Rooms With A View

Spectacular ocean views create a dramatic backdrop for a warm contemporary home on Hillsboro Beach, just south of Boca Raton. Senior designer Jessica Lee and interior detailing designer Rachel Ortiz of Marc-Michaels Interior Design in Boca Raton focused on maximizing the 10,410-square-foot home’s primary selling point – its location – while designing a luxurious and comfortable speculative sale home for developer Mark Pulte.

“Our objective was to create a turnkey luxury home that a buyer would fall in love with,” says Lee. “We wanted it to showcase cutting-edge details and furnishings while still maintaining a warm and welcoming atmosphere.”

The designers spent a year and a half on the home, which comprises two stories, six bedrooms, seven bathrooms and two half baths, before Ed and Ashley Brown bought it. The couple needed to find a new residence quickly after the sale of their Manalapan home, and they knew Mark Tremblay, president of Marc-Michaels, who reached out and told them about the Hillsboro Beach house.

“I fell in love with the home from the moment I walked in,” Ashley Brown says. “We’re fans of Marc-Michaels Interior Design – the attention to detail in every single room. Somehow they’re able to bring luxury and comfort together all in one. It’s so calming, the way the windows and pocket doors open up with direct access to the beautiful pool and walkway right to the beach. It has this really beautiful vibe.”

The home’s front doors open onto generous living spaces in an open floor plan, conducive to the intimate dinners and events the Browns frequently host.

“You can be in any room and be part of the party,” Brown says.

Natural And Neutral

The designers used a mix of natural materials throughout, with stone slab cladding on the fireplace in the living room and a variety of marbles, quartzites and limestones in the baths. 

“Limestone floors and a mix of wood tones really helped give this home a luxurious and custom feel,” says Ortiz. “Wood slat details can be picked up in various areas of the home, from the horizontal wood slats applied to the foyer columns to the undulating wood planks on the ceiling.” 

Wood detailing is also featured in the showpiece clubroom bar, a space that contains a floating live-edge wood countertop. At the top of the stairs that lead to the master suite, wood shelves that cut into the wall create an interesting detail. His bath picks up on the wood slat detail from the foyer in a darker stain: Wood runs up the wall and ceiling to draw the eye to a masculine vanity.

Stained planks cover the ceiling of the family room and bar and are featured around the perimeter of the ceiling in the master bedroom; bleached white-oak floors were used in the main areas of the second floor.

The floating staircase of stained oak matches the wood flooring on the second floor. The glass railing gives it a contemporary feel; below, a glass wine enclosure can be accessed from the dining room. 

The color palette in the main areas is a blend of luxurious neutral textures and pops of marine blue. In the clubroom, bar and office, the tones go slightly deeper and moodier, with accents of amber, navy and light sage. The master bedroom is a mix of creams with soft lavender accents. Each of the secondary bedrooms takes on its own color story, from ocean blues and turquoise to gold and amber tones.

In the kitchen, the designers made the range wall the focal point by adding a stained wood surround and a large custom stainless-steel hood with a full-height slab backsplash of Cristallo quartzite. To provide ample seating at the island, they extended its footprint by adding a stained L-shaped wood ledge.

Let There Be Light

Given the grand scale of all the rooms, the lighting had to be dramatic. The living room fixtures fit not only the size of the room but the sophistication of the house while not impeding the views of the ocean. 

“The size of the dining room pendants [with large conical shades] was just for fun,” says Lee. “We didn’t have views to consider, so I wanted them to be dramatic.”

In the master bedroom, cut crystals in the chandelier provide the elegance the room demands while still feeling light and airy.

The master suite and guest rooms all face east, and the homeowners especially love the view of the pool and beach from the balcony off their bedroom.

“We watch the sunrise and drink our coffee,” Brown says.

Her bathroom incorporated a huge window that provides a lot of natural light.

“This seemed the best place for the vanity wall, so we embraced the window and hung a mirror in front of the window with hanging pendants on either side,” says Ortiz. “By adding a sliding door above the stone tub deck, this allowed the bath to have access to the ocean view.” 

Her bath features a stone-slab tub enclosure with sliding doors that open to the bedroom. When open, they give a direct view of the ocean from the tub.

Water Water Everywhere

Like most projects, this one had its issues – but the designers were up to the challenge.

“One challenge was trying to figure out how to allow ocean views from the bath in the VIP guest suite,” says Lee. “The resolution ended up being one of the coolest details in the house by creating sliding doors that, when closed, had vanity mirrors on the bath side but, while open, allowed the user some amazing water views.”

An area the designers call the Ocean Room, on the main level, is an indoor-outdoor space with retractable doors. 

A striped rug, two sets of comfortable seating and greenery in tall jardinières provide a relaxed setting for breathing in the ocean air. With the doors closed, the room reverts to a cozy interior space.

“We get the best of both worlds,” says Brown. 

The designers’ thoughtful combination of luxury and comfort in every area of the home thoroughly impressed Brown. 

“You really do feel like you’re at a luxury resort,” she says.

And isn’t that what South Florida living is all about? O

Photos by Edward Butera