Inside a 1940s Palm Beach House Where Lily Dierkes Puts a Mod Spin on Trad Style

In Palm Beach, where good taste can often seem preordained, designer Lily Dierkes saw an opportunity to loosen the script. Though the storied enclave is steeped in decorative tradition, Dierkes was drawn to the freedom she found beneath its polished surface. “It has a lot of history,” she notes, “but it’s a place that also allows for just as much flexibility.” That balance of tradition and whimsy, a hallmark of the AD100 talent’s practice, was precisely what her clients, Erik and Casey Waldin, were seeking. Following her four-year overhaul of the couple’s 1920s waterfront summer home on Long Island Sound, the Waldins, who have two school-age daughters, invited Dierkes to reimagine their new primary residence in South Florida. “When we got to this house,” reflects Erik, an investor with a penchant for historic preservation, “we felt comfortable saying, ‘You understand what we like, and we don’t want to stifle your aesthetic.’ ” With that trust firmly established, Dierkes, who first met Casey in Lyford Cay, approached the 1940s white-stucco house as an opportunity to revisit and push ideas that had been set aside during that earlier project, particularly when it came to finishes, fabrics, and the use of color in general. “They wanted it to feel playful and optimistic for the kids,” she explains, “but also, importantly, sophisticated enough to serve as a backdrop for their wonderful art collection,” which includes works by David Hockney, George Condo, Ed Ruscha, and Marina Perez Simão, among others. The Waldins acquired the five-bedroom property—a lush oasis with a pool—from acquaintances who had owned it for three decades. Though well maintained, the house required significant updates, particularly new windows and doors to address years of salt-air exposure. Casey, who had previously taken a hands-on role in the interiors, welcomed the opportunity to start anew. “I always felt like what I had done was a little bit in conflict with the art,” she shares. “When you take it all off and start over, you realize that there are so many other options.” Throughout the home, art and interior architecture are in dynamic dialogue. A glowing Loie Hollowell canvas hangs against a tortoiseshell wall covering in the dining room; a monkey painted by Ruth Nemet enlivens Casey’s office, where nearly every surface is wrapped in Jed Johnson’s Jardin in Citron; and a monumental Ugo Rondinone watercolor commands the mirror-ceilinged sunroom from its spot above a Vladimir Kagan Serpentine sofa. Each pairing is deliberate but never predictable. Indeed, the house is defined by a sense of the unexpected. A piece positioned just off-center; objects of various origins and periods are brought into close, almost theatrical proximity. “I like doing things that feel surreal, suspending your belief a little bit,” says Dierkes, who, before working as the right hand to fellow AD100 designer David Netto for nearly six years and, later, in the firm of Tom Scheerer, was a production designer for music videos and commercials. That cinematic sensibility is perhaps most evident in the home’s spatial choreography. The entry hall sets the tone with a hand-painted terrazzo-style floor, at once refined and expressive, and the entertaining spaces unfold like a sequence of distinct stages. Heavy portieres of a Kravet stripe in the primary suite separate the sitting and sleeping areas. Dierkes traces her aesthetic instincts back to her upbringing in Southern California, where her father built Craftsman-style houses and her mother, a skilled seamstress, sewed sails for boats and canvas bags. Those early experiences exposed her to both the structural and tactile dimensions of design as well as to individuals “who are very creative, with distinct and complementary eyes.” That ability to reconcile differing perspectives proved essential in her work with the Waldins. “My aesthetic and Casey’s aesthetic throughout our history have been a little different,” Erik explains. “Lily’s great at respecting both and building a bridge that helped us grow.” Creating a home that could accommodate both family life and frequent entertaining was central to the brief. In addition to designing a cheerful environment for their daughters, now ages five and seven, Dierkes developed a series of intimate gathering spaces that encourage movement and discovery. “You feel like you’re in a different little theater in each one,” Erik says. Beloved spaces include the pecky cypress–lined living room, with its twin seating areas anchored by boxwood-hued sofas, and a paneled library, where guests tend to linger beneath a tarpon painting by James Prosek—a nod to the family’s affinity for water and boating. “Lily gave us confidence to feel like we could finally now really entertain,” Casey says. “We are proud of how everything has come together and want to be able to share it.” The collaboration yielded unexpected rewards as well. Casey found her passion for design rekindled through hands-on styling, and Erik now serves as the treasurer of the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach. For Dierkes, who balances residential commissions with a hotel project in New York City from her Catskills studio, the experience reinforced the value of creative confidence. “My favorite aspect was how much trust there was between me and the Waldins, getting to see through their big ideas, and having them be so happy,” she says. “It makes it all worth it—it’s a dream.” This story appears in the July/August issue. Never miss a story when you subscribe to AD.