Author: — Photographer: / January 22, 2026
Boca Raton, FL
Designed for a young New York–based client relocating to South Florida, this Boca Raton residence was conceived as a personal retreat—equal parts calm refuge and confident selfexpression. With a sharp artistic sensibility and an intuitive eye for the unexpected, the client invited Furze Design Associates to create a home that felt unmistakably her own: modern, nurturing, and unapologetically individual. The design approach celebrates contrast. A cool, sophisticated palette sets a serene foundation, while sculptural, organic forms introduce movement and softness throughout the space. Curved silhouettes, layered textures, and carefully chosen statement pieces breathe personality into the condo’s clean architectural geometry, creating rooms that feel fluid rather than rigid—more gallery-like in composition, yet deeply livable in comfort.
Fluid, sculptural, and quietly confident—South Florida living with New York clarity.
You can’t judge a book by its cover—and that proved true for the client of architect Paul Bates and designer Liz Hand Woods, who had her eye on a Nashville home. In this case, however, the cover was compelling, but the interiors left something to be desired. The charm-laden 1930s façade, with its stonework and peaked, gabled entryway, looks like it could have been plucked from the Cotswolds countryside of England. “It was well crafted, but plain on the inside with minimal detailing,” Bates says. “The house had been tinkered with over the decades through a series of less-than-ideal additions, which meant the floor plan was not intuitive—it felt like a maze.”
Home Details
Architecture:
Paul Bates, Paul Bates Architects
Interior Design:
Liz Hand Woods, Liz Hand Woods Associates
Home Builder:
Mark Poe, Mark Poe Builders
Light and atmosphere were treated as design elements in their own right. Soft finishes and tonal materials capture and reflect daylight, allowing the interiors to shift subtly from morning to evening.
The result is a residence that feels youthful yet refined—an intimate sanctuary that also reads as a bold, modern portrait of its owner.
