Magazines: Florida Design
Palm Beach Home & Décor,

(Vol2, No. 3)

Sculpted Living,
Interior design by Louis Shuster with architectural designer Eric Dyer, Shuster Design Associates, Inc., Wilton Manors, FL
Text by Marina Brown
Photography by Kim Sargent, Palm Beach Gradens, FL

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You’ve heard it said about museums and concert halls – “the building is a piece of art in itself.” But it’s rare when it can be said of a private residence, particularly when it’s a 2,800-square-foot condominium in Boca Raton, Fla.

The sleek, third home that a Pennsylvania couple commissioned interior designer Louis Shuster to style bears not only the hallmarks of a remarkable museum space, replete with architectural daring, but the pared-down comforts of Florida waterfront living as well.

Over 20 years, Shuster has designed each of the couple’s homes as their tastes and lifestyle have evolved. “I did their primary residence located in the northeast with a timeless traditional feel,” he says. “And their previous condominium on a lower floor of this same building had the warm colors and textures of a Ralph Lauren advertisement.” But with the children grown, the owners wanted “to go white” and now sought the flood of light provided by the penthouse overlooking Lake Boca.

In the living area, armless lounge chairs topped with pillows in red fabric from Jeffrey Michaels and a modular sofa from Holly Hunt surround a custom-designed glass cocktail table. Connecting the kitchen and living area is a horizontal print, “Baby Grand I,” in hot pink and raspberry by British pop artist Michael Craig-Martin. After the zing of color from pillows and paintings, the eye begins to discern other, more subtle art. It’s the architecture itself – with which Shuster credits design associate Eric Dyer. The wall behind the living area’s wet bar could be a Rothko in gray. In reality, it is the acid-etched glass wall of the adjoining powder room and the gray form is its mirror.

Glass and plaster in the dining area create an audacious impact. Looking like a Mondrian painting, the rear wall of the dining area seems to float in space, penetrated by L-shapes, rectangles and squares of glass that spill light from the study on the other side.

The master bedroom is the only space that momentarily departs from white. The floors, upholstery and pillows are ‘tone on tone’ hues of icy blue, while the headboard and bed base are a crisp white patent leather. And again, the surprise use of space.

Jutting into the bedroom is a luminescent glass box housing the shower stall from the adjacent bathroom. Even the shadows of a bather become a living sculpture.

Shuster recalls when the owners walked into the finished residence for the first time. With the music playing and champagne on ice, he watched as their eyes went from the floor of polished Italian agglomerate tile to the geometrical intricacy of the multi-tiered ceiling.
Were they pleased? “Let’s just say they were more than pleased,” Shuster says modestly. “They trusted me.”

"I did their primary residence located in the northeast with a timeless traditional feel, and their previous condominium on a lower floor of this same building had the warm colors and textures of a Ralph Lauren advertisement.”

LOUIS SHUSTER