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Palm Beach Daily News

On the Market: Architect Makes Most of Elevated Site

By: Christine Davis
Published: 11/24/2011Source: Palm Beach Daily News

Although basements have their advantages for extra storage, say, or to house the laundry room they are not on most prospective homeowners’ lists of “must-haves” in Palm Beach.

 

But as both the owner of a custom home at 320 Ridgeview Drive, David Lambert, and his architect, Tom M. Kirchhoff, can attest, a basement can be a real boon.

 

Of course, it helps when you have the right property to accommodate it, and Ridgeview Drive fits the bill perfectly. The home stands on one of Palm Beach’s highest points, near the Palm Beach Country Club and a bit south of the island’s famous “coral cut” on North Lake Way.

 

“We were able to maximize the opportunities that we have here, and because of the high elevation, we were able to have a full basement,” explains Lambert, an investor. “That’s where we have a wine cellar, movie theater, billiards room and functional laundry room. There are also separate air-conditioning, plumbing and electrical rooms.”

 

Kirchhoff also notes that Lambert’s house — with its 13,479 square feet of living space, inside and out — takes full advantage of its lot, above and below ground.

 

“This house functions very well,” the architect says.

 

But the residence offers curb appeal, too. Built in 2002 with classical Georgian-style architecture, the home has a symmetrical facade “with five bays and stone quoins,” as Kirchhoff describes it. “The central portion is clad in natural stone with Corinthian pilasters and a pediment.”

 

As for the interiors? “The stair hall with its elliptical stairway is the main focus,” Kirchhoff says, “along with the fact that it’s ‘transparent’ through the main loggia to the back yard.”

 

The entire house opens up to the exterior, Kirchhoff adds. “All the rooms have windows or large French doors on two sides for lots of light.”

 

Lambert says he decided upon Georgian-style architecture because it suits his lifestyle, works for his family — he has two children — and accommodated a layout designed for entertaining.

 

His kitchen, catering chefs tell him, is quite functional. And he often makes his wine-room available for charity events. A vaulted space large enough to store 5,000 bottles, the wine room has a dining table at its center that easily accommodates large dinner parties.

 

But his needs have changed. Because his son, Sterling, attends Duke University, and daughter Nataly will soon finish high school at The Benjamin School, Lambert has decided to build again, something smaller and more compact. So he has listed his house, with its five bedrooms, seven bathrooms and two half-baths, with the Corcoran Group and set the price at $14.25 million.

 

Not only is the house’s layout notable, but its interiors are elegant, too. Amy Pegano, an interior decorator from Colorado, helped Lambert with the room schemes.

 

Visitors walk directly into the two-story stair hall, where the curved staircase leads to an open landing on the second floor. Floors here are covered in Bulgarian limestone set on the diagonal with Jerusalem stone cabochons.

 

The color scheme is tone-on-tone ivory, with the millwork painted in a subtle stripe. French doors facing south open to a covered loggia, which has a coffered cypress ceiling and a floor of Jerusalem limestone.

 

To the east is another stairwell that winds down to the basement area and a powder room appointed in Verde Alpi marble with a gold-leafed ceiling. The living room and the library are in the most easterly part of the house. The library is paneled in mahogany and features decorative moldings, corbel details, a Venetian-plaster ceiling and a built-in bar and bookcases.

 

Features in the living room include dentil molding around the crown, a bay window and a fireplace with a marble surround and wood mantel. French doors and windows either open to the loggia or offer access to and views of the pool area. Floors here are cherry, a wood also found in other rooms.

 

In the western portion of the house are the formal dining room, family room and kitchen. The dining room features wainscot paneling and a subtle faux finish on the walls.

 

In the family room and kitchen, floors are covered in tumbled Jerusalem limestone. The family room has been given a raised-hearth stone fireplace, a coffered ceiling and a wet bar. The island kitchen has granite countertops and professional-grade appliances. The home’s elevator is near the kitchen.

 

Connected to this area of the house are a cabana bath, a covered loggia with a bar and barbecue that serves as a cabana, the garage, a full-size gym and a stairway that leads to the guest suite.

 

In the basement, a stairway opens to a gallery and wet bar crowned with a brick barrel-vaulted ceiling. Three arched glass-and-iron doors then open to the wine room, which also has a similar ceiling and a fireplace. The floor is covered in reclaimed stone from a French monastery.

 

The theater room has acoustic walls, raised seating and a large screen. The nearby billiards room has a limed-oak tray-and-coffered ceiling.

 

With two sets of washers and dryers and ample storage space, the laundry room features an island with a special countertop that can be used for ironing.

 

On the uppermost floor and to the east is the master suite. The bedroom has a tray ceiling, carpeted floors, an onyx fireplace and French doors with balconies. The lady’s bathroom is equipped with a whirlpool tub and walk-in shower, while the gentleman’s bathroom has a steam shower. The suite also includes a “morning” bar.

 

Three more bedroom suites have tray ceilings, French doors that open to balconies and carpeted floors.

 

Outside, the pool is lined in glass mosaic, and there is also an outdoor shower with glass-mosaic decoration.

 

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For more information about 320 Ridgeview Drive, call listing agent Jim McCann at (561) 296-8720.

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