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Nick McGinn
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Nick McGinn
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Nick McGinn
For Tracy Guarino, creating a Zen aesthetic for her 11,328-square-foot home was essential.
She leads an active and colorful life as an entrepreneur, which is why she conspired with interior designer Ray Booth to imbue a sense of tranquility throughout the home’s interior.
“I need that,” Guarino says. “I'm going, going, all the time.”
Guarino’s home is located among the wide lawns and long driveways of Forest Hills in the gated community of Bancroft. Reverberating with Mediterranean grandeur, the home stretches languidly across six acres, its two stories of native stone and exotic wood topped with a rust-colored, barrel tile roof.
While the exterior hints at classic architecture, within lies an ode to modernity. The open floor plan beyond the front door offers copious space, ultra-high ceilings, and the grayscale tones of a luxury salon.
“I love a white, clean, modern, contemporary feel,” Guarino says.
As the interior designer, Booth initially felt the room was so voluminous it lacked intimacy. So, he broke down the space by using floor-to-ceiling draperies, which carve out a dining room and living room. An ethereal mood is created by these cascading, semi-sheer panels made from a Holly Hunt fabric, Soft Spoken: Pale Silver, from the Great Plains textile collection.
“Draperies are magic,” Booth says. “They're not just for windows. They can really start to suggest space without limiting space or rooms. They can just be a gesture that defines a room.”
Guarino says, “It was very cold and hard in here before, without the drapes. And with the master bedroom, those drapes just give you that pause before you go in.”
It’s a gentle transition from dining room to living room, accented by a hand-carved teak panel from Thailand and Shakuff’s Kadur Drizzle, a multi-pendant chandelier of hand-blown orbs that create a private constellation.
As one walks through the five-bedroom home, various talismans sprinkle it with glamour. Coffee table books about Diana Vreeland and Alexander McQueen occupy the living room and Guarino’s dressing room is graced by luxury handbags, and Alexander McQueen minaudieres and jewel-encrusted stilettos.
More elegant touches are found in the master bedroom, including the velvety Italian carpet, that is the color of snow, and a tufted gray chaise in the master bath.
A petite, dark-haired beauty of Italian extraction, Guarino is a collector of exquisite items of beauty from the worlds of high fashion, jewelry, and fine art.
“I enjoy collecting art and Ray was thoughtful to work it in to the design,” she says.
Among the standouts are Herb Williams’ sculptures made of hundreds of individually placed crayons. An abstract piece by artist Ed Nash, which Guarino commissioned, hangs in the kitchen sitting room. And there are several graphic artworks distilled from the animated film Destino, a historic collaboration between Walt Disney and Salvador Dalí that Guarino adores.
Then, there is the outdoor space, including the pool and backyard.
“You feel like you’ve stepped out into a lush, green oasis at a luxury resort,” Guarino says.
The uniquely shaped, infinity edge swimming pool could be mistaken for a water feature. Surrounded by cabanas, it resembles a world-class resort. There is alsoan outdoor shower that’s part of a secluded screened-in porch. While Guarino’s master bath shower is an exquisite symphony of gleaming white limestone, she says, “This is the shower that gets used.”
Outfitted for entertaining and business, the home features a professional kitchen in addition to the family kitchen, as well as two offices and a gift-wrapping room.
The home’s elegant monasticism filters into the family kitchen. Here, Booth placed “appliance garages” made of Bendheim architectural glass that slide vertically to conceal the cabinets and create a seamless look.
The kitchen’s location between Guarino’s bedroom and those of her three sons means it functions as the social nucleus. It also attracts her extended family, which gathers on Sundays when she cooks a huge pot of marinara sauce. Despite the serene beauty of the kitchen, life gets lively here.
“Growing up, we were always at my grandmother's on Sunday,” she says. “All life takes place in our kitchen. Being of Italian descent, I think the kitchen is definitely the heart of our home.”