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Art Stars
An important art collection shines in an opulent Art Deco setting. When a passion for art imbues your client’s life, the interior design mandate is clear: Color and pattern exist purely to enhance the beauty and importance of a blue-chip collection. That was the principle Anne Folsom Smith of Anne Folsom Smith Interior Design followed [...]
Read More >>Real Estate Junkie: August 2012
The Ultimate Vacation Home No town understands the second home better than Sarasota. It’s in our blood. From Bertha Palmer’s The Oaks to the quaint beach bungalows of long-ago Siesta Key to the pioneering golf communities of the Meadows and Palm-Aire— we’ve spent well over a century designing, building and servicing some of the best [...]
Read More >>The Sand Men
If you find yourself in northern Italy later this summer or early fall, be sure to visit the charming 15th-century Palazzo Bembo on Venice’s Grande Canal, a few steps from the Rialto Bridge, where—surprise!—you can dip your feet into a thousand pounds of silky white Siesta Key sand flowing from a basin in the floor. [...]
Read More >>On The Homefront: July 2012
Ahead for iconic modern architect Carl Abbott: a retrospective exhibit and a glossy new book. A high-profile few months lie ahead for Sarasota’s modern architect Carl Abbott. Large-scale photographs and drawings of his iconic designs go on exhibit June 29 through Aug. 3 at Ringling College’s Selby Gallery. And—after 15 years of his tossing around [...]
Read More >>Real Estate Junkie: Whistling Dixie
If J.R. Ewing were ever to move the family from Southfork to Florida, this 10,000-square-foot waterfront estate in the best part of Bradenton would be the perfect choice. Spanish Med it’s not; the style here is Greek Revival meets Neo-Georgian, and the Southern feeling is everywhere, from the five-car garage facing the motor court to [...]
Read More >>Homefront
Dramatic texture and striking contrasts feature heavily in this rug from Sarasota’s award-winning Rugs As Art. Combining both transitional and contemporary patterns in a rich color palette along with exquisite detail carved deeply into the dense, cut-and-loop pile, this rug will endure both in beauty and quality. Rugs As Art, Inc. offers excellent selection, unbeatable [...]
Read More >>On The Homefront
What we loved most at the Parade of Homes and designer showcases this spring. Are you a house voyeur? If you haven’t heard the term, you probably don’t swoon over HGTV makeovers and multimillion-dollar real estate listings in the Sunday newspaper. But if you count the days until the next Parade of Homes or designer [...]
Read More >>Real Estate Junkie
In most of Sarasota’s high-end real estate, you’ll feel a little like Citizen Kane, rattling around in a mansion that’s much too big for you and your opera-singing mistress. This home on Siesta Key is a happy exception. It’s big, all right (almost 10,000 square feet), but the feeling is intimate rather than overwhelming. Imagine [...]
Read More >>Homefront
Smaller details, like this table from Black Bird Home Gallery, can be the start to a great room design. Start Small When putting together a space in a home, it’s common to think large-scale first. But spring is the perfect time to focus on beauty in small packages and fine details, say the experts at [...]
Read More >>On The Homefront
If price, size, location and amenities are comparable, it’s common sense that most prospective condo buyers would prefer a glamorous new building over one that’s beginning to show telltale signs of age. Enter the condo board: the volunteers who’ve pledged to look after you. Ever since Jerry Seinfeld’s folks moved to Florida, community associations have [...]
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