Tropical Chic

Palm Beach interiors have long reflected the travels, penchants and whimsies of the town's worldly inhabitants. But as property on this tiny barrier island becomes increasingly valuable, residents are calling upon world-class designers to help fine-tune their visions, giving rise to a fresh tropical design vernacular. Palm Beach Chic captures the enduring charm of newly restored seaside fantasies by Mizner, Fatio and Volk, celebrated for their Cuban coquina courtyards and soaring miradors overlooking tiled pools and arching fountains. Jennifer Ash Rudick leads an insider's tour of twenty-five houses, cottages, Moorish casbahs, artists' compounds, and Mad Men-era vintage condos. Jessica Klewicki captures extraordinary gardens, verandas, lakeside pavilions, a rustic ranch,and simple pastel Bermudan houses sheltered by dense thickets of Norfolk pines and age-old banyans. It is this eclectic mix of old and new, of Spanish and Caribbean, of contemporary design and sun-faded WASP thrift, that makes Palm Beach chic.