Interior designer in Wellington, Florida

Wellington's Equestrian Preserve Area covers about 9,000 acres and more than 580 farms for polo, dressage, hunter/jumper and recreational riding, tied together by more than 100 miles of bridle trails. Since 2003 the village's Equestrian Overlay Zoning District has governed building there. It is divided into subareas, among them Rustic Ranches and the nine-lot Winding Trails, and it regulates stables, arenas and grooms' quarters along with houses.

On a farm in Palm Beach Point, where lots start at five acres, or in Grand Prix Village beside the show grounds, the barn and the house are one design problem. We plan interiors for the main residence, grooms' apartments, tack rooms, offices and viewing lounges, with finishes chosen for sand, hay dust and wet boots. Structural work on barns, roofed arenas or new living quarters goes through licensed contractors, an engineer where required, and the village building division.

• Grooms' apartments and guest quarters with hard-wearing, easy-clean finishes
• Tack rooms, trophy walls and boot rooms detailed as custom millwork
• Viewing lounges that look onto the arena or paddocks
• Lighting plans for early barn routines and evening entertaining

Wellington International, known as the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center until it was renamed in 2022, hosts the 13-week Winter Equestrian Festival from January into late March. The National Polo Center, formerly the International Polo Club Palm Beach, took its current name in 2022 when the United States Polo Association bought it, and it hosts the U.S. Open Polo Championship. Seasonal farm rentals are common, and many owners spend most of the year somewhere else.

That schedule shapes the work. Owners are here in winter, so that is when we walk the property, present concepts and 3D renderings, and settle selections. Fabrication and installation can then run through the off months, with our project direction service coordinating licensed contractors, millwork shops and deliveries and sending photo and video reports, so a house, guest cottage or barn apartment can be ready when the horses return.

Away from the barns, much of Wellington lives behind gates. Palm Beach Polo Golf & Country Club, which Gould Florida added after polo arrived in 1977, spreads condos, villas and estate homes around two golf courses, polo fields and lakes. Wycliffe Golf & Country Club opened in 1989 at Lake Worth Road and State Road 7 and grew to 1,045 homes in 14 neighborhoods. Minto's Olympia and the Mediterranean-style Versailles, both guard-gated, went up from the early 2000s near State Road 7.

The older club homes from the 1980s and 1990s are ready for second renovations: closed kitchens, dated baths, tile throughout, and covered patios that could become real outdoor rooms. Newer houses in Olympia and Versailles more often need personalization than rebuilding. Where an association reviews exterior-visible changes, we prepare the drawings, finish samples and renderings it asks for, and village permits follow through the licensed contractor.

Wellington handles its own planning, zoning and building. Its Architectural Review Board adopts the village's schedules of approved materials and colors and reviews plans for multifamily and nonresidential development, which matters for owners fitting out offices, clinics and shops. Single-family interiors do not go before that board, but structural, electrical and plumbing changes need permits, and the building division accepts applications only electronically.

A project begins with a consultation at the property, whether a five-acre farm or a villa in Palm Beach Polo. We return a written concept and scope, then develop dimensioned plans, finish and lighting schedules, custom furniture and millwork drawings, and renderings. Licensed contractors pull the permits and build, and our project direction service keeps the design intact through installation.