In a State of Grace

Impeccably maintained and adapted for family living, a 1928
Marion Sims Wyeth oceanfront residence in Palm Beach
is a gracious retreat for Veronica and Louis Furlo

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Owning a historic Palm Beach home, especially a landmarked residence designed by a prominent architect, carries with it a bit of responsibility, says Veronica Furlo about her meticulously maintained and exquisitely decorated jewel of a residence at 840 South Ocean Boulevard. It was built in 1928 by Marion Sims Wyeth and christened “Casa Soleada” – “The House of the Sun”.

“You don’t really own it. You’re just taking care of it for the next people when they move in,” she says. “You’re a steward, in a sense.”

It’s a role she and her husband, Louis Furlo, have relished during the seven years that they have wintered in the oceanfront home. While keeping a respectful eye fixed on the house’s pedigree, they have overseen a variety of decorating, landscaping and remodeling projects that underscored their desire for a comfortable family retreat. Their three grown sons have spent plenty of time there, and their three grandchildren often come for visits.

But needs change, and with an ever-growing extended family, the Furlos have decided to pass the residence along to its next steward. They’ve listed the 12-bedroom house- with its 15 full baths and three half-baths – for $23 million with the same realtor, Linda R. Olsson, who sold it to them originally. But the Michigan couple wants to continue their seasonal journeys to Palm Beach and are looking for another home that will meet their needs.

The Mediterranean Revival-style home is among Palm Beach’s most remarkable, not only because of its historic roots, but also because of its pristine condition and unusual amenities: It’s one of the few on the island, for instance, with two swimming pools. A 50-foot rectangular saltwater pool and an accompanying beach house sit on the Atlantic side of South Ocean Boulevard, reached via a tunnel beneath the roadway. The other pool anchors the square interior courtyard around which the U-shaped house is built. Extra-wide ground floor and second-level loggias overlook the courtyard pool, which was included in the original 1928 plans but not built until 1932.

Designed originally for Allan P. Kirby, an attorney from Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, the home features many of the interior details for which Wyeth was famous: extensive pecky cypress plank doors and ceilings with painted details; imported floor and decorative tiles from Europe, Cuba and Mexico; carved wood moldings and corbels; and coquina-stone fireplaces and exterior decorative details.

The house sits on a lot with about 150 feet of ocean frontage. The land extends about 300 feet to the west, accommodating the front lawn and terrace of the main house as well as the poolside courtyard and its coquina-stone terrace, an expansive sunken rear garden and a detached three-car garage with a two-bedroom guest suite above it.

The front double doors of the main residence are set into a stepped coquina archway on the north side facing Via Del Mar. Even so, the house is squarely sited to take advantage of the ocean views and the accompanying sea breezes that waft in through the French doors of the pubic rooms on the lower level and the large windows of the second-story bedrooms, including the master suite with two baths. Several of the upstairs bedrooms have direct ocean views, and most open into the loggia overlooking the pool and gardens beyond.

Facing the sea, the central wing of the house has just two rooms on the ground level. The long living room is adjoined on the south by a grand dining room. Also housed on the ground floor in on of the two side wings extending to the west are a morning room – used for breakfast and informal dinging – and the chef’s kitchen, completely remodeled by the Furlos and equipped with top-of-the-line appliances and a large granite-topped work island.

The other win features a small study clad in original pecky-cypress paneling that conceals the entrance to a small “secret” room – a whimsical detail specified in Wyeth’s original blueprints. Down the hall is the front-door foyer, an accompanying powder room and the main staircase with its handsome metal railing. (There’s also a vintage elevator in working condition.) A poolside cabana with a built-in wet bar that opens onto the courtyard completes the second wing.

In all, the home is at once appropriately grand and yet surprisingly intimate, perhaps because much of its space is devoted to outdoor living and entertaining around the pool and in the loggias.
“This house is big enough that it’s impressive, but small enough to be a home,” say Veronica Furlo. “There’s no wasted space.”

The 50-foot saltwater oceanfront pool is reached via a tunnel from the main house.

Viewed from the second-floor loggia, the main courtyard overlooks the sunken garden.
The garden is reached by two flights of steps.

Although the house has been well maintained over the years, the Furlos have carried out a number of improvement projects, including an extensive overhaul of the saltwater beachfront pool and patio. During the remodeling of the kitchen, a pantry was opened up to provide a coffee bar nestled between banks of glass-front cabinets. An upstairs guest-room bath was also extensively remodeled.

Veronica Furlo worked with Kuhn Young of Pinnacle Design in Michigan to decorate her home, with interior colors ranging from a warm artichoke green in the kitchen and morning room to dusky greens, pinks and yellows in the second-level bedrooms. The elegant living and dining rooms offer a mix of formal furnishings and family-friendly fabrics.

The poolside loggia provides easy access to the living room and other parts of the house.
The Furlos frequently serve their guests dinner here.

The Furlos commissioned Palm Beach architect Jeff Smith and Worth Builders to restore a focal point for the eastern elevation, which features two sets of triple French doors. Wyeth had originally designed an elaborately carved stone sundial for this wall, perhaps as homage to, or an impetus for, the home’s name, Casa Soleada.

In addition to installing hurricane-rated glass and making structural reinforcements to the exterior wall, Smith gave the living room’s French doors an exterior coquina-stone surround, topped by a new stone balcony at the upstairs window above. To visually balance these additions, a stone medallion was installed above the dining room’s French doors.

Viewed from above, the house’s U-shaped plan – focusing on the courtyard pool –  is evident.

The result is that the living room’s French doors have become a second formal entrance into the house – a feature the Furlos often make use of during parties and fund-raisers for charity, Veronica explains. Instead of entering through the front door on the side of the house, guests follow a stone path to the front terrace, where they enjoy cocktails and ocean views across the front lawn. When it’s time for dinner, they step through the living room’s French doors and continue on to the poolside loggia, terrace and rear garden.

Steps from the pool area lead down to the garden, which provides an inviting focal point when viewed from the courtyard and the loggias. The sunken garden, in fact, was conceived by Wyeth as a key element in the residence’s design, says Carolyn Denton, archivist librarian for the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach, which owns a set of the original blueprints. “Wyeth really designed the home to fit the terrain, and he treated the gardens, landscaping and architecture as a single unit.” says Denton. The garden was the main feature that initially attracted Louis Furlo to the house. “I wanted fruit trees,” he says. “In the garden I grow white and red grapefruit, tangerines, Persian limes.”

Before they bought the house, the Furlos had spent two years searching for the perfect residence in Palm Beach. Nothing was quite right – and then with Olsson’s help they found Casa Soleado. “I always look for a state of grace – there has to be a saving grace – and in this house that grace was everywhere,” says Veronica.