A Perfect Balance

There’s a subtle play of contrasts at work throughout The Monserrato III model in Fort Myers’ Renaissance community - a balance of casual and formal elements, traditional and contemporary design and a focus on both inside and outdoor spaces. Designer Pam Novakovich, president of the award-winning Novakovich & Associates design firm, weaves glacier blue throughout the home’s nearly 4,000 square feet of living space, letting it serve as a backdrop to punches of cinnamon in a guest room, champagne in the living room, and spun gold in the master suite. The design is tempered with crisp whites, stark blacks, luminescent glass and mirrors, contemporary light fixtures, and references to the sea.

The three-bedroom, three-and-one-half-bath model was built by Granite Development, LLC, of Naples, and is a courtyard plan, a design that lends itself to rooms with views. The wood-clad library, part of the master suite, places a built-in right at the window, where its view sweeps down over the courtyard pool, and the living room and master suite open to a covered lanai, an ideal retreat for watching golfers enjoy the day on the course.

Oval and arched windows, keystone accents, roof-supporting corbels and a turret-like entry tower punctuate the Monserrato’s Mediterranean architecture. The double iron gates are screened, opening into a tropical courtyard where the soothing sounds of water are introduced from a wall-mounted fountain and the raised circular spa that spills over into the custom pool. Pockets of landscaped areas provide fringes of green and colorful bromeliads. A covered area offers comfortable black aluminum furnishings, a tumbled marble-topped dining table for six, and a summer kitchen featuring a stainless steel gas grill, hood and sink, a brick backsplash, granite countertops and pecky cypress cabinetry. On cooler evenings, an outdoor fireplace encourages family and friends to gather and reminisce.

One of the home’s two guest suites enjoys a secluded, self-contained setting in the courtyard. Its full bathroom doubles as the pool bath. Its bedroom has a mini kitchen with refrigerator, sliding glass doors out to the courtyard, and accessories and furnishings that allude to the tropics – coral 4 and shell artwork, a Novakovich-designed upholstered
headboard embellished with shells, and a shell-covered lamp that sits on a small mahogany desk which easily doubles as a nightstand and a quiet place to compose a letter or postcard.

The covered courtyard leads to the double glass entry doors of the main home. The color scheme and main design elements are introduced in the foyer, wet bar and living room, where glacier blue walls provide the backdrop for dark woods and champagne hued fabrics - selections that amplify a custom-designed fireplace Novakovich created by back painting a glass surround with silver scrollwork and then antiquing. The curved arms of the open-back bar stools echo the S-shape of the track lighting above the bar’s granite countertop. Frosted glass pendants illuminate the area, and the home’s first reference to the sea is seen in the clusters of shells displayed on curved shelves in the cabinetry. The L-shaped bar accommodates a stainless steel sink, an icemaker and a glass and stainless steel wine refrigerator. Glass shelves mounted to the mirror backsplash make objects appear to float.

From the foyer, the eye continues through an arched opening into the breakfast area positioned within a mitered glass window for pool-view dining, and wanders into the kitchen and family room beyond. Providing continuity is the random-set chiseled edge floor and a scalloped-edge area rug that sets the stage for the home’s backdrop hues of black, moonlight blues and various tones of chocolate brown and sandy beige.

The living room gives a nod to contemporary design with the simple lines of its upholstery pieces, a stainless steel ceiling fan and clear glass table lamps, but also hearkens to classic formality with an elaborate beamed ceiling treatment rendered in white crown moulding with rope accents, a replica of an antique cabinet behind the sofa, and the fireplace with a painted Venetian-mirror surround. Mahogany bookcases flank the fireplace, making the room cozy and useable, displaying books, floral arrangements and other treasures of the sea. Textured, gauzy sheer window treatments anchor the view.

The colors take on more intense tones in the dining room, where faux silk upholstered chairs boast wide stripes and a single oversized playful button. A contemporary chandelier juxtaposes the more antique look of the wood dining table with crystals cascading from a single suspended stainless steel rod. A narrow arched opening connects the butler’s pantry to the kitchen; the former of which offers a large walk-in pantry, granite countertops and a wine refrigerator.

Views of the courtyard are played up from the model’s more casual rooms - the kitchen, nook and family room. The distressed finish of the kitchen’s blue-green hued maple cabinetry and dark tumbled marble backsplash has an affinity to a farmhouse with contemporary accents; its satin nickel pot rack chandelier above the island, single pendant lights above the raised breakfast bar and gleaming stainless steel appliances speak of modernity. Cabinetry provides open slots for storing plates, some glass mullion fronts for display and sliding baskets for general storage and easy access.

The serious cook will appreciate the dual dishwashers, oven tower, warming drawer, the additional workspace provided by a center island with a second sink, and the natural sunlight streaming from a long narrow window above the five-burner cook top. Warm, tan painted walls revisit the gold tones of the master suite and the color is carried into the adjoining family room, where a dark distressed leather couch continues the air of rusticity while upholstered chairs in contemporary stripes and leaf patterns, along with contemporary sepia shell prints framed in black, add a degree of sophistication. A trio of sliding glass doors opens the family room to the covered courtyard.

The home’s powder bath is found off of the foyer and boasts a panoramic mural that evolves from a waterside villa to the spectacular countryside as the eye wanders. A carved stone sink is supported by an open black metal stand.

Entry to the master suite, through double doors, is commemorated by a sculpted carpet inset inlaid into the hallway’s plush carpeting. The hallway accesses his-and-her walk-in closets, the master bath and library and culminates at the bedroom, swaddled in gilded hues contrasted nicely with the nutmeg hues found in the upholstery of an electrically 4 operated lounge chair and love seat, mirrored nightstands and the ebony stained wood of the bed’s headboard and footboard. The ceiling has a pyramid design highlighted with painted scroll accents that lend a sense of history. Two sets of double doors provide the option of retreating to the covered lanai or a private patio on the courtyard.

Granite countertops play up the burnished hues of the wallpaper in the master bath. One of the two vanities offers a dressing table. The glass-enclosed shower features a rainhead and the Jacuzzi tub is positioned under a window offering expansive views of the golf course.

Glass doors from the master suite open into the study, a room cloaked in wood-from its now popular scraped-wood floor and a partial wall of built-in cabinetry to crown moulding surrounding the grasscloth ceiling - and roomy enough to accommodate a freestanding desk and two armchairs. The large window is flanked by narrow built-in bookcases and cabinetry for office supply storage is built under it. Double glass doors also allow one to take work right outside to the private courtyard off the master bedroom.

The utility room, offering a front-loading washer and dryer with the same blue-green cabinetry as seen in the kitchen, is located off of the family room, as is a guest suite. This bedroom takes on the darker spectrum of Novakovich’s color palette on the walls, tempered by off-white bedding and natural light from sliding glass doors out to the covered portion of the courtyard. Furnishings include an iron bed and black carved wood nightstands with cherry wood tops, and the room has a private full bath with contemporary light fixtures. t

Courtesy of Novakovich & Associates
239 514-7440

www.novakovichandassociates.com

Written by Nanci Theoret

Photography by Daniel Newcomb Photography