Memory Maker

A FATHER BUILDS A DREAM GETAWAY ON FLORIDA'S ROSEMARY BEACH.

- JENNIFER SPERRY

When interior designers Marshall Watson and Alissa Deane met with their client-a father of three and an avid art collector-he asked for a beach house that doesn't scream beach house. "He's an energetic, charismatic guy and wanted a special place where he and his kids could spend time together, a home away from home," explains Deane.

With its predominance of gray pecky cypress, the house encapsulates the traditional southern architecture of creator and noted architect Bobby McAlpine.

"We inherited a home with great bones," admits Deane, a principal with Marshall Watson & Reid Deane Ganes Interiors (formerly Marshall Watson Interiors). Launched by Watson in 1986, the firm shapes timeless, layered, and inviting interiors across the globe.

Even with such interesting architecture, the backdrop of glittering ocean and sandy beach steals the show. The designers' goal was to let these coastal views-and the owner's contemporary art collection, which includes works by Damien Hirst, Yoshitomo Nara, Robert Indiana, and Jim Dine-shine while keeping the interiors fresh, modern, and stylish.