On Friday, January 30th, more than 1,000 guests celebrated the opening The Kips Bay Decorator Show House Palm Beach, the 3rd annual Florida iteration of the esteemed Show House in New York City. The Opening Night Preview Party revealed the transformed 8,751-square-foot home in West Palm Beach’s South End neighborhood.
A ceremonial ribbon cutting was held at the event with City of West Palm Beach Mayor Keith James. The Show House will run through March 1, with proceeds benefiting Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club and Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County.
Bunny Williams was Honorary Show House Chair. Design Chairs were Ellie Cullman and Steele Marcoux.
Palm Beach Honorary Show House Chair was Pauline Pitt; Honorary Preview Party Chairs were Dick and Ginny Simmons and Wally and Betsy Turner. Preview Party Chairs were Thomas and Carol Kirchhoff, Steven Stolman and Rich Wilkie, James L. and Laura Lofaro Freeman, Scott Sanders and Peter Wilson, Andrew and Sarah Wetenhall, and Celerie Kemble.
Junior Preview Party Chairs were Nick and Caroline Rafferty, Nick and Molly Mele, Adam and Elisabeth Munder, Katherine Lande and Kevin Condon, and Allegra and Cachi Garcia-Velez.
The Showhouse Designers included Alessandra Branca, Branca, Inc.; Alexandra Brady and Brian Brady, Brady Design; Alizee Brion, Light on White Design Studio; Colette van den Thillart, Colette van den Thillart; Jobe Lopez, Lopez Group, Inc.; Javier Fernandez, Transitional Designs; Joe Lucas, Lucas Studio, Inc.; Jonathan Savage, Savage Interior Design; Keith Baltimore, Baltimore Design Group; Kevin Isbell, Kevin Isbell Interiors; Leta Austin Foster, Leta Austin Foster & Associates, Inc.; Mario Nievera and Keith Williams, Nievera Williams Design; Robin Gannon, Robin Gannon Interiors; Sarah Blank, Sarah Blank Design Studio, LLC; Sarah Magness, Sarah Magness Design; Sherrill Canet, Sherrill Canet Interiors, Ltd.; Suzanne Kasler, Suzanne Kasler Interiors; and Tom Kirchhoff, Kirchhoff & Associates Architects in collaboration with Betsy Wentz, Studio B.
Since 1915, Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club has focused on improving and enhancing the lives of New York City’s children who are economically, socially or recreationally disadvantaged. Each year, Kips Bay offers innovative programs to more than 10,000 young people between the ages of 6 and 18 at ten locations throughout the Bronx, with essential afterschool programs aimed to help them recognize their potential for growth and success.
The Club is proudly one of the most prominent and responsive youth development agencies in New York City and a “flagship” of Boys & Girls Clubs of America. For more information, visit www.kipsbay.org.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County founded in 1971, is a not-for-profit youth development organization dedicated to promoting the educational, vocational, health, leadership and character of boys and girls in a safe, nurturing environment. The Clubs provide more than a safe, fun and constructive alternative to being home alone – offering a variety of award-winning developmental programs to help youth build skills, self-esteem and values during critical periods of growth. The thirteen Boys & Girls Clubs throughout Palm Beach County serve more than 9,300 children ages 6-18. For more information, visit www.bgcpbc.org or call 561-683-3287.
French Heritage Society hosted their annual Palm Beach Gala Dinner on the evening of Wednesday, February 12, 2020. Ronald Lee Fleming was honored for his achievements in preservation advocacy and urban planning and design. His philanthropic work to support initiatives to beautify and improve communities led Newport, RI to declare “Ron Fleming Day,” noting, “Mr. Fleming is a recognized authority in the role of art in creating vibrant, livable places, adding luster to Newport’s worldwide reputation as a showcase of art and architecture.”
The stunning, sold-out fête was held at the behest of Gala Chairs Michael A. Kovner and Jean Doyen de Montaillou. Further flair was provided by Gala Co-Chairmen Jean and Martin Shafiroff, Dinner Chairmen Liz and Ben Barnes, CeCe and Lee Black, Paula and Bob Butler, Sarah and Chips Page, Thomas Warren Thaler, and Kelly Williams and Andrew Forsyth. The evening was in the presence of recently appointed Consul General of France in Miami Laurent Gallissot with Camille Langlois. Suzanne Stoll was the Palm Beach Representative. Vice Chairmen were Lucy and Nat Day, Linda and Charles Hickox, Ursula and Paul Lowerre, Dr. Francis de Marneffe, Judy McLaren, Natalie Pray, Ann Van Ness, and Barbara Wolf.
Esteemed guests included: Board Chairman Elizabeth Stribling and her husband, New York Chapter Co-Chairman Guy Robinson; President Count Denis de Kergorlay; Executive Director Jennifer Herlein; Board Member Gurnee Hart, and his wife, Marjorie, as well as Bess Ames, Stuart and Alixandra Baker, Caroline Bassett, Geoffrey Bradfield, Carole Brookins, Sharon Bush, Jayne Chase, Suzanne Mott Dansby, Bill and Regine Diamond, Anne Fitzpatrick, Annette Friedland, Lou Hammond, Mai Hallingby Harrison, Jane and Peter Hill, Nicole Hirsch, Patrick Murphy, Denise-Marie Nieman, Ava Roosevelt, Paola Bacchini Rosenshein, Sherri Stephenson, Pascale and Lynn Tone, Michel Witmer, James Verrant, and Maureen Woodward.
Proceeds from the Palm Beach Gala Dinner nurture French Heritage Society’s mission to ensure that the treasures of our shared French architectural and cultural heritage survive in order to inspire future generations. The evening also included a call to action for FHS’s impressive university student internship program, which raised over $10,000.
The Silver Fund on Worth Avenue hosted a kickoff cocktail reception on January 28, 2020, for supporters and friends of Lighthouse Guild’s upcoming annual “Visionary Evening” Dinner Dance at Club Colette on February 20th, which will mark its 12th year in Palm Beach.
Michael James of The Silver Fund welcomed nearly 100 guests. Marc Rosen, Founder of the Palm Beach Friends of Lighthouse Guild, thanked committee members and supporters and formally announced that Grace Meigher and Thomas C. Quick are serving as Dinner Co-chairs and that Arlene Dahl is Honorary Chair of the dinner dance that will honor Audrey and Martin Gruss.
Mr. Rosen introduced Mrs. Gruss, who fondly recalled their longtime friendship dating to when they worked together at Elizabeth Arden. She also said, “Martin and I are so honored to be recognized by Lighthouse Guild, and we are very grateful that proceeds from the dinner dance will support depression research related to vision loss.”
Also in attendance were Lynn Wheat, Mai Harrison, Lars Bolander, Sharon Sondes and Geoffrey Thomas, Catherine Adler, Stephen De Angelis, Emmy and Dr. Rudy Scheerer, Anka Palitz, Jenny Garrigues, Kim Charlton, among others.
Lighthouse Guild is the leading organization dedicated to addressing and preventing vision loss. The Guild provides coordinated care for eye health, vision rehabilitation and behavioral health as well as related services directed at prevention, early detection and intervention of vision disorders. Reducing the burdens of vision loss is the cornerstone of what they do.
For more information, visit lighthouseguild.org or contact Mona de Sayve at 561-828-1522 or email mona_desayve@hotmail.com.
Photography by Capehart (Lighthouse & Kips Bay); Annie Watt (FHS).
