Lakeview House, Palm Beach

This week I stumbled upon an amazing home located in the Estate Section of Palm Beach. The legendary property is known as Lakeview House, and it was designed and built by high-society architect Clarence Mack in 1940. Mack created an architectural genre that is popularly known as “Palm Beach Regency” or “Tropical Empire.” The self-taught architect, who was inspired by late Georgian and classical French style, built two Palm Beach enclaves in the late 1950s and early 1960s – aptly named Regent’s Park and Parc Monceau, which are currently under review as possible designation as historical districts.

Lakeview House has been home to an impressive list of occupants, including Dame Celia Lipton Farris who lived there for more than three decades until her passing in 2011. The 12,406 square-foot manse was then listed for sale, and described as “structurally unsound” and promoted to potential buyers as a “perfect [place] to build your dream home.” Fortunately, the current owner saved Lakeview House from the wrecking ball, promising to restore the house to its original splendor. And today, that promise has been fulfilled! Architectural renovations were handled by Smith & Moore, and Gil Walsh fashioned a sensitive restoration and decoration that acknowledged the home’s luminous past while making it current for today’s lifestyle. Let’s take a look at the restoration, as featured by Dering Hall and photographed by Kim Sargent.

To see pictures of Lakeview House before its recent renovation and to learn more about its history, prior inhabitants, and architect Clarence Mack, you can read this wonderful article by Augustus Mayhew for New York Social Diary. There is also a fantastic post at The Devoted Classicist.  While the home still maintains a traditional feel, it is significantly less formal than it was originally. As realtor Liza Pulitzer (daughter of the late Lilly Pulitzer) told the Palm Beach Daily News, “When Mack, and later, Robert Gottfried were building Regency-style houses, buyers wanted a more formal look. Today buyers are replacing high-gloss floors with flat-finish stone and eschewing heavy drapes and large chandeliers in favor of cleaner lines.”

If you are interested in purchasing your very own Clarence Mack Palm Beach Regency, you are in luck because his former home, located at 400 Regent Park on the lakefront with stunning Intracoastal views, just happens to be for sale!