Like many New Yorkers, John Buckley’s clients packed up for South Florida during the pandemic to begin a new chapter for their family in sunny Jupiter, an upscale yet family-friendly beach town just 20 minutes north of Palm Beach. While the clients had to jump on purchasing a home that didn’t quite fit their architectural tastes, Buckley swooped in to elevate its interiors, creating an elegant and breezy dwelling that brings the couple’s opposing tastes into harmony while reflecting the environs of their picturesque new hometown.
“The wife has a really refined sensibility and is a very stylish lady,” says Buckley. “We had to balance her traditional underpinnings as the husband is more of a modernist at his core. Our point of view is edited, and we wanted everything to look young and fresh instead of looking like your grandmother’s house in Palm Beach.”
One of the first challenges Buckley and senior designer Caroline Collins achieved was turning the 45-foot great room into a cohesive gathering space, both in terms of layout and design. While there are multiple living areas and eight different patterns used throughout the room that are all visible from the entry, it flows seamlessly and doesn’t feel the least bit busy. And while the generous use of pattern and color are intended to bring a stronger sense of refinement to the home, the designer notes that it’s also sensible for a young, growing family.
“Pattern is practical for kids in wet bathing suits and pets, and that really was top of mind,” says Buckley. “It was about making sure the home would be easy to use and care for through the years, from the fiber-sealed rugs to the laminated kitchen barstools.”
However, practicality wasn’t always the top priority, as the wife wanted to do a lot of custom pieces throughout the house, and they sourced many items from across the pond in England where lead times were often gross estimates. Thankfully, Buckley says that the family was willing to “camp out” and live a bit sparsely in order to create a place that they could cherish for years to come, and the project magically still came together in a year and a half.
Having some extra time allowed the designer to run wild with sourcing antiques and fabrics that spoke to the clients and how they envisioned their new Floridian lifestyle. He also took advantage of the area’s incredible design shops and antique stores to create a strong sense of place while mixing in pieces from the family’s former homes in California and New York to become a distinct reflection of their personality. The collected nature of the design gives this new-construction home more soul, which not only elevates the feel but makes it more comfortable for the entire family.
“We sourced lots of vintage wicker on a buying spree on Dixie Highway in Palm Beach,” says Buckley. “We really started collecting for the home with those pieces, buying things she liked and just trusting they would all find their places along the way.”
The family are also new art collectors and Buckley helped them expand their collection of porcelain and majolica, and made sure to highlight the wife’s Jean Roger ceramics and “inner Anglophile.”
However, he notes that waiting on various custom pieces and the client’s ability to see the long game in designing their dream home allowed them to be thoughtful in every selection of fabric, wall decor, and fixture in order to best match the family’s style and vision.
Jupiter House Tour
“We didn’t want them to have any regrets along the way, as they are the ones who have to look at each piece every single day for hopefully the next ten to 15 years,” Buckley says.
“We always say that it’s better to have a blank space rather than to collect ‘filler stuff’ for the sake of it, and that’s exactly why the client was attracted to us. Special takes time, and it was nice to give space for the clients to still add things and keep it evolving instead of leaving it alone. She’s the person who will be fussing with the living room bookcases and will continue adding things through the years which will keep things alive, and not everyone is into that.”
While the home is rooted in traditional design, Buckley says that the emphasis on freshness and the restraint used in editing each room brings just the right touch of modernity. The Palm Beach-meets-Piccadilly aesthetic is pared down to feel youthful and livable and no space feels too precious.
He is most proud of the primary bedroom, which is swathed in a gorgeous green wallcovering from George Spencer Designs and has just the right amount of traditional grandeur without feeling cluttered or prissy.
Buckley believes the most important aspect of his work is to create a collected, layered look that reflects the home’s inhabitants and this space captures the true essence of the home—a colorful and convivial dwelling for a young family that offers the ultimate retreat from the busyness of daily life.
Lauren Wicks is a freelance writer and editor based in Birmingham, Alabama. Before going on her own, Lauren worked for brands such as VERANDA, EatingWell, and Cooking Light, and she covers all things lifestyle from interior design and luxury travel to wine and wellness.
