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Photo Credit: Mayra Roubach

There’s no denying that city life is incredible. But with so much going on, it’s essential to take a step back now and then and give those tired batteries a bit of a recharge. Sometimes you just want to get away from it all: not in a camping, backwoods sort of way, but in a more cocktail-sipping, sun-seeking kind of fashion. It was precisely this type of escape a Brazilian family sought when they purchased a vacation retreat on Fisher Island as a respite from their hectic city life in São Paulo. Home to free-roaming peacocks, it captures the allure of a secluded island, but it also has all the luxury amenities of an exclusive resort. “It never feels crowded, and people really appreciate the privacy and security,” the wife says. Set on the farthest point of the island, their condominium overlooks miles and miles of ocean. “It’s our happy place,” the wife says. “It’s where we go to decompress.”

Originally weighed down by heavy traditional details—dated wallpaper, mirrored walls, and a cumbersome enclosed kitchen that interrupted the great room—the condo underwent a lofty transformation from dated Mediterranean to beachy chic thanks to Miami-based designer Luciana Fragali, who has designed multiple Fisher Island homes for her clients. “Luciana is so flexible and willing to listen to our ideas,” the wife says. “She created family-friendly rooms, so we never have to worry about sand from the beach.”

Photo Credit: Mayra Roubach

Although working on an island would seem like a dream, in this case, it posed some unique challenges. On Fisher Island, you can build only six months out of the year and subcontractors must arrive via barge, making preparation and timing paramount. Luckily, Fragali was able to work around these obstacles and transform the space entirely to feature new floors, walls, plumbing and electrical, appliances, materials, and finishes – this was a gut remodel of the entire apartment that took a great deal of effort and teamwork.

From the beginning, Fragali had one goal in mind: to open up the views. The owners asked for an expansive entertainment area, as well as comfortable guest rooms that offered privacy, making the vacation retreat as inviting as possible for their family and friends. To accomplish this, Fragali began by demolishing the enclosed kitchen wall to open up the space and transform the room into a spacious open concept living room and dining room featuring an exceptional dropped wood ceiling design.

Photo Credit: Mayra Roubach

“We opened the kitchen up to integrate the living room and to make it one large space,” explains Fragali, who removed a dividing wall to make that happen. The resulting open area is more spacious and takes advantage of the beautiful sunset views. Next, she replaced the mirrored covered walls with custom built-in shelves that become one with the living area. Using this accent wall, she placed unique accessories that reflect the natural light and turquoise waters below. “As soon as you open the door, you feel like you are literally on the ocean,” the wife says.

Photo Credit: Mayra Roubach

Keeping the emphasis on the panorama, expansive sliding doors open completely onto a balcony, essentially disappearing and expanding the living area into an enormous entertaining venue. “This indoor-outdoor effect alludes to the home’s refined yet casual vibe,” Fragali says. For the furnishings, she selected low-profile pieces that speak to the owners’ low-key personalities. “The wife likes clean lines and is very pared-down,” she says. “So I wanted a warm, sophisticated apartment with pops of color.” The designer captured this casual elegance through a careful juxtaposition of pieces that blur the line between modern and earthy, such as the pairing of custom-made floating console matching the natural birch dining room pendants and textured wallpapered wall niches with LED strip for radiance accented with black and white art frames.

While the water views clearly inspired Fragali’s approach, they also influenced the palette, with touches of warm creams, natural wood tones, upholstery, artwork, and accessories throughout. Even the master bedroom is awash in the soothing, ethereal hue. The master bathroom was another obstacle of its own – it had to be completely gutted down to the studs. Only then could Fragali begin to design a new luxurious master bath unlike any other featuring a large shower and a curved freestanding bathtub backed by wood mosaic wall panels.

Photo Credit: Mayra Roubach

But nowhere does the color scheme come more to life than on the balcony, where shades of sea and sky continue as far as the eye can see. From here, the family waves to cruise ships passing by. With umbrella-accented drinks in hand, they kick back and relax just the way they imagined, in true vacation style.

Photo Credit: Mayra Roubach

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Art speaks. Art elevates. Art sells. But most importantly, art depicts an emotion, a feeling. And what better way to emote the feeling of luxuriousness than by experiencing artwork from the comforts of home. Simply put, by incorporating art into the structure of a house itself – through the building's architecture, design flow and lighting ornamentations – is to seamlessly enhance, actually intensify, the interior vibe of an already exceptional grandiose home. It creates the most luxurious homey experience unto itself, and in a way, also serves as a quasi-tribute to the designing arts.

Peruse these distinctive residences that emanate a certain je ne sais quoi, and shamelessly share in some of the world's famed home interiors. Adorned with exclusive craftsmanship, each individual home makes some wild architectural fantasies come true by incorporating the most distinctive architectural design details, opulent light fixtures and grand sculptures.

Architectural Design Details

Spiral Wood Staircase. These stairs are an eye-catching design that upstage the wall art by setting an elegant scene for design fluidity throughout this magnificent mansion. The staircase has a visual language of shape, form, color and line that speaks to the creation of a modern and cosmopolitan home.

Inscribed Sliding Doors. Can it get any more dynamic than these meticulously engraved interior doors?

Only if you open the doors and are then transported into this scene filled with artful delight.

Accent Ceiling. The view is not the only extraordinary art in this room. The triangular-shaped skylight makes this room unique and enhances its angular corners to provide a feeling of divine confluence. Where there is light, there is art.

Support Beams. The bronze columns and ceiling of clouds effortlessly breathe life into this room. You sense the time, effort and skill that went into their creation. The blending of the hard and soft harness nature and evoke an atmosphere that you, the dark wood and smooth marble will appreciate.

Stenciled Flooring. The detailed wood carvings and decorated floor showcase intricate design patterns and transform this space into a three dimensional work of art.

Built-In Headboard. This floor-to-ceiling Honduran mahogany headboard seamlessly blends into the same mahogany floors and creates a fluidity for your pleasant nightly dreams to continue throughout the day.

Light Fixtures

Ceiling Chandelier. This entire room is a work of art, especially the chandelier. From the extravagant light fixture to the oversized painting of the masked woman, to the white furnishings and bold red accent pieces, each and every detail is crafted to personify art. And also encapsulated in this extraordinary living space is the amazing view.

Ethereal Light Fixture. The gossamery light fixture provides this space with an out-of-thais-world luxury. And the textured walls further elevate that luxury.

Lighted Ceiling Mural. This ceiling mural is a masterpiece and creates the most harmonious living space.

Crystal Chandelier. This extravagant, white chandelier takes center stage. With no apologies.

Gilded Light Fixture. The gilded light fixture is the highlight of this extraordinary space. It makes an artistic statement all on its own that audacious designs have a place all their own.

Floor Sculptures

Floor Sculpture. Life-size monochromatic sculptures provide an elegance to a space unlike no other artwork.

Statement floor sculptures are taking a celebrated stand in today's elegant home design.

These dramatic homes are not upstaged in any way by the commanding views, treasured wall art or display of rare antiques. Instead, the architectural elements of each home merely highlight such welcomed additions without downplaying any of the homes' exquisite, avant-garde architectural features.

All images courtesy of Christie's International Real Estate

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