This Florida house is devoted to light, art and views
A new Florida house, in Boca Raton, by architects Choeff Levy Fischman and interior designer Deborah Wecselman, has been shaped around an art collection
This new Florida house in Boca Raton epitomises the region's Tropical Modern style – sleek, glamorous and filled with light. It is also draped in art and sculpture and furnished with contemporary pieces and custom finishes. Designed by Miami-based practice Choeff Levy Fischman, with interiors by Deborah Wecselman, the Boca Raton house was designed for a client with a passion for signature pieces of contemporary art and strong interior statements. It was built to exacting standards by VJD Construction.
Tour this scene-stealing Florida house
Entrance facade, Boca Raton House, Florida
The single-storey house is arranged as three pavilions surrounding a central pool, with artworks of varying scales scattered around in carefully pre-ordained positions that allow them to be appreciated from inside and outside. At the heart of the house is a 130ft-long skylight that runs two-thirds of the floorplan, bringing light into the central spine of the house and giving it a gallery-like quality.
Ceramic artwork by Jun Kaneko adjoining the entrance
The entrance façade, which adjoins a garage for the owners’ collection of classic and contemporary sports cars, is given a slightly different treatment, with rooms and internal spaces treated like pods that are extruded out from the wall. A shallow reflecting pool is set beneath these structures and is also the site of two large-scale ceramic forms by Jun Kaneko.
The garage at the Boca Raton House, Florida
An Eggersmann kitchen is set behind a custom glass wall by Studio Germans Ermičs
Inside, the accommodation includes a kitchen by the German specialist Eggersmann, flanked by an installation wall of custom coloured glass by Amsterdam-based Studio Germans Ermičs. While there are formal sitting rooms and niches devoted to particular sculptures, paintings and views, the family room is a deliberately playful space, as are the bedrooms intended for the client’s grandchildren. These include a room with walls that appear to be carved from Lego, with an elevated loft-style bed, as well as wallpaper inspired by the late Keith Haring (a friend of the client’s).
A Lego-inspired bedroom at the Boca Raton House
The loft bed in the Lego-inspired bedroom
The main living room has views across the lake to the golf course beyond, with a chandelier by Apparatus suspended above a round area rug by Tai Ping and cedar-finished Wittmann sofas. A Holly Hunt side chair in deep purple adds a splash of colour. Other art pieces are intended to be seen from inside and out, including the lifeguard sculpture by the pool by Spanish artist Aurora Cañero.
The main living room in the Boca Raton House
Aurora Cañero's lifeguard sculpture guards the pool, with views to the lake and golf course beyond
‘This home exemplifies resort-style living with complete integration of interior spaces utilizing vast opening sliders,’ says Ralph Choeff, principal at Choeff Levy Fischman. ‘The home’s owners specifically requested a one-storey residence, and we provided a programme that pushed the design and the locations of design elements. As always, the site itself figures prominently into the design inspiration.’
The house wraps around the central pool, with its sunken seating area
The collaboration with interiors specialist Deborah Wecselman brought precious experience to the project – Wecselman had worked on two previous residences for the client. ‘They wanted a home where generations could gather and create lasting memories,’ the designer explains. With its rich interior and exterior landscape shaped by art and sculpture and meticulously appointed furniture and fittings, the Boca Raton house is both private house and gallery space.
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
The central spine of the house is illuminated by a 130-foot-long rooflight
Choeff Levy Fischman, CLFArchitects.com, @ChoeffLevyFischman
Wecselman Design, WecselmanDesign.com, @WecselmanDesign
Studio Germans Ermičs, GermansErmics.com
The shoot was styled by Anita Sardisi
The study, Boca Raton House
Sculptures include Rob Lorenson's 'Z XOXOX', 2023
A sculpture by Ruth Bloch at the Boca Raton House, Florida
Jonathan Bell has written for Wallpaper* magazine since 1999, covering everything from architecture and transport design to books, tech and graphic design. He is now the magazine’s Transport and Technology Editor. Jonathan has written and edited 15 books, including Concept Car Design, 21st Century House, and The New Modern House. He is also the host of Wallpaper’s first podcast.
-
The Grand Egyptian Museum – a monumental tribute to one of humanity’s most captivating civilisations – is now completeDesigned by Heneghan Peng Architects, the museum stands as an architectural link between past and present on the timeless sands of Giza
-
Meet Forefront, a cultural platform redefining the relationship between art and architectureForefront co-founder Dicle Guntas, managing director of developer HGG, tells us about the exciting new initiative and its debut exhibition, a show of lumino-kinetic sculptures in London
-
Inside the work of photographer Seydou Keïta, who captured portraits across West Africa‘Seydou Keïta: A Tactile Lens’, an exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum, New York, celebrates the 20th-century photographer
-
Inside a Malibu beach house with true star qualityBond movies and Brazilian modernism are the spur behind this Malibu beach house, infused by Studio Shamshiri with a laid-back glamour
-
An Arizona home allows multigenerational living with this unexpected materialIn a new Arizona home, architect Benjamin Hall exposes the inner beauty of the humble concrete block while taking advantage of changed zoning regulations to create a fit-for-purpose family dwelling
-
Michael Graves’ house in Princeton is the postmodernist gem you didn’t know you could visitThe Michael Graves house – the American postmodernist architect’s own New Jersey home – is possible to visit, but little known; we take a tour and explore its legacy
-
Explore Tom Kundig’s unusual houses, from studios on wheels to cabins slotted into bouldersThe American architect’s entire residential portfolio is the subject of a comprehensive new book, ‘Tom Kundig: Complete Houses’
-
Ballman Khaplova creates a light-filled artist’s studio in upstate New YorkThis modest artist’s studio provides a creative with an atelier and office in the grounds of an old farmhouse, embedding her practice in the surrounding landscape
-
The most important works of modernist landscape architecture in the USModernist landscapes quite literally grew alongside the modern architecture movement. Field specialist and advocate Charles A. Birnbaum takes us on a tour of some of the finest examples
-
Jeanne Gang’s single malt whisky decanter offers a balance ‘between utility and beauty’The architect’s whisky decanter, 'Artistry in Oak', brings a sculptural dimension to Gordon & MacPhail's single malt
-
An idyllic slice of midcentury design, the 1954 Norton House has gone on the marketNorton House in Pasadena, carefully crafted around its sloping site by Buff, Straub & Hensman, embodies the Californian ideal of the suburban modern house embedded within a private landscape