High Drama: Home Profile

by Ginny Cooper

Herscoe Hajjar Architects was founded in 2003 as a partnership between Rob Herscoe and Michael Hajjar, although their affiliation began 10 years earlier, when Michael joined Erickson Herscoe Architects in Canton, Connecticut. With most of that firm’s work centered on high-end residences in the Florida market, the two moved to Naples and subsequently branched off to form their own firm.
   They originally designed the “Grand Santa Barbara” model, among others, for Sunwest Homes in 2016. Built in the Talis Park neighborhood of Corsica, the Grand Santa Barbara was a 3,950-square-foot coastal/contemporary design. The popular model caught the eye of a homeowner who asked the firm to expand on their design for his estate homesite in the Prato neighborhood.  
   Adding 2,000 square feet to the original floor plan, the team incorporated barrel tile roofs, dark wood corbels, myriad arches, and other architectural features to effectively and dramatically change the style to “Tuscan Mediterranean.” Nowhere is this more evident than in the complex, soaring ceilings of this luxurious design, fashioned after the Old World estates and cathedrals of Greece and Italy.
   The client-focused pair of professionals are hands-on architects, providing a full range of services from concept to completion. Both family men, Herscoe and Hajjar are active members of the Naples business community. 

old world meets new

Adapted from an original Herscoe Hajjar design, this 5,951-square-foot Talis Park home was expanded in all directions, evolving from a “California Mission” style home into a “Tuscan Mediterranean.” “The introduction of stone and wood on the exterior gives this home more of an Italian farm villa feel, not quite as formal as a classic Italian design,” explains Michael Hajjar.
Elements from Old World Greek and Italian architecture feature prominently. Visitors are drawn through a gated archway into a private courtyard. A tower constructed of rubble stone signifies the front entry, which is tucked under a shed roof. The pavered driveway leads to side-loading garages, an attached double garage and a detached single car garage.
The home is sited on its corner lot to take advantage of a natural buffer of mature landscaping and its golf course frontage offering idyllic views of gently undulating fairways and greens.

a place to gather

The stylish and symmetrical gathering room is part of an L-shaped space of grand proportions that includes the kitchen, a casual dining island, and a formal dining area. Wide plank hand-scraped hardwood flooring and creamy white walls unify the spaces while complementary ceiling treatments renders the living room distinct. Not fully pictured is a beamed, coffered, barrel ceiling. Stained wooden box beams create the coffers that are nestled between the arched beams spanning the space. The sliding glass doors do not pocket. Instead, they create a 10-foot wall-to-wall expanse of glass. “We wanted to maximize the amount of light into the space,” explains Hajjar.

heart of the home

In the kitchen/dining area, the barrel ceiling is embedded in a flat soffit surrounding the room. Because the box beams are not supporting anything, the ceilings were pulled up two feet from the original model, now soaring to 13-and-a-half feet at the top of the curve. The dramatic height is emphasized by the use of drop-down chandeliers. Styled with candle-like tapers, the pair of circular iron fixtures lends Old World charm to a thoroughly modern kitchen. As this wing is positioned adjacent to the landscaped buffer, privacy is of little concern, so simple Roman shades at the multi-paned windows suffice. The corner window in the kitchen proper is left unadorned.

tranquil dwelling

A study in gray, the ground floor master bedroom presents a slightly different style as decorated, with its sculpted cornices and upholstered bed. Paneled walls rise to a very high “spring line,” the point at which the ceiling shape begins to slope upward. From its four sides, the hipped ceiling ends in a rectangular flat tray, 18 feet above the spring line. The beams are painted a glossy white, a marked contrast to the ceiling color.
Dangling pendant light fixtures at each of the windows draw the eye upward, as do the clerestory windows. Simple drapery panels flank the sliding glass doors opening to the pool deck. A circular stairway leads upward to a second-floor sundeck and a second master suite.

center stage

The center hall presents a showcase of the home’s architectural design. Viewed as it is here, from the Gathering Room, the 10-foot wide hallway leads into the front entry foyer housed in the stone tower. A pair of wall sconces flanks the entry’s arched window. Morning light pours through the tower’s east-facing clerestory windows, bathing the 22-foot high space in a warm glow.
A quartet of inlaid marble squares (three of them visible in this photo) marks each intersection of the hallway with another space. Groin vaults, formed when two barrel ceilings meet, define the intersections overhead. The oversized four-bulb iron lantern fixtures play up the vaults. At night, recessed lighting hidden behind the crown moulding at the base of each arch, on both sides, adding to the spectacular effect.

spa experience

Twelve-foot ceilings in the ground floor master bath allow plenty of wall space for the oversized custom dual vanity mirror treatments. Slender curved mirrors and two pairs of wall sconces are mounted into a background of hundreds of tiny mosaic tiles framed in white. The soothing gray wall color is edged with glossy white crown moulding above and wide baseboards below. The freestanding white oval tub tucked vertically into the window niche presents visual depth and optical relief from linear aspects of the bathroom.

masterful views

Originally planned as a bonus room suitable for a home office or game room, this space was expanded to create a new Owner’s Master Suite. The sliding glass doors open toward the corner. On the left is an open air sun deck, straight ahead is a covered lanai with a circular staircase leading to the pool below.
The ceiling in this bedroom is a similar shape to that of the ground floor master bedroom, but the room is significantly longer at 34-by-20-feet. Therefore, the beamed hipped ceiling is slightly lower, beginning at 12 feet high and peaking at 15 feet, where the tray begins. White marble floors and clean, modern furnishings give this suite a sleek sparkle.

elevated outdoors

Outfitted with retractable screens and hurricane shutters, the lanai offers comfortable seating on one end and an outdoor kitchen (not visible) on the other. Its western exposure guarantees exceptional views as the sun sets behind the trees lining the lush green fairways. Double ceiling fans turn lazily from the coffered tongue-and-groove ceiling accented by stained wooden box beams. The unscreened pool with its trio of fire-and-water features at one end, and heated spa at the other fills out the back yard.

tuscan inspiration

Through a bricked archway lies the home’s beautiful wine room. It is both unique and functional, bringing together the great architecture and design that makes this home such an amazing place to live. The fantastic details in the ceiling draw heavily from the Tuscan influences woven throughout the home. The octagonal shape of the room makes the vaulted brick and beam ceiling more dramatic. Cabinets painted in cool blue tones keep the space modern and transitional. Arched niches are finished with tile mosaics that complement the cabinets and dark wood in the space. Plenty of counter surfaces throughout the wine room make it a great place to entertain.