Hooked on Houses

Vera Wang’s historic oceanfront villa is on the market in Palm Beach for $19 million. The mansion was designed in 1923 by famed society architect Addison Mizner, and the town of Palm Beach has declared it a local landmark.

The sprawling estate has 11 bedrooms and 10 bathrooms, as well as 9 additional bedrooms in separate servants’ quarters. It boasts many original details, such as hand-painted coffered ceilings.

“I’ve always been fascinated by Mizner,” Wang told the Palm Beach Daily News. “To me, he did ‘Spanish lite.’ His whimsical style was never as heavy as the castles in Spain. He always adapted that sense of romance.”

Why is Wang selling? She inherited the one-acre Palm Beach property from her businessman father (he paid $4.75 million for it in 1996) who died in 2006. He also left her a house in Southampton, N.Y., property in the wealthy suburb of Pound Ridge, N.Y., and a New York City apartment.”These are all properties that need to be updated. It’s just too much to handle. And I travel a great deal for business,” Ms. Wang told the Wall Street Journal. “You can’t live in three places at once.”

Addison Mizner (1872-1933) wasn’t trained formally as an architect and couldn’t draw blueprints, but his Mediterranean style of architecture sparked a “Florida Renaissance” that influenced architects throughout North America. He wanted to capture the diversity of Spanish architecture and criticized contemporary architects “for producing a characterless copybook effect.”-

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The Palm Beach Daily described the living room shown above:

The living room’s coffered ceiling of old pecky cypress with painted decorations is exquisite. In the center of each coffered area is a gilt sunflower. A green cloverleaf pattern is painted on the beams of the coffers and on the crown molding.

Among the room’s other architectural features is a large stone fireplace with an inscription chiseled into its front: Sperate et Virite et Fortes – “Hope and Live Boldly.”

The room also has built-in display shelves for china, intricately carved entry doors and a floor of octagon-shaped Cuban tiles inset with dark green squares. Vera Wang furnished the living room simply with a creamy color scheme to let the architecture make the boldest design statements. Some of the furniture was designed by Mizner, too – a stunning commode and a corner cabinet.

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The grounds feature 5 fountains and a 12-car parking court. The pool is bordered by a variety of keystone patios and outdoor living spaces, including a covered loggia off of the living room (shown below). The loggia has an original Mizner chandelier and a coral Keystone floor.

As you can see in the photo below, the entire property is surrounded by walls to ensure privacy: -

Fashion designer Wang is married to Arthur Becker, and they have two children, Cecilia, 17, and Josephine, 14. She says the family spent a lot of time in the house when the children were younger and have fond memories of it.

For more information about her oceanfront villa, see the MLS listing, the Wall Street Journal article, or the Palm Beach Daily article.

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March 11th, 2008 | Tags: 1920s, Addison Mizner, Architecture, beach, design, Famous Houses, fashion, Florida, historic houses, inheritance, landmark, oceanfront, Palm Beach, Real Estate, Spanish architecture, Vera Wang | Category: Architecture, Celebrity Style, Famous Houses | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL