Eclectic Palm Beach Home is a Study in Pattern and Texture

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At a recently renovated Palm Beach residence, nothing related to style and design is tentative. Color arrives in saturated strokes; pattern is layered with abandon; collectible furnishings and an exceptional art collection give the interiors the sensibility of a private gallery. Yet for all its visual exuberance, the reimagined 4,484-square-foot home is remarkably attuned to the way its residents, a New York couple and their teenage children, go about their daily lives.

“The goal was not simply to design a beautiful Florida residence but to create a home that felt instantly familiar the moment the family walked through the door,” says Jessica Iwaniec, design director at Pembrooke & Ives. The firm had previously designed the family’s New York residence, making this Palm Beach project a continuation of an established design relationship. Here, the challenge was to carry forward the comforts and rituals of their primary residence while giving the Florida house an entirely different aesthetic identity.

“We carefully considered how the family lived in their New York residence,” says Iwaniec, who carried those everyday considerations into the kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms, and closets. Working closely with West Palm Beach-based general contractor Josh Pertnoy of Shapiro/Pertnoy Companies, the design team responded to the existing architecture while making the residence more intuitive for daily living.

Each room was given its own personality, united by a rich vocabulary of saturated color, pattern, texture, and art. The foyer makes an immediate impression with a hand-beaded de Gournay wallcovering setting up the layered approach that continues into the living spaces. In the living room, a sculptural fireplace surround by ceramic artist Peter Lane becomes a focal point among custom upholstery, vintage pieces, and contemporary furnishings, including a 1980s palm-tree floor lamp.

The sequence of foyer, living room, dining room, and game room unfolds almost as a continuous composition, with the homeowners’ art collection playing an essential role. Works are positioned in dialogue with furnishings and finishes rather than treated as decorative afterthoughts. In the dining room, a custom-painted ceiling adds another dimension to the saturated palette, while in the kitchen, hand-selected stone was assembled into an oversized terrazzo floor, an unusually expressive treatment for a hardworking surface.

The design team brought the same inventiveness to the details. Along the staircase, several vintage rugs were hand-assembled into a single continuous runner, while custom fabrics, sculptural furnishings, and richly patterned vintage textiles give the more relaxed rooms their own distinctive character. The game room takes a playful turn with vivid color and midcentury references. Outside, the loggia extends the home’s layered sensibility toward the pool.

For Pembrooke & Ives, the project’s main challenge was to establish a sense of recognition between this house and the homeowners’ New York residence and yet allow each to stand on its own. “For clients with multiple properties, creating continuity without repetition is often one of the most meaningful aspects of the design process,” says Iwaniec.

That philosophy gives this beach retreat its particular confidence. It is not a conventional Florida interior, nor does it try to be. Instead, it reflects a family comfortable with art, color, craftsmanship, and a degree of design risk—and a creative team given the latitude to pursue all four.

“The clients’ trust gave us the freedom to deliver a home that feels deeply personal,” says Iwaniec. “Because of that, we were able to craft a residence that reflects their adventurous spirit and the rhythms of everyday life.”

Story Credits:

Interior Design by Andrew Sheinman & Jessica Iwaniec, Pembrooke & Ives, New York, NY

Construction by Josh Pertnoy, Shapiro/Pertnoy Companies, West Palm Beach, FL

Text by Jeanne de Lathouder

Photography by Blaine Davis, Brooklyn, NY

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