Name: Raelene and Jose
Location: Miami Beach, Florida
Favorite: The Deco Earl LePan mural (Raelene’s) and the ceiling in the ‘florida room’ (Jose)
The Earl LePan flamingo mural in the living room is a design blessing as well as burden for Raelene, a graphic designer with a clear sense of style and interior design aesthetic. Her touch is clean, modern and light.
When Raeline and Jose first viewed the house, the seller informed them that the mural was painted for the house and thus came with their purchase. It quickly became the weather vane, the conscience, and the driving force for all of their efforts with regard to making this house their home.
They know they have to keep it. They even want to keep it for, in Raelene’s words, “it's utter uniqueness and "Miaminess"—truly the reason we live here!”
Taking their cue from the mural’s centrality in the design of the house, the goal in this renovation is to “first refurbish it back to the architect's intentions, and then after living in it for a period of time, build our own character into it.” The mantra is to pare away: To strip, to reduce, to clean.
They initially painted everything white to facilitate a clean slate from which to begin.
Raelene and Jose got married 18 months ago. Last December they bought and moved into this 1939 tropical Mediterranean (infused with art deco) modest treasure of a house in an old and architecturally rich neighborhood of Miami. They started working on the house immediately. They have set their goals high, but have given themselves no deadline to reach them.
In this way, the hard work is well paced, of great quality, and more a sign of passion, artistry, and dedication then a rush to the finish.
The priorities in the house were first, to transform Raelene’s home office into a familiar and comfortable setting regardless of the chaos that reigned outside of that room; second, to create a safe haven guest room. They knew that they would soon field many a guest and wanted these visitors to feel at least a microcosm of home within their respective 4 walls. Next, would be the “florida room” or sun-room with beamed ceiling, followed by the living room, dining room, and finally the master bedroom. The kitchen and bathrooms are low on the priority list at this point.
The result is a superb blend of old world charm/hip Miami modern, and is a great lesson for anyone headed towards major renovation work.
Originally Posted June 1st, 2005 (Stay tuned for Phase II in this Wednesday's Inside Out)--Jill
What a lovely job they have done! This made me feel a bit homesick, since I grew up in South Florida--and never realized til I lived in NYC just how much SPACE we had in my childhood home (where my mom still lives, but not for much longer). I also cursed our terrazzo floors as a child, thinking they were so uncool--and now I think they are retro in a wonderful way.
Anyway, I digress, though this made me want to move someplace tropical, as much as I love NYC. (I'll keep repeating "Miami traffic" to myself to remind myself there are drawbacks ;)
I really like what they've done, and I love the fireplace and the mural!
I'm curious about the master bedroom. Very well done, but can't quite tell from the photographs whether the far wall is a darker shade of tan/brown/khaki than the side walls.
I love this home!!
Miami is my hometown and where all my immediate family still resides...this slide show truly makes me homesick!!!
It's nice to see how they are incorporating the natural elements of the home with their own style.
I love this home too, and I love the pare-down-to-build-up strategy. This couple has some really nice pieces--I'm such a sucker for great chairs--but it feels like a comfortable, warm place to live, not a showpiece. I hope their guests are properly grateful for the invitation!
I hope they don't do too much to modernize the bathrooms. Those festively colored tiles are so great.
I'm moving to Florida from the UK this fall (Gulf Coast area) and I desperately hope I can find something with that much character to buy (the listings show a lot of carpeted 3-year-old ranch houses).
What a lovely, spacious house. Well done to Raelene and Jose.
Very cool chandelier.....new? If so, please tell us where it is from.
To me, the fireplace and the mural seem the "odd man out" (but quite lovely and kudos for saving... Florida architectural history needs all the saving it can get). Would love to hear more about how the owners were inspired by these elements, as they say they were...
REPLY TO Holly--The dining room chandelier is Italian, by Gino Sarfatti which he designed in 1958--they are still making them, go to unicahome.com or just type in google search. It's the large one, they come in two sizes. We installed it with a dimmer.
REPLY TO Curtis YES!! We are leaving all original funky bathroom tiles alone, and in fact seeking original, matching sinks and toilets to bring it all back. If anyone knows where to find, we'd love to buy. Thanks!
I agree, Curtis. The bathroom tiles are totally appropriate for Miami. Love them.
Awesome job. Wonderful eye for color. Your French Bulldog is great, too, btw. Where are the nightstands from? (I think I mean the nightstands--there's a close-up of one with a black and white lamp on it)
Curtis, I know what you mean about the tilework. We have the original tilework in our 1953 Central Phoenix bungalow. One bathroom is blue with pink trim and the other is lavender with maroon. It is in fantastic shape and it was one of the things that sold me on the house.
Do you have any sources for correct period light fixtures?
Que bonita! Me gusta mucho!!
I love the spare / modern funky but still respectful of the history of the house thing you guys have going on. Almost as much as I love your dog. And, as I was born in a place with mangos, but now call NYC home, it tortures me to see a sunny, warm backyard with lounge chairs from which you can pick and eat a mango without even getting up!! But I'm happy that someone is enjoying such a life, even if it's not me. :)
And I salute you for keeping the mural intact. The happy soul of the house will reward you, I'm sure of it.
Scanlynn
what a beautiful space! i love the way you're keeping a lot of the original details rather than gutting the place and doing all-new everything. i especially love the way stone, wood, and terracotta are used, and the plaster-ish look of the walls.
while i think your mid-century furniture is great, and i certainly understand the desire not to just trash these wonderful pieces because they don't 'go' with the new space, i don't think the super-hip stuff fits the 'bones' of the house, especially the mural/fireplace combo. if i was living here and had the oppurtunity to get all new furniture, i would probably use a lot of curving shapes and fewer hard edges, to contrast with the straight lines of the interiors themselves. i'd use natural elements - visible wood grains, cane, bamboo. fabrics with a lot of texture -- sisal rungs, shantung silk, sheer muslin curtains. i want to say 'found objects' and shabby stuff, but i think i'm letting my own taste get in the way here...
either way, you have a beautiful home and you're definitely on the right track with your restoration.
So beautiful, I wanna move in! The wood and the tile is just perfect. A rug in the living room is all you need now. I just love well-cared-for older houses like this. Much more interesting than all the prefab modern construction that blights most of this country.