FEATURES

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Enlisting her friend, interior designer Liza Lerner, Priscilla began a yearlong makeover to transform their new purchase into the casual Italian beach house she had envisioned. While the prior owners had created an elegant interior, it didn't suit the casual life Priscilla longed for in Palm Beach—barbeques by the pool, long walks along the lake trail, dinners at Rhythm Café and Café Sapori. "This house had to be about ease, comfort and, above all, light," Lerner says. "I think we achieved this by combining soft textures and choosing a clear color palette."

For Priscilla, the interiors are as important as the exterior, so she and Liza punched up the palette with celery green, aqua and warm Tuscan hues to link inside and out. They also found spectacular Italian fabrics at C&C and purchased all of the bedding from Calypso Home. "I bought everything they had left from the last John Robshaw line before it was discontinued," Priscilla says.

Another source of inspiration was Roberta Freymann, a talented designer in her own right, who imports vibrant clothes and fabrics from India at her boutiques in Manhattan and the Hamptons. Priscilla made tablecloths from her fabrics. As one would expect in a photographer's home, art is important: works by Bruce Helander, Nicky Vreeland, Slim Aarons, Daniel Kelly, Jean Pagliuso, Peter Beard—and Priscilla herself—are displayed throughout the house. (Priscilla came to prominence in the '80s, publishing her fashion and portrait photography in New York, Redbook, Self, The New York Times Magazine and the Italian periodicals Vogue Italia, Donna and Amica, among others. She has also published three books and one portfolio, and is a veteran of several gallery exhibitions. This spring she has a show at West Palm's Paul Fisher Gallery.)