Modern Minimalism Plays in Fort Lauderdale Townhome

With The Look Of Greece In Mind, Textile Designer Stavros Garger Styled His Fort Lauderdale Townhouse With Lots Of Light, White And Neutral Colors

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When Stavros Garger discovered this 3,000-square-foot, three-level townhouse on a cul-de-sac in a modern building in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., he and his husband Fidel Quintana were excited about relocating from New York to a subtropical paradise.

“The minimalist look of the building reminded me of Greece so I wanted to emphasize that character for the interior decor,” says Garger, a former Vice President of Home Design for Ralph Lauren, who has launched his own line of textiles called Destinations by Stavros. “The townhouse is timeless and classic with great proportions and a sense of privacy.”

With views of trees, plants and other indigenous vegetation, the home’s white walls and honey colored marble flooring sets the stage for the fresh interior palette. Although Garger changed some windows to open the home, the bones were good, so with little effort, he transformed the space into his Florida fantasy. “We like to open our home for guests and wanted every part to work well together,” he says.

In the dining area, the eye is immediately drawn to the sculptural, swirling stairway made of cerused oak that blends beautifully with the aluminum railing. “The space had all dark wood finishes so we changed it to oak,” the designer says.

For the large square living room with its 20-foot-high ceilings, Garger suspended an extra-long chandelier of blackened iron with crystal rods from Wired Designs over the Giancarlo Rattini-designed glass-topped cocktail table. With the sheer volume of the room, it was a perfect location.

In the master bedroom, part of the third-floor suite, Garger made full use of the home’s neutral color palette with a custom Fortuny bedspread and the dark-gray viscose area rug. White lamps are made whimsical with attached balls from a shop in Palm Beach’s Antique Row. “The lamps look like Mid-century modern but they are contemporary,” he says.

For fun in the guest room dotted with bold yellow accents, the designer displays a treasure trove of objects collected on a bamboo ladder covered in throw blankets — a spiritual offering of sorts.

While lounging with a book or chatting with good friends, the third-floor terrace is what Garger calls his “own Medina.” Graphic patterns wrap the outdoor furnishings to add texture and movement to the seamless white open-air space.

The courtyard blooms with flowers and plants of aristocratic magnitude that punctuate the gray, white and black flooring. This hidden space separates the living and dining areas creating a magnificent cross breeze.

“Our home is the movie I would make for this part of the world,” Garger says. “It is a living space exactly the way I imagined for our lives in Florida.”

Story Credits: 

Design by Stavros Garger, Fort Lauderdale, FL

Photography by Costas Picadas, Astoria, NY

Text by Linda Marx

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