Maurice Fatio's Il Palmetto: The Garden

Photo:  Palm Beach Daily News.

In South Florida, where the vegetation can grow so lush, The Devoted Classicist has always been surprised at the relative lack of beautiful gardens.  Althought the grounds surrounding Palm Beach mansions are usually well-tended, the artistic level of landscape design is generally lower than one would expect.  Part of this may have to do with the fact that so many of the houses are used only as winter vacation homes and not the owners' primary residence.  Despite the concentration of wealth, beautiful architecture, and tropical climate, Palm Beach is just not known today for an abundance of remarkable gardens.

The east elevation of Il Palmetto during the occupancy of Janet Annenberg Hooker.
Photo:  Roberto Schezen, PALM BEACH HOUSES

A notable stand-out, however, is the new garden of the estate named Il Palmetto.  When billionaire internet software developer Jim Clark bought the property for $11 million from the estate of Janet Annenberg Hooker, it was in poor condition.  But the 5 1/2 acre property extends from the Atlantic Ocean to the Intercoastal Waterway, also known as Lake Worth.  (Although bisected by South County Road, a tunnel connects to the separate Beach House).  And perhaps best of all, the property includes the landmark 1930 mansion designed by Maurice Fatio, Treanor & Fatio Architects.  Determined to restore the estate to its former glory, and better, Clark set out on a full renovation of the house, complimented by a spectacular new garden designed by landscape architect Robert E. Truskowski.

As it appeared when occupied by Mrs. Hooker.
Photo:  Christie's Great Estates.

This writer had first met Mr. Truskowski and become familiar with his Laguna Beach-based firm in the 1980s when he designed the gardens of a couple residences whose interiors were designed by Parish-Hadley.  With several field offices and spectacular estate gardens completed nationwide, plus a few international projects, the firm is a leader in residential landscape architecture, as these images reveal.

Photo:  Robert E. Truskowski.

The property is located at two relatively sharp turns in South Ocean Boulevard, also known as Highway 1A, so there is dense planting along the road.  The driveway entrance, at the short east-west leg of the road called "Widener's Curve", is a handsome pair of iron gates and piers with a degree of discretion.  A short length of driveway leads a pair of entrances flanking a decorative wall feature to a walled motor court.

Photo:  Robert E. Truskowski.

The motor court contains a simple fountain in the center, with the main entrance to the house straight ahead and a drive-through entrance to the service court to the left.  At the intersection of the wings is a three story tower.  To the left, a series of grass terraces with built-in perspective provide a vista of green to contrast with the hard surfaces.

Photo:  Robert E. Truskowski.

Going straight through the house, one comes out to a three-sided courtyard with dramatic steps down to the expansive lawn and the Intercoastal Waterway on the right.  In the center of this courtyard is another fountain, again a spray of water, but this time in a circular pool.  Straight ahead of that is a Loggia, open on both sides but capable of being given a windbreak from the ocean with glass retracting within steel frames.

Photo:  Dias Brothers.

The swimming pool terrace is beyond the Loggia.

Photo:  Robert E. Truskowsi.

The swimming pool was completely reworked, keeping the original shape, but re-surfaced with brilliant cobalt blue tile.

Photo:  Robert E. Truskowsi.

Below the swimming pool terrace, another courtyard focuses on a large sculpture set within a rectangular pool.

Photo:  Robert E. Truskowski

Another view of the same space, showing a closer look at a different angle.  A tennis court occupied the space previously.

Photo:  Dias Brothers.

The path to the new Boat House passes by magnificent specimen trees.  Some were rescued from sites being cleared for re-development and delivered by barge to the site.

Photo:  Robert E. Truskowski

Photo:  www.landscapeonline.com

The second photo of almost the same view shows the profusion of staghorn ferns (platycerium) growing from the trunk of the tree and the extensive use of bromeliads (bromeliacae) for low maintenance year-around color.

Photo:  Robert E. Truskowski

Another path shows the extensive use of coquina stepping stones and water features.

A view from the Intercoastal Waterway shows an expanse of lawn terraced up to the house.

Photo:  about 1932-34, Robert Yarnell Richie
Southern Methodist University, Central University Libraries,
DeGolyer Library.

Architect Maurice Fatio
Photo:  PALM BEACH HOUSES.

Architect Maurice Fatio might not be well-known outside of Palm Beach today, but he was nationally famous in the 1920s and 30s.  Born in Geneva, Switzerland in 1897 and arriving in New York City in 1920, he was named at a 1923 society bazaar as the most popular architect in New York according to Shirley Johnson's book PALM BEACH HOUSES.   First working for noted architect Harrie T. Lindeberg, he teamed up with William A. Treanor, twenty years his senior who had worked for Lindeberg for ten years, to establish Treanor & Fatio Architects.  In 1925, he moved to Palm Beach and began designing houses in the Mediterranean style, usually blending together Romanesque, Florentine, and Venetian influences as well.  One of these houses, built for the Wolcott Blairs and known as much for the interior design by Ruby Ross Wood (and assistant Billy Baldwin) as much as the architecture, is featured in a previous post here.

The main entrance as it appeared during the occupancy by Mrs. Hooker.
This is one of this writer's favorite doorways in all of Palm Beach.
Photo:  Roberto Schezen, PALM BEACH HOUSES.

Il Palmetto was an important commission, a 42 room mansion with nine master bedrooms built at the height of the Great Depression that employed hundreds for months.  Fatio later designed Palm Beach houses in the Georgian Revival style (as he had done in New York), the French Norman style, the British Colonial style, the Regency Revival style, and even Contemporary.   He was immensely social, constantly attending luncheons and dinner parties to promote his architectural practice.  Handsome and an immpeccable dresser, he was also known for his tango.  He is even mentioned in the lyrics of a Cole Porter song. Sadly, he died of cancer at the age of 47 in 1943.  More about the work of this talented architect can be found in the book MAURICE FATIO: PALM BEACH ARCHITECT.  (Both of these books may be purchased at a significant discount through The Devoted Classicist Library and the links accessed by clicking the titles).

Portrait of Joseph Early Widener by Augustus Johns, 1921.
National Gallery of Art.

Il Palmetto was built as the winter vacation home of Joseph Early Widener, 1871-1943.  (His wife Ella had died the previous year and their children, Peter A.B. Widener, 2nd, and Josephine "Fifi" Widener Leidy Holden Wichfeld Bigelow were grown by that time).  Widener was heir to a vast real estate and transportation fortune.  He grew up in his parents' immense mansion designed by Horace Trumbauer,  Lynnewood Hall on 300 acres in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania;  it continued to be his residence after marriage and was the place of his death after several years of ill health.  Widener's older brother had perished on the Titanic in 1912, leaving him to inherit the bulk of the family fortune in 1915, and making him the country's 20th richest man.  He attended Harvard University and studied architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, but his main interest was dogs and horses.  In 1931, he renovated Hialeah Park, a lavishly landscaped thoroughbred racetrack still recognized today for its beauty and hundreds of pink flamingos.  But his best known contribution is his being a founding benefactor of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.  His donation of the Widener Collection, consisting of 2,000 paintings, sculptures and decorative arts objects was put on display in 1942. 

An interior doorway at Il Palmetto as it appeared
during the occupancy by Mrs Hooker.
Photo:  Roberto Schezen, PALM BEACH HOUSES.

Although Jim Clark may have spent more than double his initial purchase price to improve Il Palmetto, it has been universally thought to be a wise investment.  The estate is one of the most sparkling of the Palm Beach jewels, a town where such estates are still coveted as a desirable example of one's worth.  In 2009, Clark, 65, married 'Sports Illustrated' swimsuit model Kristy Hinze, 29, his fourth wife, on the beach at Necker Island, the private retreat of Sir Richard Branson, part of a four day celebration that also included Clark's $100 million yacht.  Il Palmetto has regularly been the site of events hosted by the Clarks to benefit various charities.  Unlike some of the other significant residences that have been featured on this blog, Il Palmetto is not threatened any time in the near future.