Photography by Alise O'Brien
A dead widow helped to inspire the renovation of James-Christopher Afflixio and Gary Boyson's 1918 Italianate villa in Compton Heights.
The couple first glimpsed the widow's former estate on an old, tree-lined street near South Grand Boulevard on a sticky summer day three years ago. The aging abode's exterior pea-green paint was unappealing and the landscaping neglected, but its roofline looked like it belonged in Florence, Italy. And the Italian-imported terra-cotta tiles on the front porch stunned.
Inside the estate, Afflixio and Boyson looked beyond disintegrating crown molding and water-damaged ceilings. They envisioned Great Gatsby-style soirees in the palatial living room with tall windows and ceilings. They saw feasts in the European-style dining room. They imagined the widow, the home's original owner, as "a grande dame who had the house built in a grand style," Afflixio said.
Little became known about the widow herself—except that her name was Elizabeth Belz and she paid $15,000 for the house.
Her vision, however, revealed itself in a rare find: eight original blueprints to the house, torn in some places but rich in details. The widow wanted the house modeled after a villa. She wanted it as authentic as possible, right down to importing European materials and hiring Italian craftsmen.
Time had deteriorated Mrs. Belz's once majestic manor. Subsequent owners had imprinted their tastes and quirks. When Afflixio and Boyson first toured the residence, it had been on and off the real estate market for a year and a half. At the time, the couple wasn't looking to move from their 10,000-squarefoot Central West End manor, for which they were also lucky enough to have the original blueprints. They had renovated that historic estate to media acclaim. Frequent entertainers, Afflixio and Boyson enjoyed hosting parties and charitable events there.
But then a friend called Afflixio, urging him to look at the house. "Within five minutes I saw the home's potential, its splendor," he says. He called Boyson, convincing him to leave a business meeting: "You have to see this house."
They felt the home's grandeur; the allure of reviving the residence's resplendence proved irresistible. "We could see what the house would look like," Afflixio recalls.
The next day they presented the owner a favorable offer that waived inspections. A risky move, especially since it was an old house, but Afflixio and Boyson are seasoned renovators with moxie acquired from their days in New York.
All that the couple required from the seller were the widow's original set of blueprints.
"We had done so many houses," said Afflixio, whose professional background in interior design includes running a Manhattan showroom of antique and reproduction hardware. Boyson is a retired senior vice president of menswear for May Merchandising Co., where he worked for more than 30 years.
They took the home, approximately 5,000 square feet, down to the studs.
They enlisted contractors in all specialties, from surveyors to electricians to carpenters. On some days, they had as many as 60 workers building and beautifying their house.
Focused and determined, the couple kept the renovation humming. Nothing seemed to daunt them. In the middle of a February snowstorm, for instance, they had a sleek reflective pool installed in the backyard.
Each day, the widow's original vision became more of a reality. That's not to say the couple skimped on modern amenities-- "such as plumbing," Afflixio says with a laugh.
They installed a high-tech, surround-sound speaker system in every room indoors and out. And they added top-of-the-line appliances by Sub-Zero and Wolf for the couple's Tuscan-inspired kitchen, with terra-cotta floor tiles, sunset-hue walls and cabinets colored in four layers of moss-green paint.
Like the widow, Afflixio and Boyson are detail sticklers. They drew upon their travels to Italy, France and New York City to select materials. They had no qualms about rejecting items they viewed as sub par; for instance, when a container of terra-cotta roof tiles arrived from France in the wrong shade, Afflixio sent it back overseas.
Inside the house, faux painting techniques abound. For the entryway and hallway, a local artist replicated weathered limestone walls, like those on Italy's old streets and buildings. In the sunroom, a shimmering green-blue Venetian plaster evokes visions of the Mediterranean Sea. The guest bedroom shines in painted cross-hatch, salmon-gray walls that soothe.
Afflixio and Boyson's fine furnishings accentuate the elegant backdrops: in the entryway, a signed 1910 Tiffany's mahogany settee; in the sunroom, an 1845 Italian daybed with original paint; and in the guest room, a 5-foot Italian headboard from a convent in Venice, adorned with carved garlands and shells.
Faux finishing extends to the finest of details: Four sets of doors on the first floor are painted to resemble burled Italian pear wood. Fabricated mahogany turned the radiator covers Afflixio designed into classic credenzas enhanced by antique mirrors. Ersatz bronze, marble and Florentine tiles aggrandize the living room's six-foot-two Medici fireplace. Simulated marble embellishes steps, risers and baseboards on the main staircase.
So masterful are the faux finishes that even the most discerning eye is fooled. Every detail unifies the house. Gray-blues dominate the color palette, whether woven into iridescent Italian silk draperies, accenting a century-old Persian rug or peeking through the African blue slate on the outdoor terrace.
Antique sconces and crystal chandeliers beam throughout the home. Five European fountains gurgle indoors and out. Mediterranean motifs, such as urns and acanthus leaves, highlight items such as staircase finials and a canvas mural, painted by an Italian art student, displayed in the master bathroom.
The three-year renovation was grueling. But the couple love architecture and design, share nearly identical tastes and have years of experience rehabbing homes.
The widow's blueprints helped, too.
"We returned the house to its original splendor," says Afflixio, adding that this home, like their last, is perfect for entertaining in grand style, just as they imagine the widow would have done.
"I think she'd be happy with the work we've done," he adds. "It turned out exactly the way we wanted it to."
