4 minute read
This Side of Paradise by Betsy Brown
This Side of Paradise
An extensive search and an emotive brief made a long-imagined dream home a reality.
ARCHITECT | Thomas | Melhorn INTERIOR DESIGN | Betsy Brown PHOTOGRAPHY | Nicole Franzen WORDS | Alexandra Gordon
When Thomas Melhorn architect Christian Thomas was asked by clients to pinpoint a site for their dream house it was the start of something special. The search covered a broad stretch of 40 miles up and down the Florida coast, with the only proviso it had views of the ocean and privacy. “After bouncing around for six months I found these two pieces of property, raw land on Jupiter Island that were adjacent but had been separated,” recalls the local architect, adding, “the clients bought it sight unseen and flew down to this forest on the ocean that you couldn’t really see and that’s where it all began.”
The brief was as compelling as the hunt for the land, a blank page with 10 evocative words that the holiday house should encapsulate rather than a prescriptive list. From a practical sense, the design needed to accommodate the clients, a couple from New Jersey, and three adult children with families of their own. “It was really a game for us to create a house that had all these functions for this wonderful family, yet it feels manageable and very human in scale,” Christian says who was able to execute this with clever planning.
In the Jupiter House, materials are layered in their purest form; as seen in kitchen with its timber stained and treated naturally, and wood beams overhead. French stools sit up at the island bench, beneath the Twig 5 chandelier by Apparatus.
The dining nook features the industrial Savoy pendant by Huniford, custom chestnut dining table by Demiurge and Dordogne dining chairs by Charlotte Perriand. A Boisson steel ‘C’ drinks table sits next to the custom window seat.
With a nod to the old Florida vernacular in style, the house is divided into two parts with a formal wing parallel to the ocean and a family wing splaying off at an angle. “If you pull into the property you are only addressed with portions of the house at any given time, you only ever see vignettes and that was really intentional to make it feel quite cottage-like,” the architect explains. The varied views this affords is another advantage of the home’s unique siting. “As you circulate through the house you have these different presentations of the ocean,” he says.
Materials and furnishings were selected to reflect the passing of time. “We wanted materials that patina and age because I think it adds to the story, over time those nicks and scratches are reminders of past generations,” Christian shares. This approach is in keeping with the Japanese philosophy wabi-sabi, perfection through imperfection, a philosophy Christian has followed for a long time.
Locally-sourced materials run inside and out, from limed Cypress for walls, ceilings and joinery and American white oak floorboards that are fumed but left raw, to Florida coral stone paving. Christian worked with Alabama-based interior designer Betsy Brown on the rustic but understated palette so it complimented her artful curation of mid-century furniture along with the client’s existing collection of Papua New Guinean art.
A unified collaboration between all involved has created something that speaks for itself. “It’s just one of those unions that came together perfectly where the client was receptive and open to pushing boundaries to try to create something more soulful and it really allowed for our creativity to run,” Christian says. “And as that snowballed it became this magnificent and magical place that feels like it has been there forever.”
Illum Wikkelsø lounge chair and Arc Well sconce by Allied Maker.
– Christian Thomas
An antique iron canopy bed sets the tone in the master bedroom, with 19th-century ‘cricket’ tables on either side and 19th-century French jar lamps on top.
