Hypoluxo Island Home is a Modern Marvel

A stellar team delivers minimalist style and cutting-edge innovation in a custom residence on Hypoluxo Island

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Design pros often hear the terms “one-of-a-kind” and “original” from their clients, but homeowners who are truly willing to see those adjectives through to fruition are few and far between. When a genuine “do-whatever-it-takes” individual does land on their door, however, the results can defy imagination.

Such was the case with a couple from Nashville when it came time to build their dream home in South Florida. These two wanted a modern marvel of a residence that would be the envy of their neighbors. Luckily for them, they enlisted the right team of professionals to bring their directive to life.

Interior designer Alexis Venanzi of The Decorators Unlimited in Palm Beach Gardens is accustomed to dealing with big personalities, but these new clients were something else: “I still recall the meeting where they said, ‘We want things no one else has. Something that blows our minds in new ways every day.’ I was game.” 

Just as equally surprised (and delighted) was general contractor and builder Josh Khoury of Ocean Blue Custom Homes in Delray Beach. After a meeting with the couple, the two decided that the entire project would be driven by one question: Wouldn’t it be cool if? 

Charged by the clients’ positive attitude, Venanzi (along with co-designer Jason Lynn) and Khoury went to work on an 8,000-square-foot new build with five bedrooms, six-and-a-half baths, and an unattached gazebo complete with an outdoor kitchen and gym. 

When discussing the look and vibe of the home, more adjectives were thrown in: “futuristic, museum-like, super-clean” are just some of the ones Venanzi remembers. “They wanted drama,” she says. “They wanted wow.” 

Based on that and many other lively conversations, the creative team envisioned the interiors and exterior as each took on different aspects of the commission. “They entrusted us to take full control of the project,” says Khoury. 

The recurring theme for the design of the residence, inside and out, was simple geometry. The look starts from the overall rectangular shape of the house, where the primary bedroom is downstairs. A second level offers four guest rooms—all with their own baths—a game room, laundry facilities, and an office overlooking the pool. 

It doesn’t take long for the eye to be drawn to the many custom features the owner insisted on. One such innovation is the thin aluminum fins that stretch from the threshold of the front door nearly to the rooftop. These vertical lines flow throughout the entire home as they adorn the walls in the kitchen, the powder room, and the primary bedroom’s walnut headboard. Another such example is the 23-foot solid oak louvers that hide a vertical linear diffuser in the great room. “The challenge of these contemporary, futuristic, minimal houses is that everything has to be concealed, which adds a layer of complexity,” says Khoury. “I’d say to my tradespeople: ‘If you didn’t bring your laser distance meter, go home.’”

Additional innovative yet invisible touches include custom reglets that allowed LED strips to be embedded in unusual spots (where more traditional homes would have casings, moldings, and baseboards), and drapery pockets to hide yet more diffusers, light fixtures, and speakers. “Every square inch is a specialty,” says Khoury without exaggeration. 

As expected, the home is as smart as smart homes get. Temperature, music, and lighting can go from sedate to stimulating in seconds through the Control4 system, an automation setup that allows ownership of the property’s technological features whether the person with the codes is on-site or miles away. 

As design matters went, Venanzi and Lynn felt it was paramount to incorporate natural elements to contrast the minimalist interior. “I wanted everything to feel like it served a purpose,” says Venanzi. “There are no extras.” To that end, the overall palette is subdued: black, white, and taupe with a few hits of green (mostly in the form of plants). The flooring is unobtrusive (and easy to maintain in a house where dogs reside): White porcelain slabs flow through most of the residence’s footprint, both inside and out, and strike a particular note of elegance in the main connecting hallway as framed by glass and black steel. In lieu of artworks, ornamentation (as well as texture and color) comes from living moss canvases and vertical gardens in various rooms. Other visual surprises appear organically: a spiral staircase enclosed in black panels that connects the house’s three levels; a black accent wall resembling lava formation in the office; and a desiccated tree sculpture in the primary bedroom. Additional furnishings tend to reflect natural shapes, including river rocks, clouds, and mountains. The most soothing spot in the residence, however, is the meditation garden and vast reflecting pool in the center of the main room, visible from just about every angle. “There are color-changing, twinkling fiber optics beneath the water that make it feel like a galaxy at night,” says Venanzi. “It’s rather special.”

Special is the right word indeed. 

Story Credits:

Interior Design by Jason Lynn & Alexis Venanzi, The Decorators Unlimited, Palm Beach Gardens, FL

Builder Josh Khoury, Ocean Blue Custom Homes, Delray Beach, FL

Architecture by Jeffrey Silberstein, Silberstein Architecture, Delray Beach, FL

Landscape Architecture by Wet Outdoors, Boca Raton, FL 

Text by Riki Altman-Yee

Photography Ron Rosenzweig, Maggie Valley, NC

Open to see Interior Design Sources:

Sources

Living Room

Sofa designed by Alexis Venanzi, The Decorators 

Unlimited, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, and fabricated by Grafton Furniture, Miami, FL

Fabric – United Fabrics, Pennsauken, NJ

Side chairs – Lucas Morten, Galerie Philia, New York, NY

Cocktail table designed by Alexis Venanzi, The 

Decorators Unlimited, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, and fabricated by Euro Custom Woodworks, Fort Lauderdale, FL 

Side table – Noir, Gardena, CA

TV wall designed by Alexis Venanzi, The Decorators Unlimited, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, and fabricated by DSI Studios, Pompano Beach, FL

Floating cabinetry and slat wall – Next Level Contracting, Coconut Creek, FL 

Area rug – Carpet Source, Winter Park, FL 

Hallway

Hanging pendants – Forestier, Cordesign Lighting, Jupiter, FL

Living wall designed by Alexis Venanzi, The 

Decorators Unlimited, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, and fabricated by Benetti Home, Granozzo, Italy

Kitchen

Cabinetry – Classic Kitchens of South Florida, Coconut Creek, FL

Island designed by Alexis Venanzi, The Decorators Unlimited, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, and fabricated by New Millennium Marble & Granite, Pompano Beach, FL

Stools – Cattelan Italia, Anima Domus, Miami, FL 

Linear lighting – Luke Lamp Co., Mamaroneck, NY

Guest Bathroom

Floating sink designed by Alexis Venanzi, The Decorators Unlimited, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, and fabricated by New Millennium Marble & Granite, Pompano Beach, FL

Arc mirror – Next Level Contracting, Coconut Creek, FL

Pendant drop lighting – Sonneman, New York, NY 

Wall covering – Phillip Jeffries, Fairfield, NJ

Home Office

Desk designed by Alexis Venanzi, The Decorators Unlimited, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, and fabricated by Euro Custom Woodworks, Fort Lauderdale, FL 

Desk chair – Owner’s collection

Decorative accent chair – Phillips Collection, High Point, NC

Stone wall designed by Alexis Venanzi, The 

Decorators Unlimited, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, and fabricated by DSI Studios, Pompano Beach, FL

Wall covering – National Solutions, North Little Rock, AR 

Conversation Nook

Lounge chairs – Lee Industries, Conover, NC

Cocktail table – Phillips Collection, High Point, NC

Chaise – Owner’s collection 

Side table – Bernhardt, Lenoir, NC

Circular stairs designed by Josh Khoury, Ocean Blue Custom Homes, Delray Beach, FL, and fabricated by McKinado’s Welding & Fabrication, Port St. Lucie, FL 

Primary Bedroom

Bed designed by Alexis Venanzi, The Decorators Unlimited, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, and fabricated by Next Level Contracting, Coconut Creek, FL

Decorative wall behind bed designed by Alexis Venanzi, The Decorators Unlimited, Palm Beach Gardens, FL

Bedside tables – Next Level Contracting, Coconut Creek, FL

Hanging and ceiling lighting – Tech Lighting, Skokie, IL

Accent chairs designed by Alexis Venanzi, The Decorators Unlimited, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, and fabricated by Grafton Furniture, Miami, FL

Wood sculpture – Arteriors, Dallas, TX

Ceiling designed by Alexis Venanzi, The Decorators Unlimited, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, and fabricated by Josh Khoury, Ocean Blue Custom Homes, Delray Beach, FL

Area rug – Carpet Source, Winter Park, FL 

Primary Bathroom

Tub – Native Trails, San Luis Obispo, CA

Shower designed by Alexis Venanzi, The Decorators Unlimited, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, and fabricated by Next Level Contracting, Coconut Creek, FL

Living wall – Benetti Home, Granozzo, Italy

Back Exterior

Lounge chairs – Owner’s collection

Side tables – Bernhardt, Lenoir, NC

Water lounges – Ledge Lounger, Brookshire, TX

Rock sculpture – Phillips Collection, High Point, NC

Pool designed by Josh Khoury, Ocean Blue Custom Homes, Delray Beach, FL, and fabricated by New Wave Pools, Fort Lauderdale, FL THROUGHOUT

Windows – Cornerstone Companies, West Palm Beach, FL

Decorative walls designed by Alexis Venanzi, The Decorators Unlimited, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, and fabricated by DSI Studios, Pompano Beach, FL 

Ceiling elements designed by Alexis Venanzi, The Decorators Unlimited, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, and fabricated by Josh Khoury, Ocean Blue Custom Homes, Delray Beach, FL

Flooring – Just Tile and Marble, Delray Beach, FL

Wood flooring – Legno Bastone, Scarsdale Tile, Boynton Beach, FL 

Interior doors – Dorr Houzzer, Pompano Beach, FL 

Dock – B&M Marine Construction, Deerfield Beach, FL 

Stone Supplier – Nature of Marble, Delray Beach, FL 

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