F r e n c h  L i v i n g  i n  F l o r i d a

Residential

Ocean Reef, Key Largo

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This house was commissioned to be as authentically French Provençal as possible. It was two and a half years from conception to a fully furnished and landscaped home. I went to France in search of antique French terra-cotta floors, roof tiles, exterior doors and windows; interior doors, moldings, hardware, shutters and even the stain on the trim work. French reclamation yards were scoured for the stone fireplace, flooring and antique front door knocker. A company was commissioned to creat a replica of a magnificent church door from Saint Remy de Provençe. The details were endless. 

I found a company in Miami whose French owner fabricated antiqued stone tops for the bathroom vanities and a company from Mexico to build vanities for each bathroom. This company also created the kitchen cabinet doors that had to fit the onto plaster-covered framing. Artisans who had been to the Roussillion quarries in France applied pigmented coloration to the plaster and

faux-finished the doors. Local artisans familiar with French methods built the stairs, plastered the walls and applied exterior lime washes.

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Photography by Bruce Miller