Luxurious South Florida Manse Channels Edgy Attitude

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Behind some doors, there lies a beautiful home. Behind others, there lies enchantment. Far from another northern home, the new owners of a South Florida renaissance-like, grand palazzo once again looked to interior designer Lori Morris, founder of the House of LMD, to actualize their celestial imaginings. Just as we picture heaven’s palette, the 12,500-square-foot manse would soon be bathed in pinks and sky blue. Well-acquainted with the owner’s preferences for pastels, Morris set to work to transform the interiors into a symphony of light, color, texture and spatial grandeur.

Though this is a castillo created by Addison Development in 2005, it seems as if fabled 1920s architect Addison Mizner had been pushing the pencil. Elaborate barrel-vaulted ceilings, or carved coffers 14 feet high soar overhead. Two grand stairways sweep upwards. Marble flooring or herringbone tiles, now painted a glistening white, lie at the feet of guests who, as Morris says, have found an invitation to a “party house” without parallel. 

Traveling back and forth from Canada, Morris and her team at the House of LMD fabricated much of the furniture, moldings, and even wrought iron for the front door. “While a great deal of structural work was involved to provide for the balance and use of space, the inside geography was left in place,” Morris says. LMD designed the carved limestone molding at the front entrance, the ceiling reliefs, the kitchen and all of the baths, and a grand new pool — creating an Old World extravagance that rocks with a modern vibe.

Following the marble-floored, arched hallway, a glistening grand piano awaits formal events, while a nearby turn takes one into the billiard room which might masquerade as an elegant sitting parlor in pale rose and blue. Morris describes her velvet and brass club chairs clad in Linwood’s lively print as “having a butterfly party.” Just out of view, as with all of Morris’ designs that must include an element of surprise, an adjacent billiard table awaits play.

With a kitchen that is as much a part of the house as its adjoining breakfast area, grandeur doesn’t give an inch to practicality. Three massive chandeliers suggest calla lilies spilling fragrance. Antiqued cabinetry is covered in mirrors and painted resin calligraphy. A practical prep island faces an hors d’oeuvre-serving oval of blue marble, surrounded by blue stools from Worlds Away. The family room is watched over by another of Morris’ “no rules” choices, a painting by Mike Aldridge, Thought After Filthy Thought, which follows the designer’s “sexy French” style. A glimpse of the breakfast area reveals bursts of hyacinths in the garden view beyond.   

“He’s a man’s man, and she’s a girly girl,” says Morris of the owners, and the whiskey lounge is a nod to all things masculine. Repainting the original, blonde cabinetry a deep sapphire, the room is warmed with barrel chairs in sheepskin and a pink, sienna and blue weave. The “Alta” cocktail table is a lustrous brass creation from Kelly Wearstler.   

But Morris doesn’t stray far from the soft and luxurious. The master suite has both his and hers sitting and dressing rooms, hers complete with a gold-faced glass fireplace, antique mirrors, and a lacquered desk from LMD with an Art Deco inspiration. And in one of four guest rooms, it seems royalty is expected. Covered in plush pink velvet, the headboard is topped with a hand-painted scroll of flowers. Overhead, Corbett Lighting by Martyn Bullard has set crystal and yellow teardrops dancing in a brass cage.   

And as cocktail time calls from the loggia, a hibiscus comes to life in the pool’s azure waters while carved seahorses play in the fountain. Luxury and whimsy, sunrises and sunsets, a panoply of pampering reminds us that an edgy attitude can be rooted in tradition playfully wrapped in a world of pink and blue.

Story Credits:

Interior Design by Lori Morris, Lori Morris Design, Ontario, Canada

Builder James Wentzel, Bomar Builders, Deerfield Beach, FL

Landscape Architecture by John Lang, Lang Design Group, Lake Worth Beach, FL

Landscape Installation by Max Lang, Focal Pointe, Lake Worth beach, FL

Text by Marina Brown

Photography by Brandon Barré, Ontario, Canada

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