Cline Residence

One Grand Seaside Villa in Juno Beach Traces Its Architectural and Design Roots to Europe

INTERIOR DESIGN Lauree Simmons and Julie Luston, Simmons and Saray Interiors Group, Inc., Jupiter, FL

BUILDER Bob and Lauree Simmons, Simmons Building Corp., Jupiter, FL

TEXT Joan McIver

PHOTOGRAPHY Kim Sargent, Palm Beach Gardens, FL

This grand Juno Beach mansion reveals its European-inspired architecture with walls of Venetian plaster and a graceful flourish of balconies and balustrades. A winding driveway leads to the colonnaded porte-cochere. Ledge rock imported from the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina was used to build the waterfalls and grotto walls.

Enamored by the elegance and aged grandeur found in some of Europe's greatest mansions, West Virginia business-man Chris Cline yearned to build one of his own somewhere along the South Florida coast. But where? Interior designer and builder Lauree Simmons, who has worked with Cline on two other projects, found the answer in Seminole Landings—an exclusive, oceanfront North Palm Beach community perceived as the perfect location for the grand Old World residence envisioned by Cline.

Appearing more like a tropical lagoon, the swimming pool is set within a frame of coral rocks and palms. From the shallow entry, the pool deepens gradually and flows into a rocky grotto with a hidden powder room. A waterfall tumbles from above a wall of rocks topped with a spa. Beneath the pool's crystalline waters, a mosaic design depicts underwater sea creatures and a coral reef — the finishing touch for the resort-style home the owner envisioned. Created with elegance and comfort, this classic Mediterranean villa offers a glimpse into an earlier era with an Old World view. The pool's bottom features tiled mosaic scenes of stingrays, turtles and reefs created by Ray Corral of Mosaicist of Miami.