Home of the Month

"I didn’t really want to build a house," Jim confesses, "so Patti and I visited a lot of models. We discovered we liked the work of BCB Homes and architect Jeff Harrell wherever we went. After three such experiences, we felt we could depend on them to help us build what we envisioned."

Once the decision was made to build, lot shopping followed. The Holdens were happiest with a double lot on Galleon Drive, just down the street from the first home they bought in 2001.

"We wanted a western exposure and a place where we could install a floating dock," Jim says. "There had to be space for garages and enough room to have a home that conforms to the way we live."

That meant six bedrooms and an equal number of garages. The retired president of Daimler-Chrysler Corp. confesses he’s been a car fancier since childhood, not only collecting them but restoring them. Right now a yellow, British-made Sunbeam Tiger is the apple of his eye. The Holden children—Pat, Mike and Kate—have also been involved in mechanics from an early age. Her father admits Kate’s little hands were recruited to get into the small spaces. Now the young adult trio is more apt to whip up dinner for their parents than log garage time. The goldenrod-colored kitchen is a lot more beautiful, too, with an 18-foot, detailed, vaulted ceiling and hidden skylights.

Or the visiting young people might just lie low in their suites. Kate’s pastel suite has a door to a staircase that leads to the pool and spa. Her parents were nonconformist in the design of the water features. "People seldom use the deep end of the pool and seem to love the spa," Jim says. "So we built a big spa and a pool that is only five feet deep."

The Holden grandparents and brother Mike occupy second-floor suites when they are visiting, but Pat and his wife enjoy a Key West suite with a cathedral ceiling built over one three-bay garage that has all the amenities and authentic details of an island home.

Another room upstairs has been designed for the present and future. "We’re hoping to have grandchildren some day, so we thought it would be wise to plan a bunk room," Patti says. "We used white bead board to be in keeping with the rest of the house. Right now, it’s a popular place for Kate’s visiting sorority sisters."

When the visiting gets too lively, the Bloomfield Hills, Mich., couple can retreat to their first-floor quarters, where wide water views impress, and no overhead footsteps disturb. A new loveseat faces their old armoire.

"We liked teal for our bedroom," Patti says. "We designed the master bath with a wall of mosaic glass tiles in bronze colors. Beyond the shower, there’s an outdoor shower and a spa for just us two."

The coziness the Holdens established for themselves resonates in their main living areas, where the formality of marble floors was rejected in favor of the casual mood of rustic stone laid in a block pattern. An antique patent chest is a stunning presence in the entry. Its old, rich wood and brass trim are a striking counterpoint to the soft yellows and greens in the formal living room.

An antique breakfront/secretary nearby looks in from its niche onto a dining room furnished with the same long table the couple had in their former Naples home. One of the Holdens’ Marshall Fredericks sculptures occupies a smaller niche, giving the new space the comfort of old treasures.

The Holdens say their lanai is their main living area. "We learned in our first home how much we enjoyed outdoor living," Jim says. "We designed the lanai to be comfortable for us and to be easy to entertain guests."

There’s plenty of elbow room at the summer kitchen bar and at the pine plank dining table the couple brought down from their Michigan cottage. There are lots of cushy wicker chairs, resprayed cocoa brown for the new home, for sit-down conversationalists.

It’s a short stroll from the lanai past the vanishing-edge pool to the dock where the 46-foot and 23-foot Sea Rays are ready to take family and friends cruising on local waters or on longer jaunts to Tampa or Key West.

"We chose Judith Liegeois to help us with the interior," Patti says. "We saw her work and liked it, and we were impressed with her willingness to integrate some of the furniture we had."

Key west spirit flourishes in the family room, where the exposed beams and cypress plank ceiling are dramatized by what looks like floating driftwood but actually is a hand-crafted metal light fixture. The same deep coral fabrics and tropical accents make the second-floor sitting area an equally inviting retreat.

The deep coral tone reappears on the pool table felt in the sunset room. That upper level space has bifold floor-to-ceiling glass doors that offer occupants clear views of the sunsets and holiday fireworks at the Naples Pier.

The wine cellar is a handy entertaining accessory, as is the media room that is furnished with a roll-down movie screen and video games.

"We tried to make this home practical," Jim says. "There’s a laundry room on the second floor; the home’s electronics are master-controlled; and we actually use our front courtyard as a sitting area."

"And we picked our stone flooring to match our Golden Retriever, Maisie," Patti adds, with the knowing smile of a devoted pet lover.