A Modern Mish-Mash at Casa Grove
Completely Contemporary, Yet Simple
Story by Chea Evans
The paradox of a modern house is that
it’s completely contemporary yet made timeless by the nature of its
simplicity. Casa Grove, tucked into an oaky lot on a busy street
near Miami’s Design District, is a perfect example. The exterior is
almost utilitarian: stone, steel and teak. The interior, however,
exposes a space that’s both open and enveloping at the same time.
Designed by award-winning Cuban architect Roney Mateu, Casa Grove
is a 3,000-square-foot house situated on a vertically shaped lot. The
property has two concrete buildings. The first building is located in
the front of the property and is a detached two-story garage with a
terraced guest house above. The main house is located toward the back of
the lot and features four bedrooms, a sitting room, kitchen, dining
room, den and living room. In between the two structures is an expansive
lawn that functions as an outdoor living space, complete with a stone
and black tile hot tub that accommodates 12. The vast number of oak and
gumbo trees act as an outdoor extension of the home’s interior.
Mateu wanted to create a sense of privacy and designed the house as a
buffer, both visually and for sound from the busy street. Inside, he
purposely created an “understandable and honest” space. Nothing is
hidden; everything is exposed, including the ceilings, which are steel
and high beams.
The house is a perfect example of how the simplest design is also often
the one that is the most carefully planned. Mateu created the house’s
vast, white open spaces to be “simple in its detailing, so as to not
compete with the elements that define an individual’s signature
(furniture, art, etc.) that personalizes spaces.” Here, spaces flow into
each other, borrowing visually from their adjacencies and creating the
feeling of much larger areas both on the interior and exterior. The
space allows for small, intimate gatherings and large parties of 100 or
more.
Casa Grove is owned by Sloan
Schaffer and his wife, attorney Carli Levine-Schaffer. Aco-owner of
101/Exhibit, a gallery and exhibition space in the heart of the Miami
Design District, as well as an architect, jewelry designer and metal
smith, Shaffer has a keen appreciation for modern architecture and
design.
The couple is passionate about modern, contemporary design, so when they
saw Casa Grove they were
immediately enthralled. Part of the appeal was the fact that they could
move in without making any changes to the structure. In addition,
Mateu’s vision for the way the house would be used fit perfectly with
the couple’s interior design philosophy:
they don’t believe in contrived settings. So when they moved in there
was no specific plan for the house’s interior. “It developed
organically,” they said. |
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Photos by Simon Hare |
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Avid art
collectors, the couple has a vast collection of paintings, furniture and
sculpture that works especially well with Casa Grove’s design.
The Schaffer’s developed their unique interior by mixing simple,
clean-lined mid-century furnishings with colorful, unique works of art.
By mingling their family heirlooms with pieces purchased over the years,
as well as buying new pieces upon moving in, the Schaffer’s created what
they call a “mish-mash that works.”
“We feel like an object is worthy of merit, irrespective of its
setting,” Sloan said. “We’ve got all these important pieces of art and
furniture, and it just worked out in our favor in this particular
instance that the house was contemporary. We’d have the stuff in any
place that we would be living; we just happened to get lucky, and it
looks really good here.”
The home’s front door is deliberately located at the rear of the home
and opens into a 1.5-story living room/great room – the Schaffer’s
favorite part of the house. Throughout Casa Grove, the
color scheme is natural and comes in a range of hues, from the grey
rectified porcelain tile that creates a natural texture on the lower
floor, to burnt orange, woods, blues and stainless steel in the fixtures
and flooring. On the main floor, wall-to-ceiling windows provide natural
light, and the voluminous steel ceiling is anchored by a fan that has
often been described as resembling the piston of a car engine.
The openness of the first floor is accented with a mix of recessed,
track and surface-mounted low-voltage lighting from Erco. Fans by Modern
Fan Co. are strategically placed throughout.
“We love the architecture and the fact that Roney put windows in
strategic places in the house, so you’re always forced to look back at
your path,” said Sloan. “When you walk in the house, there’s a
procession, and you’re forced to walk up, make a turn, turn back around
and enter the house. When you’re inside, no matter where you are, you’re
forced to gaze back at that path.”
The living room area is furnished with a rare, original 1967 Vladimir
Kagan Unicorn chair with plated base, a Poltrona Frau Jockey
chair and a quirky wood tree trunk stool. The couch is a Nomade
sectional in diva leather by Ligne Roset. On the Saarinen side table
sits a Philippe Starck Miss K lamp and on the floor behind the
couch stands an original 1960s Arco lamp. Perched on the floor is a
Graham Marks geode that looks like a freshly-hatched egg.
The open kitchen features white and teak custom cabinetry paired with
stainless-steel appliances. The wood buffet and counter area, shaped as
a simple rounded countertop, pairs nicely with wood and leather bar
stools by Poltrona Frau. Behind the kitchen, opposite the steel
staircase, is a large, colorful framed 1940 Alton Pickens abstract.
A home office on the first floor has natural stone floors and white
walls, and is colored with what the Schaffer’s describe as “tons of rare
Jim Pollock prints.” |
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The couple added a Facett
sofa and ottoman in divina mélange (a felted wool
fabric) with contrasting red stitching from Ligne Roset.
Carli’s room/office is a soothing palate of grey and white.
Here the couple used Ligne Roset’s Anna bed in
alcantara stone grey, an Everywhere bedside pedestal
table in white lacquer and a Slim cabinet in gloss
lacquer and walnut niche. A Togo loveseat, also from
Ligne Roset, adds a pop of purple color. The room houses
works by Sarkis, Simons, Pollock and Pickens.
An upstairs sitting room houses a prized Edward Wormley
dresser. “It truly is one of a kind,” Sloan said. The room
also has a Cemia TV cabinet in walnut with white
lacquer sliding doors and a Smala sofa and ottoman in
alcantara from Ligne Roset. Off-setting the furniture’s
clean lines and muted tones is a riot of color from the
room’s artwork, including ceramic sculptures and oil
paintings. A Toobe floor lamp from Kartell adds
curiosity.
The master bedroom is a perfect blend of the couple’s sense
of whimsy style. The signature piece: an original 1950s
blue/white George Nelson Marshmallow sofa. Philippe
Starck designed the Romeo Babe K-C lighting fixtures,
which came from FLOS. Kelvin W lighting fixtures designed by
Antonio Citterio with Toan Nguyen light an abstract oil
painting.
The room also has a Pele
Mele TV unit in gloss white lacquer by Ligne Roset.
Ligne Roset’s Cineline bed with a white leather
headboard and white lacquer frame is flanked by Good
Morning tables in white lacquer, which are topped with
Feruccio Laviani’s Bourgie lamps from Kartell. Above
the bed is a colorful triptych that was purchased at a flea
market.
The master bath has a serene, spa-like feel with hardwood
floors and natural stone, and a large jet tub that is
separated from the main bedroom by a frosted glass panel.
The natural wood cabinetry is custom made and the sheer
curtains are from Shade & Sound.
Outside, Mateu designed the garden and courtyard to be a
public space that is shielded from the outside world. The
Schaffer’s transformed the terrace into a one-of-a-kind
space with a mix of their own furnishings and from the Miami
Design District, including a topiary collection from Richard
Schultz, chairs and couch from Clima Outdoor Collections and
Luminaire’s Chair One. The Schaffer’s added an
original black plastic hand chair from the 1970s, an Eames
fiberglass chair and a Bubble Club sofa by Philippe
Starck. Melding with the natural setting is an Indiana
limestone hand-carved bench, circa 1800s.
Retrospection by architecture may not be at the forefront of
every person’s mind when they’re inhabiting a house, but the
overall feeling of the house’s construction and the
attention paid to the interior’s aesthetic as a whole makes
Casa Grove a house with two sides: sleek, modern and
thought-provoking, while maintaining the bright, welcoming
and peaceful tones that make a house a home. |
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