Lifestyle Architecture
Gold Coast history with aplomb. The Zuck estate sits back a
hundred feet off of Franklin, nestled into its foliage as if it’s been there a century, despite being ten years young. It is an eye-popper, even in light of surrounding competition. The highlights from the road are a seven-window turret resting atop a covered, wrap-around porch. Like most porches in the Gold Coast, it features snuggly wicker chairs, but this one takes sun from morning through sunset—great for a cocktail, even on winter evenings, the Zucks say. The flooring is oak and runs to a one-of-a-kind walnut front door, the work of door master Scott Rhodes. In the front hall, the sweeping
stairway demands being touched. There’s no conceivable answer to how a wood master can so accurately curve a solid oak staircase around ninety degrees — then match the banister above and the paneling beneath. But the evidence is there in front of you, flawlessly smooth to the touch. Meet Geri Zuck, helmsman of the design, who combines the impressions of princess, workout guru and great lady. Few women with kids in college can still wear their hair halfway down their backs, and even less have maintained their weight from high school. The “great lady” part shows when Geri speaks; gentile tones and chiming vowels can’t subdue a mind like a steel trap. The house was ten years old in January, but Geri recalls the details in ceilings, floors, cabinetry, moldings… the spellings of exotic items, the names of her co- conspirators, and challenges they faced like it happened yesterday. “I laid two of the first bricks,” she
remembers fondly. “I was hands- on throughout the building phase, which took nine months. I wanted to make sure nothing was forgotten.” Among the first names she mentioned were builder Jimmy Leeds of Margate and architect
26 Spring 2012 | LIFESTYLE
njlifestyleonline.com Exotic second powder room
Robert Johnson. Leeds saw her often and Johnson was the home’s first fairy godfather. “No house plans!” she says of her
early dream sessions with Johnson. “I gave him a wish list. I wanted the house to be warm and inviting and great for entertaining, a place where everyone who came to visit could be comfortable.” Johnson’s first show of genius was to raise all ceilings on the first floor to ten feet, giving each room an airy feel while being cozy. The liv- ing room features a wood burning
fireplace with floor-to-ceiling doors on each side that lead to the porch. Pocket doors open into a bar and game room, where the Zucks have hosted guests before dinner. The bar features comfortable padded seats along with fridge, sink, icemaker— and dishwasher. “I didn’t want to think of taking
all the glasses back to the kitchen after a party,” Geri says, which makes sense but is a detail few might think of. The dining room windows are
dressed in black Scalamandre treatments and roused the name of Geri’s second dreams-come-true expert, interior designer Robert Wilson. The molding is hand cut, exotic but not eclipsing, presented by a prestigious design company, the first proper noun that Geri can’t quite recall. She’ll think of it, she says with confidence and moves on to point out the Waterford Crystal chandelier that sends light dancing merrily across the walls. The kitchen, like the bar, holds a
myriad of secrets behind shiny red oak cabinetry. Designed by Sandy Aromando of Euroline Designe, it’s one of their signature “where’s the refrigerator?” décors that hide most everything except the double oven and sinks. In the breakfast nook, the ceiling shoots up to 12 feet. Three doors to the deck are topped with transoms
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