Dive Into this New Read: Beachside by Hadley Keller
HK: I’m the Digital Director at House Beautiful, where I’ve worked for about 2 ½ years. Before that, I worked for AD (and AD PRO), which was my real crash course in design and architecture.
CC: What inspired you to get into the home space?
HK: I always joke that if someone had told me at age 10 that writing about design was a job, it would have been the one I wanted! I’ve always loved design and grew up in a home full of antiques before studying Art History in school. Working in design media was the perfect pairing of my love of writing and storytelling with my interest in the aesthetic. And, the longer I’ve worked in this field, the more I’ve come to love how much design and home can be a conduit to so many other subjects: art, culture, politics, family, and more.
Credit: Jessica Klewicki Glynn
CC: How has it changed over the last 3-5 years?
HK: The design media industry has changed dramatically—of course because of a shift to digital, but also for more nuanced reasons within that. Whereas the goal used to be just to publish stories that would get tons of traffic, now readers are more savvy than ever, and so editors have to be nimble to be giving them what they want in exciting ways. One thing I love about being at a brand that spans print, digital, video, and social—as opposed to just working on one—is that we have the opportunity to find the best way to tell a story. So, while a home tour might look beautiful in glossy photos in the magazine, we can tell a longer story online; we can show the process behind a home and the things in in through video, and we can engage with our audience through social media so that we have a better sense than ever of what they want (and don’t want!) to see.
Credit: Jessica Klewicki Glynn
CC: Now to the good part, tell us about your new book, Beachside!
HK: Beachside is a really special look inside an incredibly special place: The town of Windsor, in Vero Beach, Florida, was founded by Hilary and P. Galen Weston in 1989 as a retreat for their friends and family. They tapped the noted urban planning firm DPZ to create a plan for a community in the New Urbanism style—a concept rooted in classicism that leads to human-centric, classically-informed homes and communities. Since its founding, Windsor has seen many notable architects and interior designers work within the DPZ framework, leading to a fascinating range of homes that have a continual thread of New Urbanist principles (think leading pathways, lots of courtyards, and an emphasis on indoor/outdoor living and walkability). Through the book, I was able to get a view into the private spaces here, designed by such talents as John Stefanidis, Hugh Newell Jacobsen, Alessandra Branca, Amanda Lindroth, Steven Gambrel, and many more.
Credit: Jessica Klewicki Glynn
CC: What was the process like to capture all of these incredible homes?
HK: I was lucky to work with photographer Jessica Glynn, who has been photographing houses at Windsor for over 10 years. She came armed with a treasure trove of images, and then we were able to scout additional homes to shoot specifically for the book. It was so special to be able to walk through these spaces with their homeowners—some of whom have lived in Windsor since its founding—and hear about how they live in them. Then, of course, I got to do one of the things I love about my day job: interview talented designers and architects about their work. I spoke to creatives from the Bahamas to Australia, all of whom have in common this one tiny town in Florida, which is pretty incredible!
Credit: Jessica Klewicki Glynn
CC: What are some of your favorite interior details in these homes?
HK: There are a few things that make Windsor homes really special: First is the emphasis in the New Urbanism ideology of a careful balance between public and private spaces and the connections between them. That means there is a lot of thought that goes into the way you move through the community and the perspective as you do so. Two of the most common styles of home within the Windsor code are the Charleston single home or sideyard style–with a porch and garden along one side—and a classical courtyard style; both of these result in somewhat “secret” private spaces that appear at the ends of gates, behind hedges, or through exterior enfilades. There’s always something drawing the eye forward.
The second thing many of these homes have in common is wonderful art collections. The Westons themselves are big art patrons, so it’s an important part of the community. Homes in the book feature artwork by the likes of Rob Pruitt, Anish Kapoor, Chuck Close, Tracey Emin, Ellsworth Kelly, Christo and Jeanne Claude, and many more—and they’ve all been placed into their interiors in incredibly thoughtful ways (like a Kapoor sculpture with a spiral staircase built around it!).
Credit: Jessica Klewicki Glynn
CC: What about the exteriors? What sticks out as the most notable?
HK: The indoors and outdoors go so hand-in-hand at Windsor, but the outdoor spaces here are really unparalleled. There are so many courtyards, side yards, and small exterior terraces, patios, and nooks that make for a perpetual sense of discovery. As for the architecture, it’s fascinating to see the ways in which architects manage to work within Windsor’s fairly strict code but still create homes that look so different. So, for example, Hugh Newell Jacobsen does a wonderfully modern take on something like Bermuda shutters, but the partners at Moor Baker have designed a home that takes inspiration from Middle Eastern architecture. Yet somehow, because of the code, these different buildings look at home beside each other.
Credit: Jessica Klewicki Glynn
CC: What is your favorite home featured in the book? Can you pick just one?
HK: It’s impossible to pick just one favorite! But I will say that one Hugh Newell Jacobsen home has a special place in my heart because the homeowner—an avid art collector who had worked closely with Jacobsen on several designs—walked me through it herself and had such passion for the architecture and how it played with the art and furniture inside. It’s always special when people with breathtaking homes are so involved and invested in them—and when it turns out that breathtaking homes are actually quite personal.
CC: Name three key elements to a “Beachside” home.
HK: Art, nature, and an element of surprise.
Credit: Jessica Klewicki Glynn
CC: What are three of your favorite Cailíní Coastal products and why?
I am a tabletop fiend and always looking for fun things to layer on my table.
I LOVE the texture of these placemats!
Continuing my tabletop trend, this bowl is so chic—and it’s melamine! Perfect for outdoor dinner parties, or just less stress when doing dishes after a party.
ISLAND WRAPPED NAVY LATTICE HURRICANE
I’m such a fan of everything Amanda Lindroth makes, and these hurricanes are so pretty—I love the navy to tie into a blue and white tabletop.
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