Suzanne Costa Transforms One Floorplan

From the moment MHK Architecture laid out the floor plan for the four 3,900-plus-square-foot units at Parkview at Cambier, designer Suzanne Costa got to work choosing the hand-poured Kinon Surface Design’s hand-cast panels for cabinetry, Cambria quartz surfaces and all the other flourishes to glam up each unit. Not long after being brought on to Frank Meak’s development, Costa faced a new challenge: The units were sold to well-traveled, culturally savvy clients, and each had strong ideas for making the spaces their own.

Working with the uniform floor plans and fixtures to develop idiosyncratic interiors was an artistic collaboration. With units 201 and 202, Costa cataloged the homeowner’s existing art collections, searching for pieces to highlight and motifs to build on. For unit 301, Costa melded the client’s love of nature and desire to collect local art to help him build a collection of vibrant, biophilic works by Naples artists.

Though Costa created gallery-like moments in each home’s foyer, the connection between art and design extends further into each home. Her client’s aesthetic desires informed everything from material and color choices to the overall moods she aimed to conjure. “They spoke to me through their art,” Costa says, noting that the focus on art also yielded a dominant use of white walls (with some notable exceptions) and a heavy emphasis on lighting. “From there, we started to layer and create.”

Certain elements, like the custom kitchen cabinetry, are designed by Marcus Jelley and inspired by Costa’s affinity for the Japanese pottery of Kitamura Junko and Daisuke Iguchi, remain consistent across each unit. But a closer investigation reveals how Costa transformed the standardized layout into three expressions of personal style—from a wooded sanctuary to an Old World-meets-contemporary condo to a black-and-white bachelor pad.

Where Nature and Art Collide

The design of this top-floor unit began with a collaboration between Costa and the client to curate works from Naples artists, including Juan Carlos Collada, Tom Manziano and Diane Whiting. Collada’s Let the Sun Shine, an orange, pink and yellow bullseye of butterflies, meets guests in the foyer, creating a “dynamic and dramatic” presence, Costa says. Nearby, Collada’s sculptural totem, forged from wood, metal and marble, underscores her efforts to blur the boundaries between man-made and natural elements.

Wood is an essential material throughout the condo, with dark tones often deployed to introduce a “rich, smoky opulence” and contrast the lighter hues typical of coastal design. High-gloss rosewood sets the stage for the eye-catching Cristallo of the custom wine and bourbon bar—a celebration of the client’s penchant for collecting fine bottles. The quartzite surface introduces depth and makes the contemporary bar feel important in the space. From the soft, white living wood of the great room’s coffee table to writhing branches placed in decorative vases in the zen-like bedroom, it all adds to a “dialogue between luxury and nature,” Costa regards with pride.

The furniture was considered with equal regard. In the great room, salmon Kravet chairs complement the bar’s rosewood and Cristallo, letting the bar’s striking impression waft into the home’s central area. In the bedroom, a Vanguard bed with Kelly Wearstler fabric lends a sense of coziness.

Outside, unit 301’s lanai patio distinguishes itself from Costa’s design work from other outdoor spaces by acting as an “extension of the natural design concept seen inside.” Thanks to a live-edge outdoor dining table, cedar details on the ceiling and a natural palette representing the sands of Southwest Florida, every square inch of this condo showcases a sleek and soothing connection to the natural world.

1 of 6

2 of 6

3 of 6

4 of 6

5 of 6

6 of 6

Photography by Dan Cutrona

The Old World Goes Contemporary

When working with unit 202’s world-travel ing owners, Costa faced the unique challenge of tying prominent distinct elements, ranging from Balinese wood carvings to Parisian oil paintings to heirloom furniture, into something contemporary and coherent.

The classic and the modern meld in the great room, where a hand-woven Pakistani rug sits beneath a Kravet acrylic coffee table and a curved sofa that introduces soft lines. Nearby, a stone fireplace has adjacent built-ins to showcase Asian objets d’art and Murano glass sculptures. Accent pillows provide a hint of color against the white couch without distracting from the room’s museum-worthy qualities.

Costa emphasized the client’s globe-span ning collection of paintings, ceramics and sculptural pieces by staging elements that double as works of art. An intricately carved piece in the foyer sits perched on tigerwood shelving, set against a backdrop of a sustainable fiber wallpaper. Careful consideration of lighting throughout the unit was key for spotlighting each masterpiece, expressed most exquisitely by the Luxe Light & Home PIRELLI Chandelier 30, which bathes the foyer in an aura of classic luxury.

While the foyer may function as a gallery, there’s no absence of aesthetic inspiration in other spaces. In the office, Parisian oil paintings pair with an antique desk to create a decidedly historic setting for sending emails and attending Zoom meetings.

An emphasis on clean lines and classic Art Deco-era Hollywood glamour takes center stage in the primary bedroom, where touches like crystal pendant lighting nod to the Roaring ‘20s. Spanish hand-embroidered Gianti drapery and a channeled Kravet Versailles velvet bed enrich the space with turquoise blue. The shade pairs perfectly with the gold frames surrounding prized paintings. None is more attention-grabbing than Romeo and Juliet, a hidden gem discovered in a Baku, Azerbaijan art shop. The painting makes an instant impression the moment one opens the doors to the primary bedroom—just one of the many ways the condo stands as an apt and clever study in unifying diverse art movements and design eras into a single, fresh aesthetic.

1 of 6

DAN CUTRONA PHOTOGRAPHY

2 of 6

DAN CUTRONA PHOTOGRAPHY

3 of 6

DAN CUTRONA PHOTOGRAPHY

4 of 6

DAN CUTRONA PHOTOGRAPHY

5 of 6

DAN CUTRONA PHOTOGRAPHY

6 of 6

DAN CUTRONA PHOTOGRAPHY

Photography by Dan Cutrona

Black-and-White and Bespoke All Over

You won’t find as much color in 201, where Costa leaned fully into the Canadian homeowner’s modern art and masculine energy. “We elevated the design with lots of black wall covering and large backdrops for the spectacular art collection,” she says. Dark hues pair with white furnishings and finishes to form the space’s color story. The intention is immediately evident in the foyer, where Costa dials up the contrast by juxtaposing an ivory-white grand piano with a quadriptych of white-on-black abstract figurative works.

In the dining area, black Phillip Jeffries wall coverings surround a burst of technicolor contrast via an abstract expressionist painting by Ontario-based artist Arthur Potts. Though everything from Marcus Jelley’s white cerused oak kitchen cabinets to the white fabric covering the client’s Barbara Barry chairs articulates the unit’s starkly minimalist approach to color, she loves how the painting adds dynamic flair to the space.

The bedroom deviates slightly from the black-and-white palette in favor of a collection of novel neutrals, supported by the earthy, rich jewel tone in the sumptuous mauve velvet drapery. (Costa loves Kravet’s Versailles textiles. “They have the richest jewel-toned colors,” she says.) Costa collaborated with Toronto-based furniture designer David Powell, co-founder of high-end furnishing, lighting and textiles firm Powell & Bonnell. His preexisting relationship with 201’s owner inspired the creation of the bedroom’s pair of custom swivel chairs, defined by exquisite tailoring and contemporary lines. His “aesthetic complements the client’s lifestyle and the unit,” Costa says.

At every turn of the two-year project, the designer considered how, through bespoke detailing, a deep understanding of her clients’ characters, and a little imagination, each space could be entirely its own.

1 of 7