Shades of white transform a modest Naples home into a free-spirited airy retreat.

White On White
By Carol Parker Rife

If home is where the heart is, then France Lavin's heart is certainly in her home.

"I didn't do it all on my own, but it's definitely my style. It shows my personality," says Lavin of the small Gulf Shore Boulevard house she transformed into a sunny Mediterranean-style retreat.

That style is one of spontaneity, a free-spiritedness reflected in the breezy white living room with its high fir ceiling and wall of French doors opening onto a veranda.

The Olde Naples house wasn't always so airy though. When Lavin first discovered it on her way to the beach one day, the two-story residence was just a boxy wooden structure with three bedrooms and two baths. And while it did have screened porches and a certain openness about it, the main attractions were the high ceilings and the location.

This relative newcomer admits she wasn't in the market for a house when she came to Naples two years ago. But after walking through it with a local realtor, Lavin couldn't forget it.

Views of the living room, kitchen and exterior before transformation.

Soon the new homeowner was pondering her acquisition, planning the transformation that would eventually double the square footage. As for the interior, Lavin knew she wanted a continual flow with lots of space. But the exterior puzzled her. Taking her idea of maintaining much of the home's original appearance, architect Don Flock created what Lavin calls a "clean Bohemian/Key West" look. White stucco replaced blue-gray sideboards while arches, porches with Chippendale-style cedar railings, and a copper-roof gazebo were added. She even requested an electrical outlet be placed in the gazebo for lighting a Christmas tree.

Inside, walls were torn down, dark oak floors were whitewashed, the kitchen was enlarged to include a breakfast nook and deck, a second bedroom was created from the carport, and two bedrooms downstairs became the master suite while the upstairs master bedroom was turned into a den with a combination bookcase -entertainment center formed from the closets. The entryway, too, was changed from 18th Avenue South to Gulf Shore Boulevard, revealing a Mexican-tile foyer and a winding wooden staircase with a white metal railing, planned by Lavin.

"I like the idea that it's an upside down house with the entertainment upstairs because of the breeze and all," says Lavin.

And with the addition of a two-bedroom, two-bath guest house, she can entertain even more. Here, guests are treated to privacy the moment they enter, either from the walkway attached to the main house or its own winding staircase below. A kitchenette with a small refrigerator, a remnant from the remodeling, allows for late-night snacking without disturbing the mistress of the house.

The overall ambiance of this home away from home is tropical with Bahama shutters scattered throughout, while the bedrooms express a harmony between old and new. In one room stands a brass bed so antique it's a bit short at the end, surrounded by a Victorian dresser and a Lincoln chest made of pine. The other sleeping quarters are much more contemporary, displaying the free-spirited artwork of Linda Scheller, a coconut Grove artist and Lavin's sister-in-law, plus boldly painted furniture.

Much of the interior design was Lavin's labor, though she called on interior designer Jeffrey Soffer of Style Furniture and Design, Inc. in Naples whenever she was cornered.

"I love to have people over, and because I have a house that works nicely, people want to come over and they enjoy being here. My favorite time in the house is when I have company."

Choosing her favorite rooms is rather difficult. But Lavin admits she absolutely loves the dining room with it's Virginia oak table of faux stone and two hand-carved Mexican "sun" chairs.

Just as cherished are the adjoining living room and kitchen, now the perfect places to entertain or experiment in the culinary arts.

"This house is a good entertaining house because people can feel comfortable in it," says Lavin. "They're not stuck in a corner wondering, 'Where do I sit?'"

In the living room, seating is provided by overstuffed love seats and chairs of white cotton, warmed on chilly nights by the slender fireplace designed by Lavin and her building contractor Pat Masters. On the opposite wall, a refinished console table is mounted below her antique mirror collection, compiled from years of scouting relics in Vermont and Connecticut. The table, she explains, was created by sawing an old dining room table in half.

"All the antique lovers hate me for it, but I don't mind trying out stuff like that," laughs Lavin.

Nor did she mind utilizing the absence of color. Varying shaded of white spill over from the dining room to the living room to the kitchen, an effect Lavin calls "clean and refreshing."

Once cramped quarters with natural wood cupboards, the kitchen is now a winter wonderland with white cabinetwork and sink, tile countertops and appliances. Yet, it's every bit country, too, as pigs roosters and windmills dot the tiles here and there while baskets line oak cabinets with pane glass doors. Lavin's only mistake, she says, was choosing white tile and grout for the kitchen floor.

She took her white revolution downstairs to the master bedroom also, where linens, four-poster bed, armoire, and night tables, besides walls and artwork, exhibit the same stark look. True free spirits might relish a rinse beneath the garden shower (with white-stucco privacy wall, of course), its brick pathway leading to the old 18th Avenue entrance. More secluded bathing is still maintained through the master bath with a glass enclosed shower stall on one side, and oval marble tub on the other.

Color occasionally has its place - in the breakfast nook upstairs with its hand-painted wooden table and ladderback chairs of lavender, peach, mint green and tan. Or the powder room done up in a "funky, neoclassical" wallpaper, as Lavin describes it, accented by white stucco wrought-iron sconces and an antique mirror above the freestanding basin.

"Everybody loves it," says Lavin of her first foray into interior design. "Their biggest comment is, 'Oh, this house is so me,' and it's everybody else, too."

Now that she's uncovered this hidden desire to design, Lavin hopes to buy a few more homes and perhaps decorate them on speculation or for clients. Something a little more modest and a little less hurried. (She finished this home just in time to accommodate company around Christmas time a year ago.)

"I'd like to take my time with it, not be under terrific pressure or time constraints, and have it be an income-producing job and also a real joy."

And while Lavin has come to love the house she personally nurtured, she could easily leave it behind.

"Because that's the one thing about my personality - I like a lot of change. It's kind of like, 'OK, this is done, what's next?' But what I'd like to do is live here while I do my other (homes) because I think this house is inspirational," she says, surveying the surroundings she conceived.

"I feel very creative in this house; it gives me goose bumps because I had a lot to do with it."

Text and photos reprinted courtesy of Gulfshore Life 1990

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