MIA Pinnacle Award of Merit Private Residence Our National Project Group Division has the honor of working with the most talented architects and designers in the industry. On this Award Winning project Architect Vern Swaback of Swaback Partners and the designers from Studio V created a home that was and art piece. We were ecstatic to be a part of such a unique project. The clients, both professionals, were committed to creating an expression of the art of living by way of the thoughtful design of their ultimate home. They are very generous and engaging hosts, thus their home was to be designed with that in mind. Their quest began with a prolonged search for a site that would serve as the environmental canvas on which to realize their dream. The relationship between owner, architect and interior designer was a shared and genuine search for the most perfect solutions to the exclusion of all other possibilities that might have been. Exterior walls of “Old Spruce Mountain” stone flow seamlessly to enrich the interiors. The generally curving structure and its extensive site walls consist of stone, cut to 24 specific radii, plus a series of serpentine curves. The entry walk to the main entrance consists of a procession of curvilinear walls with broad stone steps. Because the client wanted to achieve a timeless character, Old Spruce Mountain stone was selected as being perfectly suited for this criteria. The complexity of the curvilinear geometry takes its place along with the natural character and flow of its hillside setting. Interior stone floors consists mainly of 24” x 24” Cara Grande marble imported from Italy with selected use of complimentary stone where special patterns have been used to dramatize certain architectural spaces. An example of this occurs in the guest level gallery where a circular medallion of cut stone, includes Cara Grande honed marble, Red Levanto honed marble, and Tiepolo dark marble. The guest level Powder Room, referred to as “The Jewel Box,” consists of Multi Color Persian onyx and Red Jasper marble arranged in angular patterns that connect across the floor, extending up the four walls and across the ceiling. Two guest bathrooms feature stone floor patterns that turn up the wall. The design in the blue bathroom is executed in 12” x 24” Tinteretto, 3” x 9” Azul Bahia & 3” x 3” Noir St. Laurent marble. The yellow bathroom is executed in 12” x 24” Caravaggio, 3” x 9” Giallo Sienna, and 3” x 3” Noir St. Laurent marble. An irregular Kitchen island countertop consists of Azul Aran Granite with a triple laminate reverse bevel edge. The custom Wine Room tabletop features Tiger Eye Blue, a hand-inlay of semi-precious stones. The central area of the Master Bathroom features a 12 foot elliptical medallion consisting of Laso Vena Oro marble, with angular and circular pieces of cut Bianco. The bathroom floor in the main guest suite mixes wood with Café Rainforest marble slabs, cut at an angle to accentuate the shape of the room. In all, the interiors utilize 27 species of stone, mainly from the Verona region of Italy. Other interior materials include Sappeli Mahogany, Macassar Ebony and custom Venetian plaster. While these materials add their own richness; starting at the property’s gated stone entrance, followed by the curvilinear garden walls and culminating in the blended exterior and interior character of the architecture, it is the variety and beauty of natural stone that reigns supreme.
