Sunday, May 23, 2010

By story BY BARBARA BOWERS Special to The Citizen PHOTOS BY BARRY FITZGERALD Special to The Citizen

When Chris Bassett and Carey Alexander saw the mosaic walls that Debra Yates designed for Judy Blume's house, they commissioned Yates to redesign their garden at 901 Washington St., and build a mosaic fountain for their pleasure.

"They have so many beautiful spaces," said Yates, an artist, landscape designer and entrepreneur. "My job is to determine how to use them effectively."

Then, of course, she has to get the job done: At 901 Washington, the show-stopping, 33-foot-long mosaic wall and fountain required a pool makeover, new decking and landscaping. In all, the garden project took three months, with seven days devoted to the mosaic wall.

Yates said she created three drawings for Bassett and Alexander, and once selected, Yates worked precisely to the scaled drawing of abstract curves and angles.

"The wall's frame included curved pieces of wood, and because I lay every piece of tile, first I had to build a scaffold to reach everything," Yates said. "Some of the tiles came from my private stash because I bought them 15 years ago and they're no longer being made."

Into the textured greens and blues, orange, black and white tiles Yates incorporated river rock on the lower section of the wall then edged the swimming pool with Italian slate to outline and ground it.

A softer-gray sunning deck at the front of the property was built from wood, and it rises above the concrete deck surrounding the pool. These concrete pavers feature a light-lime patina that picks up on the bold, lime-green center of the mosaic wall. But the pavers have another job, too; they connect the long side garden to the front of the house.

From three directions, paved paths meet at what was probably a screened-in front porch when the house was built in the 1950s. Now it is a semi-enclosed outdoor room featuring wicker furniture, stools and end tables designed by architect Frank Gehry and a Susan Roger sculpture by the door. This is the official entry, although two sets of double doors open from the living room to allow entry from the side garden as well.

A second-floor balcony covers the front porch, and is reached from the master suite, which spans the entire front of the house on the second floor. Two bedrooms on the backside of the structure share a bath and are separated from the front by a central hallway.

Yates said the stainless steel railings at the top and bottom of the stairway were already in place when Bassett and Alexander bought the property.

These polished rails reflect the warm glow of old Cuban tiles throughout the house, and vintage rattan furniture -- upholstered with a flowered fabric -- brings old Florida face-to-face with the sleek edge of modern design.

Contemporary, too, are the big abstract paintings by Yates that hang behind a living-room sofa. Unframed, they pick up the lime, pink and black color scheme, but equally important, the paintings' shapes mimic the squared lines of the furniture and the square blocks in the concrete wall, where doors open to the garden and shiny patio table and chairs woven from stainless steel by Emu.

Integrating the great outdoors with the interior is a hallmark of Yates' work, and color is prominent in her finely tuned elements of basic design.

Varying shades of foliage greens are alive and well indoors: Throw pillows are lime green, as are the kitchen countertops. A subtler, 1950s green tile accents one of the three bathrooms in the five-bedroom house.

Most visible to the public, though, is a lavender wall that surrounds the corner lot.

"I knew the French violet color would make the red, pink, orange and purple bougainvillea pop," she said. "And I painted one section of the wall silver to tie it to the river rock and the garden's shadows."

The 6-foot-high concrete privacy wall also is shaped irregularly, and features a setback at the front entry.

"If the wall had been straight, it would have been one color, but I think two colors are more interesting when walls are on different planes," Yates said.

Whether it's achieved on different planes or from different levels of design, 901 Washington St. is an interesting house.

Barbara Bowers is a writer and member of the Key West Historic Architectural Review Commission. To suggest a home feature, send an e-mail to Barbara@bbowers.com. Homes listed for sale will not be considered.