourages connections between works created among disparate cultures and time periods. Old favorites like paintings

by Robert Henri and Vanessa Bell will be joined by recent acqui-sitions of work by the contemporary artist Hank Willis Thomas and the 19th century painter Francis A. Silva. A highlight of the show is a monumental landscape by Vik Muniz (a new loan) inspired by the renowned haystack paintings of Claude Monet.

2016 Senior Studio Art Exhibition and 2016 Rollins Faculty Exhibition — April 16 – May 8Two exhibitions celebrating graduating studio art majors by showcasing their works and accomplishments over the past four years as students of printmaking, painting, photography and

Detail from the exhibit Transcommunality: Laura Anderson Barbata, Collaboration Beyond Borders.

Doris Leeper, Multiple Images 39, enamel on canvas, 1975, Collection of Atlantic Center for the Arts.

EYE on ARTS


sculpture, and the Rollins College studio faculty featuring recent works by Joshua Almond, Rose Casterline, Dana Hargrove, Dawn Roe and Rachel Simmons.

Displacement: Symbols and Journeys — May 21 – September 4Inspired in part by The Alfond Collection of Contemporary Art in the Cornell Fine Arts Museum of Rollins College, this exhibition looks at multiple manifestations of displacement. As global exis-tences are reinforced, displacement of symbols can occur. As a product of physical movement across borders, for some liminality becomes a powerful reality. Artists in the exhibition include Josué Pellot, David Taylor, Shimon Attie, José Figueroa, Alfredo Jaar, Hugo Crosthwaite, Ramiro Gómez, Sandra Ramos, Gonzalo Fuenmayor, Meshac Gaba, Gajin Fujita, Rina Banerjee, and Rima Jabbur. Works from the permanent collection of the Cornell Fine Arts Museum will be accompanied by major loans.

As for Cornell’s special events and programs for the commu-nity, staff-led tours are offered on a regular basis at the museum and The Alfond Inn. Each lasts about 30 minutes. Other special events include art conversations, artist talks and gallery walk-throughs with artists.

Location: Cornell Fine Arts Museum, Rollins College 1000 Holt Ave., Winter Park 32789 | 407-646-2526 | rollins.edu/cfam

Hours: Tuesday-Friday: 10am – 4pm | Saturday-Sunday: noon – 5pm Closed Mondays, major holidays and during installation periods

Tours: Free staff-led tours on Saturdays at 1pm Private tours for groups of 10 or more email [email protected]

Admission: Free, courtesy of Dale Montgomery ’60

The Alfond Inn Art Tours: Free staff-led tours on Sundays at 1pm 1st Wednesday of the month at 5:30pm

From the exhibit Displacement: Symbols and Journeys: Josué Pellot, Lady on a Horse (Barrio Obrero, Santurce, PR), 2009, ink jet print. Courtesy of the artist.

EYE on ARTS


ART GALLERY AT MILLS PARK is the newest addition to the trendy Mills Park area in Orlando, located on the first floor of the luxury apartment building The Gallery at Mills Park. The building is managed by real estate management firm Greystar, who brought in Gallery Director Lael DeWahl and her partners, Dustin Gregg and Boris Garbe, to operate the gal-lery space last November.

“The first opening was a great success — we had more than 450 people here and sold nine paintings,” Lael says. “Greystar actually made a significant investment in the high-end lights and hanging system.

ART GALLERY at MILLS PARK

They are committed to making it a viable gallery.”

In addition to showcasing smaller pop-ups and major installations, the gallery will host special events for residents. “So for example, we’re putting together a quarterly series where we’ll have artists bring works that were created for that particular season paired with a chef’s menu,” she explains. Residents will also have the opportunity to learn more about art through a collector’s series.

“We are booked with our shows here through the end of the second quarter 2017. We have local artists we’re supporting, but we’ve got artists from

all over the world coming as well, so we’re excited,” Lael concludes. For added inter-est and diversity, the shows include pair-ings of female and male artists.

ART GALLERY AT MILLS PARK1650 N. Mills Ave., Orlando 32803407-234-7033

Artwork by abstract modern expressionism artist Paul T. Scarborough


DOWNTOWN ORLANDO TOURSOrlando, named the second most creative city in the United States by Movato.com, has a strong art scene in its Downtown Arts District. Experience a guided art tour of four local galleries — CityArts Factory, Gallery at Avalon Island, Grand Bohemian Gallery and Loft 55 Gallery & Boutique — and learn about unexpected treasures along the way. The tour begins and ends at CityArts Factory on the corner of Orange Avenue and Pine Street located at 29 S. Orange Ave., Orlando 32801. They are held every Saturday from 10:30am to noon. Cost is $20 per person. More information is available at downtownorlandotours.com.

DOWNTOWNARTSDISTRICT

ORLANDO STORY CLUBOrlando Story Club is back at its new home, giving anyone who wishes to tell a personal story a chance to put their name in a hat, and selected individuals chosen at random get to showcase their storytelling for the enrichment of the local community. Producer/Director and Orlando Story Club Founder Robin Cowie serves as the spe-cial guest story teller and host.

So how does it work? Ten participants are chosen from a hat to share their story. Stories must be no longer than five min-utes in length, told without notes, and must connect with the theme. The results can be unpredictable, sometimes outrageous, sometimes poignant, but always a lot of fun!

Judges are randomly selected from the audience and special story prizes are awarded at the end of the evening. A guest storyteller headlines every show with its own theme, food, drinks and laughter. All proceeds raised each month support dif-ferent Orlando philanthropic organizations.

EYE on ARTS

Artist Dlynn Roll at CityArts Factory

Orlando Story Club performance

Emerging Artist German Lemus at CityArts Factory


ORLANDO STORY CLUB SCHEDULE

Pet Surprise! April 6, 7-9pmBENEFICIARY: Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando

SearchMay 4, 7-9pm BENEFICIARY: Summer of Dreams

AwkwardJune 1, 7-9pm BENEFICIARY: Timucua Arts Foundation

TweendomeJuly 6, 7-9pm BENEFICIARY: Parramore Kidz Zone

Blocks – over, around, under or throughAugust 3, 7-8pmBENEFICIARY: Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida

GutsSeptember 7, 7-8pmBENEFICIARY: The Mustard Seed

Outstanding – moments, events, peopleOctober 5, 7-8pmBENEFICIARY: The Zebra Coalition

OriginNovember 2, 7-8pmBENEFICIARY: Coalition for the Homeless

The Truth IsDecember 7, 7-8pmBENEFICIARY: Page 15

Admission is $5 at the door with an optional donation for the charity. Orlando Story Club will be held at The Abbey the first Wednesday of every month, beginning April 6, from 7-9pm. Doors open at 6pm. For more information visit orlandostory-club.com.


NOT SO BIG LIVING: A NEW WAY OF BEING IN THE WORLD

by Christina Lynch

according to Sarah. But what does it really mean?

“Sustainability has to do with how we can have a system really look after itself, so that it is self-sustaining,” she explains. “A lot of what I talk about has to do with that and so, at root, all of my books are really about sustainability, whether it’s a sustainable house, a sustainable commu-nity or a sustainable you.”

Another important part of the “Not So Big” message and sustainability is that beauty matters. Human beings are a key part of the sustainability picture. “If we do not want to look after our houses, they will fall into disrepair,” Sarah says. “So if something is ugly, it isn’t sustainable. Look at the bungalows of 100 years ago and you see houses that people have cared for very, very carefully. Why? Because they were beautifully designed and inspire us to keep and enhance that beauty.”

“Certainly, we need to do all the things that we talk about in terms of making a house energy efficient and using sustain-able materials, etc. But at the core, you have to make it beautiful. If it’s beautiful, we’ll look after it,” she adds.

DIMENSIONIn her role as an architect, Sarah learned a lot about what people aspire to and that many people don’t have the tools to visualize what it was that she was drawing for

them. This taught her how to communi-cate better, “which is something incredibly important for those of you that are in interior design and architecture to help your clients actually get what you’re wanting to do.”

For example, those in the design and architectural professions think three dimen-sionally. “It’s automatic for us,” she says. “We understand that there’s length and width, and then oh by the way, there’s height.”

When she published her second book, Creating Not So Big House, which is about the third dimension, Sarah was inter-viewed for the first time by a journalist. “Fortunately, she sent me the article before it got printed,” Sarah laughs. “When I talked about the third dimen-sion, she thought I was talking about ESP (extrasensory perception).”

That’s when Sarah realized that the word dimension has a different meaning to a large portion of the population. Since then, she has worked to help people understand the impact that the third dimension has on our life experience.

“I’ve realized that when they’re build-ing, so many folks start with a floorplan,” she says. “The problem is that the plan doesn’t tell you what the house will really feel like. I know that. Architects know that. Interior designers know that. Real-tors know that. But homeowners don’t know that. So I wanted to find a way to explain it.”

TAY

LOR

JOH

NSO

N

Acclaimed architect and author Sarah Susanka is a cultural visionary with an incredible ability to

understand the underlying structure of the American lifestyle and provide the language and tools that are redefining how we live.

Her “Not So Big” message is the launch pad for a new dimension of understanding — not just about how we inhabit our homes, but also about how we inhabit our planet and even our day-to-day lives.

Sarah visited Seminole State College on February 24 as a part of its Speaker Series where she took guests on a journey that covered different aspects of what she does and explained her concept of “Not So Big” in terms of how it relates to a home and our lives.

“When I talk about ‘Not So Big,’ I’m really talking about how to be fully engaged in whatever you’re doing, whether it’s designing and building a house or whether it’s living your life,” she says. “Whether we’re talking about a house plan being more of a reflection of our-selves or our life plan being more of a reflection of ourselves, that’s really what ‘Not So Big’ is about.”

SUSTAINABILITYSustainability is a hot topic in today’s soci-ety and has been for the last 15 to 20 years,

DESIGN EXPERTS


When we look at a map, we understand that the map only tells us how to get our car or our feet from place to place. But we understand implicitly that it tells us nothing about what the place feels like. A floorplan is a map of a house, so it tells you just the same — how to get your feet from place to place. It tells you whether your couch will fit, at least in two dimensions, but it tells you absolutely nothing about what the house will feel like. To most homeowners, that is a revelation.

SIZE“When we were little, we loved to climb into our parents’ shoes and walk around,” she says. “There’s something about bigness that’s really exciting and so we’re tempted our whole lives to want bigger and that’s what’s happened with our houses, too. We’ve ended up wanting more and more and more and so the bigness is what we’ve focused upon.”

Every client Sarah has worked with wanted a beautiful house or a beautiful remodel; every single person had a vision in their mind. “They are seeking something,” she says. “It’s like they are wanting to go home, literally, to feel like they belong.”

What’s happened, especially in coun-tries that have a lot of square footage like the United States, is that our houses have gotten bigger and bigger and bigger in our search for that feeling of home “when in fact, the feeling of home has almost nothing to do with size because it’s a quality rather than quantity.”

If Sarah could change one thing about how we build today, she would eradicate all references of square footage because it does not make a difference when search-ing for that desired feeling of “home.”

NOT SO BIG DESIGNWhen Sarah talks about ”Not So Big” in terms of house design, she’s talking about building better rather than bigger, building to last and building to inspire so that your home is the place where you wake up every morning happy to be there and happy to be alive.

But most importantly of all, Sarah believes that the design of our home needs to reflect the way we actually live. Sarah moved to the United States from England when she was 14 and couldn’t believe that there were large formal dining and living rooms that nobody ever used.

She advocates for making the best spaces in the house the ones you spend the most time in and for removing the spaces you rarely ever use.

“If you use a space less than six times a year, then it’s ready to be repurposed into something you really want and then repurpose another space to do double duty for those times when, for example, you have guests over,” she says. “People who we are usually entertaining in our houses are our friends and they want to be where you are. So we have ideas about how we’re supposed to be and then we have reality. I want to try to connect this back to what’s the reality and how you can live it.”

NOT SO BIG LIFELiving three dimensionally is the topic of Sarah’s latest books. She often talks about how our houses tend to be focused on size, but also believes that they aren’t the only things that are too big. Sarah says that many of us are incredibly efficient but terribly ineffective. Her book Not So Big Living is about how to become efficient in what we do.

“When I ran my architectural firm in the ’90s one key part was missing: writing,” Sarah reflects. When she was starting col-lege, Sarah’s father advised her to go into a field that made money, rather than writ-ing. He told her to wait until she had something to write about before pursuing that dream.

“Twenty years later I had something to say but no time to write,” she says. “When I looked at my life, I realized that the one defining characteristic was that I was busy, self-designing busy. I was thinking over and over again that I was too busy to write.”

In order to make time to write her book, she scheduled a new “client” onto her calendar twice a week: herself. Sarah worried that her partner would fire her or clients would leave because she was spending time on herself. Instead, she was supported.

“That experience taught me that I had to change by making a small step toward something I wanted to do,” she says. “Not So Big Life is a roadmap to help you start living your own full potential. Chapters parallel what you need to do when remod-eling a house like removing clutter.”

The secret to Not So Big Life lies in let-ting go of obligations that no longer serve their purpose, being present in the moment and, becoming aware of how your thoughts shape the world around you.

DESIGN EXPERTS


It is fundamentally unsustainable to be tearing down historic buildings so that we can build some green gizmo thing,” says Donovan Rypkema, one

of the nation’s leading experts on historic preservation.

The highly entertaining principal of the Washington, D.C.-based real estate and economic consulting firm Place Eco-nomics will take the stage at the Rollins College Tiedtke Concert Hall on May 21 as the keynote speaker of the 10th Annual James Gamble Rogers Colloquium on Historic Preservation. Donovan will speak on the topic “Historic Preservation and Economics: Recent Lessons from Home and Abroad.”

Donovan is the 2012 recipient of the Louise du Pont Crowninshield Award, the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s highest honor. He also teaches a graduate level preservation economics course at

10 YEARS OF CELEBRATING historic preservation

the University of Pennsylvania. His book, The Economics of Historic Preservation, is the how-to manual for community leaders looking to revitalize their downtown busi-ness districts. He has consulted in 49 states and across the globe; and his clients include the Urban Land Institute, the American Planning Association and the International Downtown Association.

The morning session will take place at the Tiedtke Auditorium at Rollins College. It will also include the presentation of the

Winter Park Historic Preservation Board’s annual awards for excellence in local rehabilitation projects. After lunch at the Skillman Dining Hall, guests will depart for a bus tour of the “Grande Dames of Winter Park,” a tour of five of the oldest and grandest landmark homes in the city, including the Geer-van den Berg House (1876) and the Gar-Morgan House (1927).

The presenting sponsor for this year’s Colloquium is Lamar Design. Other gener-ous financial and in-kind sponsors include Rollins College, Arthur’s Catering, Mears Transportation, Aloma Printing, Hunton-Brady Architects, Hinge Vintage Hard-ware, CCS Restoration, the Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Gardens, and Linda’s Winter Park Diner.

The cost for the entire day including lunch is $75; morning sessions and house tour only is $55; and the morning session only is $25. Register online at casafeliz.us.

“

Donovan Rypkema

Geer-van den Berg House

Gar-Morgan House


SHOWROOM SHOPPING

That’s where Saturday Models comes in. The concept began almost as a fluke. Masterpiece Design Group was designing and delivering model homes, but decided to take it another step further by helping builders consign furniture through a public sale held at the Masterpiece warehouse.

“At first, this consignment setting was daunting, yet, to our delight, this was eagerly received by the public… and, it was just a matter of time before the word got out. After the initial few months, the demand on both sides was so great, Saturday Models transitioned from a once a month sale to twice a month, with buy-ers lining up before the bay doors opened!” says Masterpiece Design Group President Christy Scanlon.

While some pieces may come in a little worn, they are either priced accordingly or donated to local charities. For the most part, the furniture has never been sat on. “My philosophy is if I don’t want it in my own house, I won’t sell it,” says Saturday Models General Manager Karin Freis.

And a lot of pieces can’t typically be bought on the open market as they are to the trade only. “You can find something similar but not the quality, or custom finish,” adds Amy Becker, client services manager at Masterpiece Design Group. “So a lot of this is unprec-edented access to items that are designer only.”

Karin and her team work full time to make sure the showroom is meticulously staged and every item is priced competitively. She doesn’t foresee doing sales more than twice a month, which are held the first and third weekends of the month — Friday and Saturday — unless they fall on a holiday.

“That’s the most I think we’re going to do because we don’t want to lose the whole concept as it builds excitement and anticipation,” she explains. “And it gives us enough time to make it look like

Saturday ModelsEver wonder what happens to the furniture you admire

in model homes? While sometimes a professional stager

loans it out, more often than not, the builder actually works

with a professional designer and purchases the furniture.

The home sells and then the builder is left to liquidate the

barely used, quality furnishings and accessories.

Saturday Models General Manager Karin Freis, Masterpiece Design Group President Christy Scanlon and Masterpiece Design Group Client Services Manager Amy Becker


this, make sure everything is priced accordingly — we try to be competitive to what’s online — with smartphones every-one will come in and look it up. We value our reputation and we’re going to make sure we have the right price on every-thing.”

After a sale, the customer is welcome to take their purchases with them that day or can make arrangements to pick it up within in a few days — typically three business days. Otherwise, Saturday Models works with a delivery service.

“We have a full staff to help people load their cars and wrap things that are frag-ile,” Karin adds. “We’re not pressure sales.” Masterpiece designers often work the sale events, and are eager to help guests with their selections. And Karin is always looking for new builders to partner with and assist in selling their model furniture. “I love my job,” Karin says. “Every time we get new inventory it’s like Christmas morning.”

You can learn more and sign up for the newsletter at SaturdayModels.com.

SATURDAY MODELS6869 Stapoint Circle, Suite 110 Winter Park 32792 407-678-2091 | saturdaymodels.com


SHOWROOM SHOPPING

Patios, porches and pool decks are all living rooms that deserve to be furnished and used regularly. And Fireplace

& Verandah has everything to suit a vari-ety of spaces and tastes. The 10,000-square-foot showroom is filled with fireplaces — gas, wood and electric — and furniture — aluminum, wicker, wood and recycled synthetic. They also carry grills — gas, charcoal, electric and smokers — and can create outdoor kitchens.

And although the focus is on outdoor spaces, many customers purchase the indoor fireplaces and even use the furni-ture inside their homes. We recently visit-ed with Janet Medlock who has been with the family-owned company for 20 years — the business has been open for 43.

“Most of our customers have multiple homes so we do a lot of work on both the east and west coasts of Florida,” she says. “We are really fortunate to be able to use our outdoor spaces 12 months out of the year. So we have learned what materials work best. When someone comes in to

Fireplace&Verandahlook for furniture I will ask if they have a pool. Because salt systems are so popular now, I let them know our pieces will stand up to them.”

“We try to carry unique and different furniture that lasts,” she adds. “I have some clients come in and say they have had their Winston furniture for 18 years or more. And it still looks beautiful.” In addition to Winston, furniture brands include Rafters Collection by Celerie Kemble, Lane Venture, Klaussner, Lloyd Flanders and Leeward.

“We have wicker from one of the oldest manufacturers, dating back to the 1800s. Lloyd Flanders was the original and it’s still classic and will never go out of style,” Janet explains. “I have loved it since I was five years old and took naps on my grand-mother’s wicker daybed.”

With customization popular among consumers, the upholstery is an integral part of the look. And options have never been greater. “The fabrics have evolved over the years. I remember when Sunbrella only came in three or four colors — hunter

FIREPLACE & VERANDAH3610 S. Orange Ave., Orlando 32806407-859-5586 | fireplaceandverandah.com

green, burgundy. Now we have a huge array of patterns, solids and stripes. It’s so much fun to put it all together. There is also a new fabric from Sunbrella, called Rain, that’s waterproof so you can leave it fully exposed,” she says.

The allure of fire and the ease of con-versational seating are both leading trends across the country. “Outdoor fire pits with chat groups are very popular right now,” Janet adds.


RECYCLED, RENOVATED, REBORNA former church in the heart of downtown Orlando has been reimagined as five modern

townhomes — three are already sold — filled with little quirks and lots of character.

The structure built in 1928, and on the National Register of Historic Places, had languished

for years and was almost demolished several times before one couple saw potential through

the covered-up windows, vine-covered walls and neglected spaces.

The wall of windows in the living area features a wide wood sill

that can be used as seating.

Photographs by Ben Van Hook

HISTORIC RESTORATION


Appropriately named, Samsara was envisioned by developer Mark Kinchla and his wife, Kathy, who had seen similar

projects done in his hometown of Boston. The property, catty-corner to St. James Cathedral School, was owned by the Dio-cese of Orlando but was never revitalized. And because of its location overlooking the school grounds, new occupants will be able to enjoy views of Lake Eola without worrying about a future high-rise build-ing intruding.

“We started in August 2014. It was a slow, tedious process and really danger-ous,” Mark says of the massive project that included moving walls and beams. The new firewalls between each unit were added and then the massive trusses were taken out.

Much of the old wood and brick was salvaged to be reused in the units. The original steel windows were uncovered, but all the glass had to be replaced. The

Part of an original steel beam serves as wall art in the foyer.


building was tarped as 2,000 panes were broken out. “Everything had to be really well-thought out up front. And we definitely did not want to throw out any of the wood,” he says.

The couple’s daughter, a student at the University of Florida, came up with the name — meaning the indefinitely repeated cycles of birth, mis-ery and death caused by karma — after being inspired by a philosophy class. “There is something very spiritual about this. We should take a hard look at what we have and not discard it,” Mark explains.

Each unit is different in size (ranging from 3,000 to 3,600 square feet) and layout, dictated by the placement of the windows. But each is three and a half stories with an elevator, rooftop terrace and two-car tandem garage.

“We could not get bank financing because the building was so dilapidated so we sold one unit as a shell to finance the project,” Kathy says. Each of the units will be totally built-out to suit the owner, so they will look quite differ-ent inside. In this model unit the new rough wood floors got an unexpected treatment when the windows were being sandblasted. A decision was made to sandblast them as well, add some light layers of colored stain and then seal them with a satin finish urethane.

All of the building’s doors and openings had to remain the same for the tax credit — as a historic renovation, each unit is eligible for a $50,000 tax credit spread over 10 years.

A loft area can be utilized as a study

or studio.

A guest bath features a wall made from the building’s original brick.

Designer Rhonda Barber, Beyond Measures, Inc., selected and placed the furnishings.


DESIGN dilemma

INES SOTO AND HUBERT NIEVA ARE CHILDHOOD FRIENDS WHO SHARE A TINY HOME IN DEBARY. Their 362- square-foot home has two lofts on opposite sides built by Longwood tiny homebuilder Cornerstone Tiny Homes. The modified Fontana model is the company’s most popular with wood-stained siding and designer finishes.

As tiny homeowners, they are part of a growing lifestyle movement to downsize and simplify by shedding stuff and square footage. “In recent years, we have become conscientious about the environment and making our footprint smaller. Economi-cally, a tiny house made sense because we want to live a stress-free life,” Ines says.

The roommates’ tiny home features a cypress siding exterior, two lofts — the main loft with a sunk-in queen bed with floor storage, a skylight and two huge win-dows, and a second loft to accommodate a full-size bed — a walk-through mosaic tile shower; kitchen with granite counters and stainless steel appliances; multitask-ing built-ins such as a flip-up workspace that doubles as an eating area; and plenty of hidden storage. Other designer upgrades include a backlit wine rack. The friends watched TV shows about tiny houses and followed blogs for design inspiration. “We wanted clean lines, two tones, (white walls,

tiny house movement trades square footage for financial & personal freedom

by Karen LeBlanc

dark wood floor, dark brown window frames), and a modern-styled interior,” Ines says.

Paul Henz lives the tiny home lifestyle on the weekends in his 288-square-foot modern home, clad in color-blocked blue, green and white. The modified Fontana model, also built by Cornerstone Tiny Homes, sits in an RV park in Palmdale, Florida. “It’s in South/Central Florida on

the west side of Lake Okeechobee. It’s basically in the middle of nowhere. I chose this area because of its remoteness. I love being out in the country,” says Paul, whose primary residence is in Fort Lauderdale.

A tiny house or micro house is typically 500 to 550 square feet but anything fewer than 1,000 square feet qualifies. The tiny house movement is a cultural shift toward this type of socially conscious living and the less-is-more lifestyle. People are embracing smaller homes by choice, cre-ating a demand for architects, designers and builders who specialize in creating tiny homes and the flexible furniture pieces that go in them.

In Central Florida, Cornerstone Tiny Homes is one of the first homebuilders to specialize in this emerging industry. “It’s definitely a movement not a fad,” says Brett Hiltbrand, licensed design/build contractor and owner of Cornerstone Tiny Homes, along with his wife, interior designer Kim Hiltbrand. The company builds micro houses on wheels at its facil-ity in Longwood.

“After our first tiny home build, we started to really understand the movement and the motivation of people wanting to go tiny. By simplifying people’s lives, we could actually give them the time to pur-sue their passions instead of being tied to

Across Central Florida, the less-is-more lifestyle is catching on with custom tiny homes.


DESIGN dilemmaa house payment and the upkeep,” Brett says.

The company builds both high-end and affordable micro homes using licensed trades to do all electrical, plumbing, HVAC and roofing work. “Our customers tend to upgrade more than they would in a full-sized home because they can afford it using smaller remnants of high quality materials such as granite,” he explains.

The Hiltbrands believe the tiny house movement has the potential to foster the next generation of creative minds — artists, musicians and authors. “This is why our models are named after explorers and art-ists. We actually have a model indirectly named after Frank Zappa,” he adds.

“I definitely see the tiny house move-ment gaining traction,” Paul Henz says. “People are starting to realize that they can

have a better quality of life without all the things. I think people are tired of living pay-check to pay-check. It’s very freeing to rid yourself of the large mortgage payments along with the high utility bills associated with said home. It leaves more financial resources to enjoy life. It allows people to travel more, save more money for retire-ment, and to not have a huge financial debt hanging around their necks.”

As roommates living in close quarters, Ines and Hubert admit the biggest chal-lenge is not limited space but rather the limited communities that permit tiny

homes. “We were forced to live far from our jobs and friends due to the lack of communities that accept tiny homes in Central Florida,” says Ines, who commutes to Orlando for work.

State and local governments are slow to recognize this growing lifestyle move-ment with proper zoning laws that allow tiny homes. Most municipal building and zoning codes require a tiny home to have wheels. In Seminole County, the smallest


DESIGN dilemmaallowable house size zoned as R-1 (permis-sible to locate in a neighborhood for single family residences) is 700 square feet.

Proponents of tiny homes want these smaller dwellings to become zoned as primary, permanent residences, built on

slabs within neighborhoods and without the required wheels.

“We are designing a new product that could change the way cities, counties and states view tiny homes,” says Brett, who works with nonprofit organizations includ-

ing the Florida Coalition for Affordable Housing and several veteran’s agencies to help provide homeownership to people in need. Cornerstone Tiny Homes is also working with local counties to make these changes and is teaming up with Seminole State College and its construction depart-ment during the 2016 spring semester to design and build a code-compliant tiny home at the company’s Longwood facility.

If the tiny home lifestyle sounds appealing, there are several important considerations before deciding to down-size your living space. “We totally support the do-it-yourself movement within the tiny house movement but make sure you’re prepared and capable of building and finishing a tiny home before starting down that path,” advises Brett, whose company is a RVIA (Recreational Vehicle


Industry Association) certified builder of tiny homes.

RVIA certification ensures that your tiny house on wheels is up to recreational vehicle building codes and is safe for habi-tation. “Without the certification, you may have a hard time finding insurance for your tiny home,” Paul Henz warns.

Storage is another important consider-ation in the design and construction of a tiny home. “Consider under-floor storage options or maybe a storage loft. Some builders offer a ‘bump-out’ over the hitch end that can be used for either indoor or outdoor storage,” Paul says.

Living with less and in smaller spaces is definitely not for everyone, but it’s an interesting exercise to think about — what you can and can’t live without. In response to this growing lifestyle trend, a new

category of flexible furniture is entering the market, designed to help maximize living space. At the Dwell on Design show in New York City, I saw these flexible fur-niture pieces in action in a micro suite by Resource Furniture that was 240 square feet but functioned twice its size. A sofa-wall bed system, a coffee table that dou-bled as a desk, and a media system with hidden storage for chairs and a dining table were just some of the cleverly engi-neered pieces designed to help us live large in limited space.

The antithesis of the McMansion and a possible antidote to environmental stresses and housing and space shortages, the tiny home movement holds great promise to improve quality of life with small thinking. For more information, check out ameri-cantinyhouseassociation.org.


ENTERTAINING

by Chef Jamie McFaddenPhotos by Christi Ashby

For Floridians there is quite possibly

no more enjoyable season of the year

than spring. Beautiful blue skies, warm

days and cool evenings combined

with little to no humidity create the

perfect environment to indulge

ourselves with outdoor activities.

Sunshine State residents actively participate in an array of out-door activities throughout the calendar year, however, when

spring is upon us you suddenly see an even greater shift from indoors to out. The Saturday farmers markets have a renewed buzz, tennis courts around town are full, you may actually need a tee time at the club, and folks are lined up to dine al fresco at local restaurants. As a chef, my thoughts turn to strawberries, blueberries, sweet corn and dining on our patio in the evening.

Coincidentally, I recently received a request from a client to assist them in put-ting together a gourmet picnic basket for a romantic outdoor afternoon rendezvous in mid-March. What fun, I thought. I am sur-prised that we do not receive more of these requests. While I was working up some menu ideas, I started to think about the fact that picnics seemed so common many years ago, but rarely do I ever hear of any-one actually going on one. To be honest, I cannot personally recall the last time I enjoyed this very relaxing style of dining.

Has the classic picnic experience expired?I think not. But what defines a “picnic”

in our world today? To answer that we must first take a look back in history — outdoor social gatherings, moveable

What’s In Your Picnic Basket?

Plates, wicker charger and runner from Owen Allen. Napkins and napkin rings from Pier 1.


feasts, hunting parties, a “potluck” under the stars. These are all definitions of a style of dining that dates back to the 18th century. In the Victorian era, picnics were grand occasions, a truly memorable expe-rience. They were, for the most part, a far cry from the bed sheets and blankets that we lay across the grass today. Previous generations ate on dining tables placed under shade trees that were graced with fine linens, china and glassware often orchestrated by servants.

As with everything in life, this style of dining evolved and the picnic basket made its debut in the early 20th century. Woven baskets that are light and sturdy with slots to hold dishes and flatware were the vehi-cle of choice for a classic picnic until the invention of the insulated cooler. As one that certainly understands the importance of hot food staying hot and cold food stay-ing cold, a cooler just simply does not por-tray the same allure as a classic picnic bas-ket. And where would one even purchase one of these woven treasures? A quick Google search displays many options for any style or budget. The more important question is what we put into the basket for our afternoon or evening out in the open air. The rule of thumb is that there is a favorite food item or two for everyone to enjoy and the beverage of choice should be a deliciously chilled crisp rosé.

I leave you with this to ponder, “slow down and enjoy some lemonade in the shade, a glass of rosé while smelling the roses, all while passing some artisan cheese on your knees.” Begin to create delicious memories that can be shared with the ones you love and that take you back in time.

Entertain deliciously!Recipes following.


ENTERTAINING

Curried Peanut Chicken SataysMAKES 10 SKEWERS

CHICKEN:4 boneless chicken thighs, sliced thin and skewered

FOR THE MARINADE:1/2 cup coconut milk 1 tablespoon fish sauce 2 teaspoons curry powder 1 teaspoon sugar 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper

FOR THE DIPPING SAUCE:3 tablespoons soy sauce 2 tablespoons rice vinegar 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper 2 tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger 1 tablespoon sesame oil 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter 1/2 cup chicken broth

Prep chicken and place in refrigerator. In a medium bowl whisk coconut milk, fish sauce, curry, sugar, cilantro, salt and pepper. Place chicken skewers in a medium baking dish and pour marinade over. Chill for three hours.

Make sauce: Combine soy sauce, vinegar, red pepper, sugar, ginger, sesame oil, peanut butter and broth in a pan and bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking until smooth, 2-3 minutes. Thin with more chicken broth, if desired. Remove from heat, let cool.

Preheat grill to medium. Remove chicken from marinade; discard marinade. Grill for 5-7 minutes, turning once, until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink. Chill immediately and then serve with sauce.


Falafel WrapsMAKES 8

NOTE: prepare Cashew Tzatziki sauce for this dish 24 hours in advance. Recipe follows at right.

3 pounds canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed2 cups minced onion1/2 cup chopped cilantro1/2 cup chopped parsley6 tablespoons lemon juice

Mix ingredients EXCEPT QUINOA, in a mixing bowl. In a food processor with the metal blade attachment, process mixture in small batches. When complete fold in quinoa flakes.

Form mixture into 24 each three oz. patties and place on lined baking sheets.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush both sides of patties with olive oil. Bake in oven 10-12 minutes until brown, remove, flip over and bake another 7 minutes.

Serve on green cabbage or lettuce leaves with bruschetta topping and Cashew Tzatziki.

CASHEW TZATZIKI 2 cups cashews8 tablespoons lemon juice2 garlic clovesSalt and pepper to taste

Soak cashews overnight with enough water to cover 2 inches.

Drain cashews. In a vita prep or food processor add 1 cup water, lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper and cashews. Pulse until smooth. Transfer this mix to a bowl and fold in the cucumber and fresh dill. Season to taste.

6 each garlic cloves, minced4 teaspoons ground coriander1 teaspoon cayenne pepper3 teaspoons salt3 teaspoons pepper1/2 cup quinoa flakes

1 English cucumber, peeled and minced 4 tablespoons fresh dill


Sticky Toffee Pudding Cakes8 SERVINGS

FOR THE TOFFEE SAUCE:2 cups heavy cream1/2 cup dark brown sugar2 1/2 tablespoons molassespinch of salt

FOR THE PUDDING:6 ounces pitted dates, chopped1 cup water1 teaspoon baking soda1 1/4 cups flour1 teaspoon baking powder1/2 teaspoon sea salt4 tablespoons unsalted butter3/4 cup granulated sugar2 large eggs, at room temperature1 teaspoon vanilla extract

ENTERTAINING

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter 36 mini muffin cups.

Make the toffee sauce by bringing the cream, brown sugar, molasses and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan, stirring often to melt the sugar. Lower heat and simmer, stirring constantly for about 5 minutes, until the mixture is thick and coats the spoon. Pour half the sauce into the prepared mini muffin cups and place in the freezer, and reserve the other half for serving.

To make the pudding, in a medium saucepan, heat the dates and water. Once the water begins to boil, remove from heat and stir in the baking soda, set aside, but keep it slightly warm.

In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, or by hand, beat the butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, then the vanilla. (Don’t be alarmed if the mixture looks a bit curdled).Stir in half of the flour mixture, then the date mixture, then add the remaining flour mixture until just mixed. Don’t overbeat the batter.

Remove the mini muffin cups from the freezer and scrape the batter into the cups and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs attached. Remove the “puddings” from the oven, and let cool slightly before serving.

Before packing into your picnic basket, drizzle the mini cakes with the remaining toffee sauce and place in sealed container.


Sweet and Spicy Pecans2 pounds pecan pieces4 tablespoons Cajun seasoning2 tablespoons nutmeg1 tablespoon paprika1 tablespoon cayenne3 tablespoons cinnamon3 egg whites1/2 cup brown sugar1/2 cup sugar

Mix all ingredients except pecans. Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Spray 2 cookie sheet trays with pan release spray. Mix pecans into egg mix, divide between trays. Cook for 1 hour 25 minutes, stirring and spinning every 25 minutes.

Cool completely on sheet trays and store in an air tight container up to two weeks. Enjoy as a delicious snack or as a garnish on a green salad.

Jamie McFadden, Cuisiniers founder and executive chef, credits his culinary education and travels throughout Europe and the United States for enabling him to build his successful business in Central Florida based on a fresh-approach cooking style. After graduating from Baltimore’s International Culinary College and the La Varenne Cooking School in Burgundy, France, Jamie worked abroad under Master Chef Petter Timmins at the Park Hotel in County Cavan, Ireland. His latest venture is Cuisiniers Celebrations, a special event space at the East End Market. He is the co-founder of The PEAS Foundation, which provides food-insecure households with fresh fruits and vegetables.

ENTERTAINING


NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH

luxurious living inLAKE NONATHEY’RE BACK! SPEC HOMES — THOSE ABSOLUTELY

STUNNING HOMES FULL OF LUXURIOUS AMENITIES

AND THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY HAVE REEMERGED

IN SOME GROWING AREAS. FOR BUILDER LINDA

PELLEGRINI, HOLDING ON TO A PIECE OF PROPERTY

SHE OWNED IN THE LAKE NONA GOLF & COUNTRY

CLUB COMMUNITY WAS A GOOD THING.

Photographs by Kathy Thomas Home staging by Megan Morris, MHM Professional Staging


With the housing market on an upswing she recently completed a masterpiece with superb waterfront views and it is already on the mar-ket. These speculation homes showcase the

builder’s capabilities and are perfect for someone who wants a brand-new custom home without the wait. This five-bedroom, six-bathroom home combines fabulous indoor-outdoor living with sparkling water views to create the ultimate luxury escape.

The 5,131-square-foot home started off with something very special — an expansive lakefront lot. For access there is even a 480-foot boardwalk leading to a dock beyond the landscaped backyard. And even though it’s on a street with other homes you do not really see them as you take in the view.

The one challenge with building a home for future owners you don’t know is you cannot be too trendy or specific. In this case Linda and her design consultant chose thoughtful, muted colors with interesting accents in the fixtures and finishes. A good example of this is the open main living space, which is really a great room incorporating a living and dining area. It could accommodate a variety of seating arrangements or be opened up for a really big party. The large sliding glass doors open up to the pool and lanai areas.

Opposite: The spacious great room offers endless options for seating and dining while opening out to the pool, patio and spectacular lake view. Soft neutrals combine with striking details for a very livable modern aesthetic.

This page: The stunning kitchen has some traditional touches, including the large ceiling beams, but is full of contemporary amenities making this an ideal gathering place.


NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH

By keeping the walls and floors in light neutrals, it is sunny and bright without competing with the natural vistas. There are enough details like the coffered ceiling to make it interesting without a heavy hand.

The kitchen’s extensive custom cabinetry, sleek marble coun-tertops, statement-making light fixtures and hefty ceiling beams combine elements of modern and traditional design. The walk-in pantry is an added bonus.

The second floor features three en suite bedrooms and a cozy kid’s loft. The relaxing atmosphere of the home carries to a front and rear balcony perfect for entertaining on summer nights and taking in Florida breezes. The spec also features a home office on the main floor, guest suite, covered porch with summer kitchen, pool and spa, and two spacious two-car garages.

A detailed home office on the main floor could be used as an additional guest room. Baths throughout the home have a clean, classic design with custom touches like tile insets in the floor and luxe fixtures and hardware. The master bedroom and guest suite have warm wood floors, large windows for maximum views and doors that lead out to the porch and lanai.

For more information: Lake Nona Realty [email protected] 407-851-9091 lakenonaclub.com


LAKE NONA GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB:Created more than 25 years ago along a 600-acre stretch of land, Lake Nona Golf & Country Club combines natural splendor with a dynamic lifestyle in a community that offers diverse amenities amid an abundance of home options.

The unique opportunity to live and play at Lake Nona has attracted a vibrant community of residents and members who enjoy a wealth of amenities, including a Tom Fazio-designed championship golf course, a 40,000-square-foot clubhouse with an 18-room guest Lodge, Bath & Racquet Club with all-inclusive fitness and tennis facilities, swimming pool with cabanas, year-round children’s programming including a kids clubhouse called Nona Crewhouse, 24-hour gated security, and water-based recreation on a trio of waterways.

THE LAKE NONA REGION:The area has seen significant growth with the development of Lake Nona Medical City, where innovation will propel future expansion in the health care and life sciences sectors. Recently opened, the new Guidewell Innovation Center is a 92,000-square-foot facility in the heart of Lake Nona Medical City. This three-story building includes a unique Innovation Core, a next-generation workspace built to bring business leaders, global academic communities and entrepre-neurs together to create solutions that will reshape the future of the health industry.

Earlier this year, Tavistock Development Company announced that Lake Nona will become home to the Orlando City Lions training facility. Not only will the 23-acre complex serve the training needs of the MLS Lions with six fields and a 20,000-square-foot player clubhouse, but also Orlando City’s “B” team and Elite Youth Academy.

Orlando City joins the United States Tennis Association (USTA), United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) and USTA Florida Section in the newly created Sports & Performance District. The USTA is slated to open their 62-acre, 102-court “National Campus” in November of 2016.


ROOM by ROOM Area designers share details about some of their favorite rooms.

L I V I N G R O OMThe inspiration for the room was the clients’ needs for their kids. The room needed to be a functional space to accommodate two children

and a teenager to study, and act as a second family room and media center. With the help of custom cabinetry, a sectional from Four Hands, a Candice Olson rug and hand-painted art from Disney, two worlds came together to be the perfect teenage/children area.

DESIGNER: All in One Decorating Solutions by Francia Fusik

Photograph by Terrain Buckner


B E D R O OMWe adore this guest bedroom for its minimally modern, yet inviting statement. Both the bed and bookcase are finished

in a glossy white lacquer, contrasting sharply with the tonal “greige” walls, and further off-set by the industrial-chic riveted nightstand. The entire headboard wall showcases a very on-trend “agate geode” wallpaper, creating the room’s focal point and

punctuating the modern-meets-nature vibe.

DESIGNER: Masterpiece Design Group


ROOM by ROOM

K I TC H E NClassic lines and a blend of textures imbue simplistic elegance in this award-winning kitchen design. Geometric shapes create an open concept with plenty of work space for preparing delicious meals.

Cleverly concealed appliances add mystique to the room and provide an inviting gathering place for guests, while eliminating unsightly clutter. The well-balanced palette in this stunning design brings volume

and personality to the space, taking it from utilitarian to fabulous.

DESIGNER: C L Studio, Inc. by Jose J. Cabrera

Photograph by Stephen Allen


BAT H R O OM For this ocean-inspired bathroom located on the New Smyrna Beach Intracoastal Waterway, our client was seeking a space that was casual,

yet sophisticated. Our vision began with a modern, freestanding bathtub with an eye-catching, floor-mounted chrome faucet. Walls tiled with wave-like, white and gray pieces from Ceramic Matrix imitates the calming serenity of ocean waves, allowing the blue-toned focal piece from Leftbank Art to really stand out. The light wood floors completed the room

by providing the sense of casual, beach-living the client was searching for.

DESIGNER: Anne Rue Interiors by Anne Rue

Photograph by Katie Georgelos


ROOM by ROOM

A RTS & E N T E RTA I N M E N T R O OMThis room is a main focal point of a whole-home renovation, where collections of contemporary art and a more classic Spanish architecture

were combined. The room features a chorused wood ceiling — built on-site by Farina & Sons craftsmen and designed by interior designer Grant Gribble — in an inverted pyramid style. Special lighting was key to the success of this project. Walls were kept a “museum” white

to keep the gallery feel and truly highlight the artwork. It’s a marriage of modern and hacienda with a little mid-century thrown in.

DESIGNERS: Gribble Interior Group and Farina & Sons, Inc.

Photograph by Everett & Soulé


D I N I N G R O OMThe objective was to create a dining space that is casual yet stunning in this indoor/outdoor dining room that opens to a lanai

and takes full advantage of the home’s picturesque lake views. Retractable screens protect from insects, hold in up to 90 percent of the conditioned air and protect the area from solar glare. The walnut slab dining table is handmade from RobinWadeFurniture.com,

and the dining chairs are covered with an easy-to-clean vinyl that looks like satin. Natural limestone flooring and quartz ledgestone round out this organic, elegant room that blends the indoors with the out.

DESIGNER: Rob Turner, Phil Kean Design Group | ARCHITECT: Phil Kean, Phil Kean Design Group

Photograph by Michael Lowry Photography


She also re-designed the first floor of the house with custom accent pieces and new wall, floor and window cov-erings. This helped to creatively and fully integrate the existing furniture and artwork of the homeowners, architect Bill Platts and his wife, Heather, into the overall color scheme.

To keep the couple’s baby grand piano as the focal point of the living room, she custom designed layered shades of draperies for the four win-dows in the room. “The draperies complement the light blue wall color that resembles pale blue silk,” she says. “A glass bead trim was added for detail on the tiebacks, and the hard-ware on the drapery rods brings out the silvery tones in the upholstery.”

Living room walls “were painted in layered shades of blue and the chairs were covered in a medium blue with a formal silver finish on the side tables and lamps from Wildwood Lamps,” the designer notes. The round, custom-made area rug with a shimmer in its weave adds a contemporary touch. The custom ottoman was covered in a B. Berger fabric with fringe for formality.

OLD FLORIDA ELEGANCEINTERIORS: Bridget Ray, Ray Interior Design PHOTOGRAPHY: Stephen Allen Photography

Interior designer Bridget Ray, NCIDQ, layered muted tones of blue, green, coral and off-white to transform a dark, heavy Old World décor into a lighter,

Old Florida elegance at a Winter Park home.

A traditional Southern elegance style was carried over to the dining room as well. Here, the old wallpa-per was removed and the walls were re-papered in a faint, chinoiserie-inspired blue with copper colored veining that created a marbled effect on the walls. The beautiful existing chandelier shines above the dining table. Bridget had the chairs upholstered in a Kravet Fabrics vivid geometric pattern of blue and coral over a cream background for an added punch.

A custom-made area rug by Mil-liken has a faint blue and cream lat-tice pattern. Custom drapes in a subtle tone-on-tone pattern with coral and copper threads, and bronze drapery rods and finials show off the original white wainscoting on the walls. To complete the luxurious

dining atmosphere, the Platts’ existing traditional buffet echoes the room’s colors with a large ceramic coral urn and a collection of blue and white Chinese-inspired ceramics.

The homeowners have two young sons so the family room was designed to be a more casual space with durable fabrics and

The dining room design utilized the existing chandelier and furniture, but the chairs were re-upholstered in a bolder geometric fabric from Kravet. The contrasting drapes add some

color to the pale blue tones while the subtle rug anchors the main furniture.


finishes while still retaining the Old Florida feel. Plantation shutters were used here and throughout the house, mimicking the home’s traditional exterior style with shutters and white siding.

In the relaxed family room, built-in window seats with new dusty blue cushions and bolster pillows flank the fireplace and built-in bookshelves. The pillows were covered in a solid blue fabric, an orange cheetah print, and a dusty blue and cream tiger print. The ceiling was painted in a pale peach shade to comple-ment the coral tones in the room. There is a Dolcetti chandelier by Corbett Lighting that has beautiful, colored glass strands arranged in tiers reflecting the soft hues used in the room.

“I wanted to add an element of spunk to the room using non-traditional colors with these fabrics, and they worked well with

In the living room, more like a traditional parlor, the baby grand piano is the focus with soft colors for the fabrics and details in the upholstery, drapery, seating, pillows and custom area rug. Accessories in platinum

and silver tones complement all the blue tones in the space. The centerpiece ottoman is dressed in a B. Berger fabric

with a luxurious trim.


the overall style,” she says. For an accent, the custom-covered wing chair was upholstered in dual fabrics — an abstract tropi-cal coral print and a solid blue. The custom sofa and loveseat are in a durable, subtle pattern of blue, green and cream tones and the custom drapes are a soft chenille.

“Special curtain rods were made for the French doors that overlook the lanai,” Bridget explains. “The molding that frames the doors was too small to mount traditional rods, so we custom-ized a rod with finials that enables stationery draperies to be attached to it.”

A custom nylon area rug was made for the room that resem-bles natural jute but is more durable. Details like these, along with Bridget’s professional adherence to traditional elegance and her creative use of that style, all contributed to the beauty of this home.

More pops of orange are found in the friendly family room. There is a tiger print by Duralee and a cheetah print by B. Berger. The wing chair gets an update with two fabrics, the blue is Baker Lifestyle and the print is from

Walfab. A custom sofa and loveseat by Masterfield Furniture is upholstered in a Kravet fabric.


The living room views are expanded with the use of mirrored panels flanking the

fireplace that features a green marble surround. The symmetry of the chests and large vases provide

calm, while adding some color. Comfortable seating and a casual

air make this a livable room.


dynamic details

WITH A NAME LIKE

“ADMIRALT’S POST” YOU

WOULD EXPECT TO FIND

MARITIME AND NAUTICAL

INFLUENCES, BUT IN THIS

6,500-SQUARE-FOOT

WATERFRONT HOME

THE EFFECT IS SUBTLE.

YOU DON’T FEEL LIKE

YOU ARE ON A SHIP, BUT

YOU DO FEEL THE CALMING

INFLUENCE OF THE

WATER THROUGHOUT.

INTERIORS: Godfrey Design Consultants, Inc.

BUILDER: BCB Homes

ARCHITECT: Jeff Harrell Architects

PHOTOGRAPHY: Lori Hamilton Photography


“T his home was designed to be built on a difficult, narrow waterfront lot. But the architect was able to achieve a two-and-a-half story residence while staying within height restrictions,” designer Lauri Godfrey explains.

The formality and symmetry on the exterior of the house, in a Charleston low-country style with island plantation features, is taller than wide, creating a striking entrance that fits well among larger footprints in the neighborhood. It has monumental presence on approach, but is cozy and extremely livable inside.

“The interior is an open plan, but it discreetly maintains enough room to have been built a century ago. This is critical for unification of exterior and interior architecture, which is always a concern when historical reference is the basis of design,” she adds.

The homeowners are a couple in their early 60s, who are active with many part-time interests, so the overall plan included a large screened patio, pool, and plenty of outdoor living spaces for enjoying family and entertaining friends.

“Our starting point for the design was to maximize views, but to create a beautiful, comfortable interior. Every room is designed for family use and ease,” Lauri says. The owners love the kitchen area and their large master bedroom as it’s perfect for watching golf or enjoying the water views.

From the first step inside, the architectural and interior detailing makes its own statement. “The foyer floor is a combi-nation of three types of slab marble and mosaic tile. The pattern really creates an important space,” she explains.

And those details make a huge difference in creating the warmth and overall feel that melds with the interior furnish-ings. “The background colors are all neutral. Colors come into play with throw pillows and decorative accessories throughout,” she says.

This is really evident in the living room where there are layers and depth, but also a sense of serenity. “So many living rooms are just pretty rooms. This one is made to use and enjoy with com-fortable seating and a large expanse of glass looking to the

T“The richly appointed family room features a soaring tongue and groove ceiling that really opens up the space. Furnishings are kept fairly clean and simple with soothing greens and blues in the pillows and accessories adding some color.


view. Green slab marble surrounds the fireplace and the beamed ceiling details are highlighted with a darker shade of paint,” Lauri explains.

The formal dining room is both elegant and simple in its design. It’s sophisticated, but livable. Moldings prevail through-out this home and they provide a counterpoint to the beautiful hardwood floors. The stair railing was also designed by the inte-rior designers.

The richly appointed family room features a soaring ceiling that really opens up the space. Furnishings are kept fairly clean and simple with soothing greens and blues in the pillows and accessories adding some color. “The ceiling was designed by our interior detailers. We like the idea of painting the tongue and groove ceiling to maintain a lightness to the room, while accenting the dramatic architecture with stained beams,” she adds.

The striking open kitchen has high-gloss maple cabinets that are the focal point and marble countertops and backsplash. It is warm and inviting with a more modern feel.

There is a good-sized bar located between the kitchen, dining room and living room accessible from any of

these areas. Glass upper cabinets allow storage while keeping the space open and inviting for entertaining.


In the kitchen, which is open to the family room, the stunning cabinets are made of quarter-sawn maple, finished with a very high glaze. Back splashes and countertops are dark marble slabs. A sense of warmth and coolness collaborate to keep it inviting and interesting.

In keeping with the intent of the home’s use, an upstairs media room was designed for the adult children coming home for visits. A large wall of wood is accented with detailed moldings and the ceiling is accented with painted beams. There is a large flat screen TV in the room, making it perfect for lounging. The large rug and striped fabric on the chair and pillow provide some subtle color.

“My favorite area in the house has to be the family room/kitchen. It’s so inviting, comfortable and is perfect for family meals, watching TV or enjoying views of the water,” Lauri concludes.

The dramatic details in the entry floor created from three types of marble and mosaic tile hint at what’s to come inside.

The master bedroom is a large space that includes two recliner chairs in the sitting area. All windows are covered with blackout blinds and motorized operable drapes for a darkened sleeping area. The layered textures are all in the same tones creating a serene space.


The home’s exterior was designed in a Charleston low-country style and includes island plantation architectural features as well with the shutters and trim detail.

The oval-shaped dining table can accommodate eight with plush upholstered chairs. Details can be seen everywhere from the paneled columns and crown molding to the arched niche that houses a buffet. Custom-designed stair rails add more interest.

The upstairs media room features a large wall of wood accented with detailed moldings, while the large rug and striped fabric on the chair and pillow provide some subtle color.


A totally raw penthouse in an

established downtown tower is

a rare find. But it means the

design possibilities are virtually

limitless and very customizable.

When the designer is right at

home — Ted Maines had

designed the common areas

of the building when it first

opened almost 10 years ago —

it gets even better.

VIEW TOPfrom the

Interiors: Ted Maines, Ted Maines Interiors

Building: Star Tower

Photography: Michael Pelzer, Uneek Photography


The open main living room features floor-to-ceiling draperies that filter light and add warmth to the room. A Knoll Platner table and chairs provides just one of the many seating areas and the large light fixture overhead adds a good dose of drama to the room. The sofa is Knoll Barber Osgerby and the chairs are Knoll D’Urso swivels.


Their Realtor Shelby Norwich referred the owners to me and I met them when they were closing on the raw space. It was not a finished unit — no walls, no plumb-ing fixtures — I mean, nothing. It was windows and a concrete slab,” Ted recalls.

The couple, Kimberly and Dan Dias, who moved to Orlando in 2014, had been looking for a penthouse downtown, but had just not found anything they were ready to move into without having to renovate. By choosing the shell space they could get exactly what they wanted. They closed on the Star Tower penthouse in March 2014 and moved in March 2015.

“They said they wanted their new home to be light and airy with an emphasis on comfort. Modern but warm. They wanted the col-ors to be in a warmer palette. It was all about how they wanted to use the space. We actually got rid of a second master suite and turned it into a secondary informal living room. That is in addition to their home theater,” he explains.

The primary living room is for entertaining. It has a bar but no TV. It was planned with various seating zones and is contemporary but not cold or minimalist — there are lots of color pops in the fur-nishings and bold artwork. The formal dining room is a smaller space, but is visually expanded with the smoked glass walls that reflect the gorgeous city views.

“

In the family room a USM console and shelf unit are perfect for storage. Wallpaper and a Chanel-inspired art piece add some color to the simply-designed room. The striking foyer is punctuated by the Marcel Wanders Sky Garden fixture with plaster flowers, Phillip Jefferies wallpaper, a custom granite inlay on the floor and bronzed mirrors. Kimberly and Dan Dias relax in their inviting kitchen with a cascading marble island and backsplash with beautiful European lacquered wood cabinet towers by Cabinetry Dynamics surrounding the ovens and coffee bar and Knoll Bertoia barstools. The signature light fixture by David Weeks Studio was placed prominently where everyone gathers.


Kimberly & Dan Dias


“We definitely wanted to make sure it was what they wanted,” Ted says. “Their direction was to create somewhat of a classic look that would age well. So we used some classic pieces like the Saa-rinen dining table and the Platner table and chairs. Then we mixed in some wood and upholstered pieces — some of them we custom designed and had built locally. We added some really great textiles, especially in the fabrics. They wanted a lot of texture. That’s why draperies are layered. We used lots of soft velvets and beautiful wools — very luxe fabrics. Everything is new other than a few pieces of art. This was a new look for them and they wanted to start fresh.”

There are lots of windows — floor-to-ceiling glass in many areas — that look out to the downtown skyline. The expansive layered draperies and motorized blinds soften the rooms, especially in the

The closet was designed to resemble a retail space. Shoes and handbags are protected by glass but easy to see and access. The master bathroom is in a classic design with lots of white marble in different pattern with a hexagonal tile floor. There’s a TV behind the mirror so you can watch while you take a bath. Warm and cozy describes the theater with walls covered in suede wallpaper paired with a comfortable custom-designed sofa and ottomans with two Knoll Womb chairs.


evenings. Spectacular and very sculptural lighting can be found throughout. And more texture comes into the rooms through the use of luxurious wallpapers. The floors are covered in 24" x 48" tiles that have more of a slab look.

“They were dream clients — two of the nicest people you would ever want to meet. We have become friends with them,” Ted adds. “They really embraced the idea of a designer presenting things to them. They had a lot of trust and confidence in our ability to get things done for them. They have exquisite taste themselves and understood the value of investing in finer things that would last. They did not see it for the last couple of months before it was com-pleted. So they had a big reveal that we videoed. It was one of the most amazing days of my life.”

Coco Chanel art with diamond dust by Russell Young is on the powder room wall. Kim loves Chanel and her dog is named Coco. The guest bedroom has British artist Jessica Zube’s ethereal wallpaper by Romo and matching fabric for the drapes and bedding. Lacquered wood by Cabinetry Dynamics enhances the bar and the “vases” are actually a Phillipe Starck by Flos light fixture.


A Curated Classic

INTERIORS: Kristen LeSchander, Kristen LeSchander InteriorsBUILDER: Charles Clayton Construction ARCHITECT: Jeana Golden BurtPHOTOGRAPHY: Eric Cucciaioni


Like a fairy-tale swan this beauty on Lake Maitland was not always so attractive. It took some very visionary collaborators to look beyond the surface and see the potential. This was more than a remodel — it was basically rebuilt to take advantage of the setting, a 1.76-acre, high lakefront lot on an established Winter Park street.

In the formal living room, the custom sofas are by Interiors by Beverly with WalFab fabric and pillows in Holland & Sherry fabrics. The Grafton Furniture custom chairs by the fireplace are in a Kravet fabric and Cowtan & Tour trim. The metal and antique mirror cocktail table is from Murray’s Iron Works. Artwork is from HG Arts.


Owners Annette and Gavin Ford are enjoying their happy ending in the 13,000-square-foot home that features a main house with five bedrooms and a basement, plus a guest home with two more bedrooms, a pool cabana with

summer kitchen, and even a putting green and tennis court. With a new classical Georgian design — two-story columns

and whitewashed brick façade — the exterior was poised for grandeur. For the interior, things would need to be refined yet relaxed.

“The builder, Charlie [Clayton], actually introduced me to the Fords. Annette always wanted something really fresh and crisp feeling — nothing too heavy or dark. A really light, bright space that felt old but real. She wanted blues — she obviously has a love of that color,” designer Kristen LeSchander says.

There was a lot of space to fill, especially since the Fords brought only a few pieces from their former residence. But Kris-ten got plenty of ideas on what Annette wanted. “It was so per-fect working with Annette because she literally handed me a couple of books with marks on the pages indicating the looks she liked. She also had a stack of ripped-out magazine pages. That’s pretty much how we started. She wanted me to know what she had in her head,” she explains.

They also wanted a very livable house, and how they would use the rooms was a very important consideration. The Fords have grown children and grandchildren who visit, and they also entertain often. “We wanted a beautiful home, but also wanted everyone to be comfortable,” Kristen adds.


The dining room features a custom table from Erez Talmor Inc. with J. Nelson chairs in an Antoine d’Albiousse and Kravet trim. The draperies are in a Ralph Lauren fabric with Mariner Pacific trim. The lighting is by Myran Allan and the antique buffet is from Elephant Walk. Artwork is from HG Arts.


The Ford’s existing sofas were re-covered in a Great Plains fabric. A pair of Lexington chairs is covered in a Cowtan & Tout fabric. The Vanguard leather cocktail ottoman and Baker ottomans in an F. Schumacher & Co. fabric provide extra seating. The lighting is from Visual Comfort and the TV console is Taracea.

The kitchen looks out to the breakfast room with a Lorts table and Lee host and hostess chairs in a Great Plains fabric. The Zentique side chairs are covered in a Holland & Sherry fabric. The lighting is by Troy.


The color blue is prevalent throughout. It is very cohesive and calming, but also cre-ated somewhat of a design dilemma. “The most challenging part [of the project] was the use of blue in the fabrics. By the time we got to the guest house I did not know if I could find any more blue fabrics — based on the quantity and the fact that we wanted the rooms to be different,” she says.

Those shades of blue range from a pale, watery hue, with no green or periwinkle, in the more formal spaces to deeper navy in the family room, bunk room and base-ment club room. The kitchen may be one of the few rooms absent of blue but it does have a view of the lake.

Art also played an important role throughout the house and the couple really built an impressive collection of pieces ranging from traditional to contemporary. And details abound, even in the smaller spaces. A powder bath between the

The gentleman’s lounge is party-perfect with Baker wing chairs, Holly Hunt custom leather cocktail ottoman, Hickory Chair barstools in

Holly Hunt leather and lighting by Kofski Antiques. The carpet is from Carpet Source.

A powder bath between the formal living room and gentleman’s lounge has

painted walls by artist Mindy Sherman and Niermann Weeks lighting.


gentleman’s lounge and formal living room combined aspects of both.

“It started with the sink which is carved out of a solid piece of stone. It had an antique feel, but we wanted to glam it up a bit with the more feminine walls and delicate beaded sconces as a contrast to the rustic stone,” she explains.

In the stunning master bath, more was definitely more. “Annette wanted the cab-inetry to feel like furniture. She likes things with curvy lines so we have that detail on the backsplash and valances over the vanity. We started with marble, plumbing, and the gold and crystal fix-tures. We were trying to figure out how much gold leaf we wanted to do but we decided to keep it strong and make the entire crown unit gold,” she says.

An opulent master bath has onyx countertops with the vanity and wall finishes

by Mindy Sherman. Hardware is from Architectural Elegance and the custom Grafton Furniture

vanity stool is in a Holly Hunt and Ralph Lauren fabric with Janey Yonaty trim.

In the library existing wing chairs were re-covered in a Nancy Corzine fabric. The lighting is from Visual Comfort and the gold leafing on the millwork is by Mindy Sherman.

An Erez Talmor Inc. bed is flanked by Taracea chests in the master bedroom. The Italianate antique Venetian mirror is from James & Jeffrey Antiques and the chandelier is from Currey & Co.


With all of the striking rooms — bed-rooms, baths, family room, dining room, living room, kitchen, breakfast room, gen-tleman’s lounge as well as the basement’s theater, billiard room, wine room and bar — it would be difficult to choose a favorite. And even the designer was reluctant, but finally made an admission.

“I love a lot of the rooms, but the dining room would have to be my favorite. The inspiration for the mirroring and panels came from one of Annette’s pages she had marked for the moldings. We addressed the room in stages. Once all the moldings were up, the decorative artist began apply-ing the specialty finishes and leafing. After it all started to take form we selected the antique mirror. The room has great layers but is not over the top,” she says.

On the home’s lakefront exterior is the magnificent pool area with cabana,

putting green and tennis court.

A game room and wine bar in the basement features a Boynton Billiards table, custom built-in seating by Interiors by Beverly and Grafton Furniture custom ottomans in Randolph & Hein leather. The pendants are from Arteriors Home and the barstools are from Vanguard. A Ralph Lauren wall covering adds more texture to the space.

Outdoor dining is relaxed with a Janus et Cie table, Lane Venture chairs and custom bench by Interiors by Beverly. Antique fragments on the fireplace are from Elephant Walk.


LAST LOOK

Since 1996, in the spacious

gallery space in historic downtown

Sanford, Jeanine Taylor Folk Art

has specialized in showcasing

locally and regionally sourced

contemporary folk art. The spring

show at Jeanine Taylor Folk Art

will focus on artists who express

their unique humor through their

artwork in an invitational show

called Funny Bones: A Collection

of Folk Art Wit. The opening

reception will be held Saturday,

April 30 from 6-8pm and the show

will run through Sunday, May 29.

To preview examples of the

participating artist’s work or to

learn more, visit jtfolkart.com.

Showcased in this photo taken

on a recent visit is artwork by

Theresa Disney.


interior appeal spring/summer 2016

Documents