As the designers explain, each area of the house is meant to represent a different time of day or quality of light. The kitchen, with its creamy plaster walls, Calacatta Turquoise stonework, and wraparound views of both the ocean and the bay, is an ode to the morning. The moody living room, whose purplish plaster walls and ceiling are, Brent points out, “inspired by a bruise,” is evening. The palette downstairs (which along with the stone-cobbled wet room, features a lounge and kitchenette concealed by zinc doors) is inspired by “the light at the bottom of the ocean and the way the sun cascades a green hue on the bottom of the sand,” Brent says.
True to Brent and Calderone’s shared taste for warm modernist interiors, most of the rooms balance traditional details with modern forms, highlighting vintage pieces and earthy materials like wood and stone, everything enveloped in neutral tones. Upstairs and down, the floors were replaced with beautiful, craggy 17th- and 18th-century reclaimed French oak and the walls, ceiling, and trim were, of course, plastered by Kamp Studios. (“If there was a surface, we plastered it,” jokes Brent.) Old-fashioned feminine touches like ruffled and hand-crocheted light fixtures, floral upholstery, and skirted sinks and seating serve as counterpoint to the home’s clean lines and austere forms.
With only one exception—a gilded mirror intended for the foyer that Brent adored and Calderone remained unmoved by (it was ultimately nixed by the client)—the duo say their creative collaboration went off without a hitch or hurt feeling. “You really can make something beautiful 300 different ways,” says Brent, adding that living with husband and fellow AD100 designer Nate Berkus has taught him to appreciate creative conflict. “I put a vase here, then Athena puts the vase there, but it’s cool.”
“It really forced us to communicate better as friends,” says Calderone. “We’re really proud of what we created together.” And the homeowners, who recently enjoyed their first summer in the refurbished house, say they couldn’t be more delighted with the result. Says the husband, “For us, it was worth it in every way.” And maybe even twice as nice.
This story appears in AD’s September issue. Never miss a story when you subscribe to AD.
