In February of 2022, real estate developer M. Patrick Carroll relocated his company Carroll to Florida and purchased a brand new Miami Beach estate for $16350000. This incredible home was designed from the ground up by legendary architect and designer, Achille Salvagni. Completed in 2020, the home is truly a work of art in itself—inspired by Gio Ponti and the historical character of 1950s Miami.
The modern home is located on an expansive 111 feet of waterfront property and features seven bedrooms and 6 and a half bathrooms. The spacious 7951 square foot property also has a 90-foot infinity-edge pool, 24-carat gold leaf detailing, a sweeping bronze staircase, and a private boat dock.
Although Carroll was unfamiliar with Salvagni’s work prior to seeing the home, he immediately became a fan. “Honestly I had never heard of him, but now he’s by far my favorite. Achille Salvagni is known for his high-quality Italian furniture and amazing designs. Every piece of furniture, every light fixture, and the entire design scheme directly from Achille.”
Carroll also wanted a turnkey home that required little to no upgrades. He tells me, “It was important that the home was a modern design. I’ve always loved the sleek modern look and it seemed perfect for Miami. I also wanted to be on the water and I wanted to buy a home that came furnished. The fact that this home came furnished by a top-notch designer made it ideal.”
It’s extremely rare when an individual of Carroll’s caliber moves into a home and changes very little about it, especially when it’s a primary residence. “We have a lot of higher net worth clients who purchase an entire house including the staging furniture. It’s rare, but it happens. And when it does, it is very costly. Usually, the client doesn’t want to deal with furnishing an entire home, especially when the house is over 3000 square feet,” says interior designer and professional stager Francesca Grace who has not worked with Carroll. “It becomes challenging to furnish it, the lead time on shipping can be a nightmare, and a lot of buyers don’t have a vision for what they want. That is why staging exists—to help guide those who may not know how to design a new space or create their perfect home. It helps to see it finished first.”
The only changes that Carroll made while noteworthy, were incredibly minor given the scale of the home—just adding a gym, which is essential these days along with a home theater. “It’s like being in your movie theater. I’ve got the blackout shades and all the toys. It’s the best way to relax at night or veg on the weekend,” the developer explains.
A Mansion Designed Remotely
While there are many unique characteristics of the property, one of the most interesting things about it is that Salvagni designed the entire project remotely due to Covid travel restrictions. While remote design is nothing new, although it has certainly become more commonplace since the pandemic—most of the time designers will decorate a room or plan bathroom or kitchen construction. This project was far more intensive, especially given the location and price.
The architect tells me, “For the installation of the interiors, I conducted it entirely on Zoom —working on East Coast time from my home and office in Rome. I would wake up at my regular time and begin working and then switch gears to Eastern Standard Time and begin conducting sessions where I would instruct the team on the placement of all the furniture, carpets, fabrics, lighting, cabinetry, artworks—down to the bronze detailing on the staircase.”
The exterior was also designed and executed virtually. “It was a bit surreal, selecting palm trees and plant specimens with local team members. They would have me on WhatsApp video while they toured nurseries showing me plants so I could select the right ones. Then when the trees and plants were delivered to the property, I was back online, orchestrating every last detail down to the exact placement of the palm trees at the water’s edge to create privacy on the Intracoastal Waterway.”
A Curated Home
The home features brushed Negresco, Verde Alpi, Malyat limestone, and Absolute Belgium Black marble, along with French polished mahogany, and brushed oak for wall paneling and cabinetry.
Salvagni’s furnished the house with a variety of custom pieces and lighting he created just for this project as well as antique pieces from Europe. “All the 20th-century design was purchased at auction (online), from dealers in Italy that I knew and from Maison Gerard in New York. I would tell them about the project and what I was looking for and they would send me photos of works they had in [their] inventory and from there we put the collection together.”