FINDING THE HARMONY in MODERN ZEN

Las Vegas architect Quinn Boesenecker took the inspiration he found in his travels throughout Thailand to create his own personal show home of tranquil comfort in Summerlin’sThe Ridges.

As an architectural veteran for two decades and with 11 years of experience designing homes as Pinnacle Architectural Studio, Boesenecker and his wife pulled from the personal side of his life to create their new home. However, the direction wasn’t entirely personal, as this was an opportunity to create an entire show home of services--design,build,importer,andinteriorfurnishings--toromancepotentialclients.“Wewanttobeableto offer it all to our clients now, we are at that stage,” states Boesenecker, whose build philosophy entails designing all new homes from a blank page. His style is not “grab a plan and tweak it” as he wants each client to have an entirely different living experience suited to their individual tastes. Boesenecker’s vision for the couple’s home was a “typical contemporary metal, steel, flat roof creation.” After a trip to Thailand, he was inspired to soften the look and add an Asian flair. The warm color palette of this open-plan, along with consistent interior and exterior waterscapes, invite tranquility and harmony.

“I tried to appeal to everyone with this home, be a bit more diverse under one roof. I am usually asked to create a solid style of Tuscan, Contemporary or Modern and so forth, but this house I wanted to be different. Being that it would reflect a combination of my tastes and industry trends, I knew I could achieve that just by bringing in Asian accents. It seems to be a very popular market trend right now.

“Our home looks like a piece of art, and that is before furniture was even put into place. This house definitely has that unique, truly custom home look and is an absolutely one- of-a-kind masterpiece,” offers Boesenecker.

The masterpiece’s walls are Venetian plaster, stone, metal, Ralph Lauren wallpaper or wood, and the ceilings have been heavily detailed. Boesenecker points out an example of a 15’ high ceiling in the master bedroom with African mahogany beams and bamboo inlaid between beams on a sloped ceiling. Boesenecker has designed and installed African mahogany wood beams for the foyer and main living room’s ceiling with copper inlaid between beams. “Copper is a very high-end finish and is usually reserved for smaller uses in a custom home, but this entire ceiling is made of it,” he states. Additionally, he notes the custom metal trellis on the formal dining room’s ceiling.

Most of the home’s slabs and stone have been hand-selected and directly imported by Boesenecker’s company. Both sets of stairs are limestone and are made with single-piece slabs with a full bullnose edge on each step and a single-piece slab on the riser of the stair. The landings are single- or two-piece slabs. Slate-stacked stone columns are found throughout the interior and exterior of the home. This gives a harmonious flow to the look of the finishes and overall schematic. Most of the home’s flooring is 3’ x 3’ slabs of Jerusalem gold limestone with bamboo inlays.To do flooring of this size, it is cut from slabs, as opposed to tiles.They are thicker and more consistent in color because they were cut from the same blocks of stone at the quarry for this particular house.

Bamboo seems to be a favorite and consistent detail. Incorporating hand scraped bamboo floors with an 18” Jerusalem stone border in several rooms, Boesenecker has set the home apart by using a 7” limestone baseboard, recessed into drywall with a 3⁄4” Fry Reglet. Fry Reglet is the aluminum piece between the drywall and the top of the baseboard, separating it from the drywall. Limestone has a slight bevel where it meets the Fry Reglet, which is very difficult and expensive to pull off.You rarely see this detail in custom homes and if you do, it is usually in one or two rooms whereas Boesenecker has used this detail throughout.

The stone features are a strong design feature that continues into the master bath with a solid granite bathtub and matching above counter sinks. A 4’ tall wainscot runs throughout the bathroom with a 24” x 24” Jerusalem gold limestone and pebble stone top.The vanity mirrors were custom made and the veneer was imported from Australia. In the kitchen, a custom, steel panel, acid-washed backsplash is a focal point.

“In so many custom homes today you see the kitchen backsplash is assorted tile of stone or glass or porcelain. This backsplash is one of the most unique items in the home, as it is custom acid-washed, steel boxes that are stepped at different levels in depth and were designed and built specifically for this space.This is truly one-of-a -kind,” states Boesenecker.

State-of-the-art audio visual details and gadgets of ease are a must for today’s home. Boesenecker’s system is controlled from a remote location with a computer or iPhone. There are 15 TVs throughout the house, ranging from 19” to 110,” all on a video distribution system. A 16-color camera system with DVR (records up to three months of video) can also be accessed from a remote location via a computer or iPhone. All controls for HVAC, pool, fireplaces, fire pits, water features, home security, cameras, lighting, Kaleidoscope, misters, etc. are controlled from any of the home’s 11 control points.

As for the home’s furnishings and lighting, the Boeseneckers selected and designed all of it themselves.The home’s lighting takes on a life of its own and is a type of artistic artifact and focal point in any room you enter. The furnishings range from dark wenge colored woods to dual toned bamboo. The sofas and upholstery follow the same tone-on-tone palette and range in hues and textures to give diverse warmth to all the stone and woods throughout.

The home’s exterior courtyards feature the same hard surfaces -- glass tile, granite, and stone -- as the interior. Almost the entire floor of the front courtyard is a pool of water with a tiled glass bottom.A large steel structure was built over the water to hold the wood and all flooring areas are slate. Two large basalt columns protrude from the water and were core drilled to act as water features.The water features are amazing artistic designs that solidify the Zen and tranquil feel of both the home and its décor.