Ocean Spray

Waves make a splash in a Boca Raton condo.

text by: Bob Morris

April 1, 2005

As it laps ashore near Boca Raton, the Atlantic is truly a kissing cousin to the Caribbean. The Gulf Stream runs just a few miles offshore, and the water is tinged with the warm colors of the subtropics—soft blue, mellow green and a gray that even on the dreariest of days seems to suggest that the sun will soon shine. The waves are gentle, too, easygoing rollers that do not so much crash against the golden sand as they do caress it.

Shortly after he bought a new $7 million, 5,000-square-foot condominium at the Excelsior, a 28-unit complex that is one of Boca Raton’s most exclusive addresses, Alfred Karram II stood on its balcony and gazed out at the ocean. He was looking for inspiration, and he found it.

“The colors of the ocean, the contours of the waves—for me the challenge became how to connect the beauty of what I saw outdoors with this empty interior space,” says Karram, a Boca Raton builder and architect who also designed the Excelsior’s grand lobby. “But mostly I was thinking about those waves, how they curved and how they flowed—the sense of arc as they broke against the shore.” (Click image to enlarge)

Many months and some $3 million of renovation costs later, Karram unveiled the results of his oceanside reverie—a gleaming, contemporary, three-bedroom residence that melds the Florida landscape with nouveau European influences and dramatic artisanal embellishments to create a dwelling that offers its own jazzy riff on the concept of an artful living space. Now the property of a CEO of a Fortune 500 firm, the sleek and seductive condo is testament to both high style and everyday function, with plenty of whimsy tossed in for good measure. The playfulness of Karram’s nautically inspired design is apparent from the moment you step into the entry with its bent-glass wall. “It’s hard to imagine that it used to be just a huge square room. I was trying to give it real depth and create a wave with the wall,” says Karram, “The theme reappears throughout the home. It’s a way to have fun while still paying homage to craftsmanship.”

And then there is the stonework—more than 3,000 square feet of book-matched Visconte white granite flooring in the main living areas alone. Massive slabs of lapis lazuli and white onyx produce flooring and wall patterns that are every bit as artful as the zoom-lens-style paintings of Michel Pellus and the sculpture of Olivia Guzman. “If there is one signature that I’m known for, it would be the stonework,” says Karram. “It is not just the insane scope of the stonework. Anyone can go out and buy lots of granite or marble. But the heart of the design is in the matching, making sure the veins and the shades are in perfect harmony.”

The living room features Brikkel sofas, ottomans and chaise longues upholstered in fabrics created by Italian designer Giorgio Saporiti for Il Loft. A game table anchors one corner; in the other corner sits a Steinway baby grand piano with a brilliant black satin finish. Centering the seating area is a custom-designed stainless steel cocktail table, and the white granite floors mimic the pattern of the tapered, arced ceiling. “Here I was thinking specifically of the concentric arcs the waves form as they approach the shore,” Karram says.Karram is particularly fond of the dining room with its white laminate glass-top table and stainless steel legs. But the walls, finished in Venetian plaster, are just as alluring. “I love working with Venetian plaster,” says Karram. “It’s a rare, laborious technique and one that is not often found in contemporary homes. Technically, it’s five layers of crushed marble that is troweled on the walls like plaster and then finished off with soapstone. The colors are totally customized to go with the floors.”

The Poggenpohl kitchen boasts a state-of-the-art Miele appliance package that includes Miele’s first-ever built-in coffee system as well as a Gaggenau pizza oven. The breakfast table is finished in bright polished stainless steel with Il Loft Tim chairs upholstered in charcoal leather. Floor-to-ceiling muvinge wood veneer paneling offers a striking focal point in the media room with its two Cassina Nest powder blue leather sofas. And there is more wavy glass to be found in the coffee table, which has been sandblasted in blue tones. (Click image to enlarge)

Things get dreamy in the master bedroom with its curvilinear bed, designed by Karram. “It’s recessed into the wall, and the idea was to create a floating arc, a sense of floating on the sea,” says Karram. Two chaise longues, upholstered in a combination of white fabric and leather, sit at the foot of the bed, and a stainless steel credenza anchors the opposite wall. The guest rooms each feature Cassina beds with floral Swiss linens.

Other Karram touches include original free-form etched glasswork throughout, including the arched glass wall that encloses the media room. Even the bent-glass door to the cylindrical powder room gives a nod to the home’s undulating theme. A LiteTouch switching system controls the low-voltage lighting system with recessed and retractable Reggiani lights, and it also manages the window treatments. (Click image to enlarge)

It is a far cry from the day when Karram stood on a balcony outside an empty shell of a dwelling and looked out at the ocean. “But I’ve created a bridge,” he says. “I feel the home is at one with its place, and that is all any designer can aspire to.”