A Rosemary Beach Getaway Blends Southern Architecture with Contemporary Art

A father builds a dream getaway on Florida’s Rosemary Beach.

When interior designers Marshall Watson and Alissa Deane met with their client—a father of three and an avid art collector—he asked for a beach house that doesn’t scream beach house. “He’s an energetic, charismatic guy and wanted a special place where he and his kids could spend time together, a home away from home,” explains Deane.

With its predominance of gray pecky cypress, the house encapsulates the traditional southern architecture of creator and noted architect Bobby McAlpine. “We inherited a home with great bones,” admits Deane, a principal with Marshall Watson & Reid Deane Ganes Interiors (formerly Marshall Watson Interiors). Launched by Watson in 1986, the firm shapes timeless, layered, and inviting interiors across the globe.

Even with such interesting architecture, the backdrop of glittering ocean and sandy beach steals the show. The designers’ goal was to let these coastal views—and the owner’s contemporary art collection, which includes works by Damien Hirst, Yoshitomo Nara, Robert Indiana, and Jim Dine—shine while keeping the interiors fresh, modern, and stylish.

Installing a large Euro-Wall on the home’s back side was the largest architectural change. Says Deane: “Our client opens it up as soon as he arrives; he likes bringing the outdoors in and the inside out.” This operable glass wall opens onto a patio, one of the family’s favorite hangout spots where they can enjoy sunrises on one side and sunsets on the other.

Fresh coats of paint brightened the structure’s predominance of pecky cypress. “We kept some cypress exposed on the ceilings and used grass cloth textures on the walls to help warm up the spaces and keep them feeling cozy,” explains the firm principal. Otherwise, the interiors sparkle with shimmering, reflective surfaces and sculptural, contemporary furnishings.

The color palette of bright whites and playful blues echoes the surrounding landscape but also nods to one of the art collection’s standout specimens: the Boonji Spaceman by artist Brendan Murphy. Murphy’s cobalt blue astronaut, embellished with inspirational words and phrases, stands in the living room, where a built-in bar with marble backsplash makes for effortless entertaining.

In this formal gathering space, custom furnishings subtly evoke the sea. A wool and silk rug emulates the ridges of coral while an art deco sofa, upholstered in comfy chenille, evokes the lines of a hull. An expressionistic coffee table anchors the room: “When the sun hits, the table glows and creates wonderful watery reflections throughout the room,” notes Deane.

A LOVE sculpture by Robert Indiana partners playfully with heart paintings by Jim Dine in the home’s window-lined media room. Here, a big comfy sectional is the client’s favorite hangout spot. Blue shifts in tone throughout the art and textiles, keeping things interesting while echoing the changing ocean waters just outside.

True to plan, blue makes a statement again in the kitchen, starting with counter stools upholstered in blue pony hair—“hey are unexpected, playful, and definitely unique,” says Deane. Overhead, a custom finish light pendant is a contemporary homage to nautical lights. In place of existing cypress cabinetry, newly white cabinet doors brighten the space.

Marshall Watson & Reid Deane Ganes Interiors’ theme of artistic, one-of-a-kind furnishings continues with their lighting selections. A creative mobile of tear-drop glass orbs hovers over the dining room table. Similarly, layered glass discs form an intriguing pendant light in the living room that “introduces organic forms in a very sophisticated, elegant way,” notes the designer.

But most impressive of all is the 11-foot light installation cascading down three floors in the center of the spiral stair. Clam shells formed from bubbled glass appear as if they are floating through an accommodating ocean current.

Every detail is purposeful. The interior reflects the coveted beach setting while making its own statement through form and texture and whimsy. The curated furnishings play with light and unexpected forms just like the collected artworks in residence.

“Everything we selected is special and has its own presence,” observes Deane, adding that the project’s success reflects the client’s willingness to trust. “He granted us creative license and that’s how we kept it feeling light and fun.”

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