On the Market: Glamour, luxury themes of sophisticated renovation for Beach Point condo

By Christine Davis, Palm Beach Daily News

Ellen and Richard Eisenberg’s oceanfront condominium — No. 403W in the west building at Beach Point, 2660 S. Ocean Blvd. – reflects the couple’s lifestyle and taste, thanks to a major interior update overseen by decorator Cindy West Ray of Cindy Ray Interiors.

“We totally renovated it with lots of architectural details,” explains Ray, who recently moved her business from South County Road across the bridge to South Dixie Highway in West Palm Beach.

Throughout the main areas of the three-bedroom apartment, Ray left the silver travertine floors intact. But she filled the spaces with complementary woods — including richly grained wenge — and other high-quality materials. Because function was as important to the project as design, Ray says, she made optimal use of the rooms by designing a variety of built-in units. They not only provide storage space but also help organize the rooms while leading the eye to the dramatic views of the ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway.

“The finishes are high-end, clean, glamorous and refined,” Ray says. “The Eisenbergs have spent time in Los Angeles and Hollywood and are affiliated with the movie industry,” she explains. “They already owned art – some from the (Art) Deco era, so there’s a touch of Deco, too.”

Ellen Eisenberg says Ray’s design delivered exactly what she and her husband had wanted in the Palm Beach vacation residence.

“We wanted a home where we could live comfortably and entertain,” she says. “We bought our condo in 2007 and love it there. It feels fresh and new, and its resort ambience gives us the feeling we are on vacation.”

Today, however, the Eisenbergs are spending less time on the island and want to downsize. Ellen Eisenberg, a real estate agent, has listed it for sale as owner-agent through the firm where she works, Jeffrey Ray & Associates, which is owned by Cindy Ray’s husband. The price is $2.995 million for the three-bedroom, three-bathroom unit, with 4,135 square feet of living space inside and out. Many of the furnishings are also available through a separate transaction, and the unit comes with a cabana by the ocean.

With east, west and south exposures, the apartment encompasses almost half of the fifth level in the building, which was designed with three units per floor. With a total of three buildings, Beach Point stands about one-third of a mile south of the Palm Beach Par 3 Golf Course.

From the elevator foyer, the front door opens into the apartment’s entry hall, where visitors are greeted by an onyx backlighted console flanked by Holly Hunt sconces. Walls throughout the apartment are finished in white Venetian plaster.

To the east is a bedroom that Richard Eisenberg uses as his den and office, its desk placed to capture a view of the Intracoastal Waterway.

“We wanted to make it a masculine library-den combination with a Hollywood feeling. The woodwork is Macassar ebony trimmed in black lacquer,” Ray says. “We designed a desk in the same material with a glass top.”

Other features include Maya Romanoff wallpaper and chocolate-and-white Stark carpet, along with a customized L-shaped sofa upholstered in mohair and an ottoman covered in faux crocodile skin. The suite’s chocolate-and-white marble bathroom features cabinets with horn hardware and onyx faucet.

“We opened up the kitchen entirely and broke through the wall so you could look through to the Intracoastal,” Ray says. “We disguised the plumbing with glass and wenge. The custom cabinetry is white lacquer, and the countertops are beautiful Colonial Gold granite. The back wall has laminated glass, and the bar stools are white-patent-leather. ”

The ceiling in the dining room follows the oval shape of the antique table, which is surrounded by chairs covered in white velvet, trimmed with dark-espresso wood. The room has plenty of jewelry-like sparkle, thanks to its contemporary-style glass-orb chandelier and crystal handles on the custom-designed rosewood buffet.

Ray divided the expansive living room into two mirror images by placing in the middle of the space a custom-made silver-leaf console with sofas on either side. The room’s wenge woodwork has a high-gloss finish. “There’s a niche for the bar, and the ceiling has recessed lighting in the stepped soffit,” Ray says.

“Furnishings in the living room are a little more formal. On the media side, we used chenille on the sofa and in the living room are a satin sofa with four chairs. The carpets are hide.”

As in the den, doors to the master suite are fitted with a specially laminated glass to provide privacy while filtering the light. The décor of the master suite and guest suite continue the apartment’s design theme of glamour and luxury.

The Eisenbergs knew they’d be pleased with their décor right from the start of their collaboration with Ray.

“We like the same things,” Ellen says. “It was fun working with Cindy.”