LUXE SOUTH FLORIDA | BOSSA VIBES
IN MIAMI BEACH, DESIGNER JESSICA JAEGGER’S SHARED HERITAGE WITH A CLIENT YIELDS A HOME THAT EXUDES A BRAZILIAN SPIRIT.
WRITTEN BY LISA BINGHAM DEWART PHOTOGRAPHY BY MCA ESTÚDIO | STYLING BY PEGGY CHASE JORDAO
Jessica Jaegger has called Miami home for the last 25 years, although the designer’s hometown in Brazil remains a constant source of inspiration. In fact, her background was part of the reason Jaegger forged a spirited connection with a couple who had relocated to South Florida from San Francisco. “The wife is also from Rio de Janeiro,” she says, “and she wanted a designer who shared the same roots and aesthetics.”
Jaegger understood this mentality precisely. Her work tends to channel a bossa nova sensibility—soulful, effortless and refined, much like the 1950s Brazilian music movement. But while the Brazilian Modernism style leans toward sinuous curves, warm hues and inviting tactility, the clients’ new contemporary Miami Beach abode featured straight lines, cool tones and sleek surfaces, including onyx-like Italian porcelain floors. “Our goal was to transform the residence into a tropical-modern house that feels like Rio,” the designer reports. There was just one caveat: This wasn’t a full remodel, so she needed to find ways to deploy artful changes that required minimal intervention in order to establish the home’s new character.
To do most of the heavy lifting, Jaegger turned to textural stone applications and warm-toned woods, all installed under the watchful eye of builder Guilherme Garrido. For instance, separating the lounge and dining area was a massive two-sided fireplace faced in shiny, gold-accented gray marble. The designer chose to replace it with a hammered limestone—lending an earthier, more matte counterpoint against the glossy floors—then repeated the material on the base of the living room unit and on the primary bedroom’s fireplace. Infusing a sense of comfort, she covered walls in the foyer, living room and primary bedroom with walnut paneling and millwork. Finally, to inject organic softness, Jaegger introduced breezy linen sheers and plush rugs in pale neutrals. “They’re discreet,” she observes. “The beauty is in the details.”
Honoring the wife’s heritage, the designer selected furnishings and accents crafted by renowned Brazilian makers. Most pieces convey movement and fluidity, like the foyer’s floating wood console with a swooping leather detail and the living room’s lattice-like coffee table. Meanwhile, Jaegger designed the dining area’s solid-walnut table—portraying four geometric forms supporting a thin oversize top—which would appear right at home at a Rio dinner party. “The asymmetrical legs almost look like organic stone,” Jaegger describes, noting how the owners wanted the table to seat as many as 14 guests. Crowning the feature is another curvaceous element, a light fixture composed of glass globes. “It doesn’t block the view,” the designer points out, “and it allows the table to be the focal point.”
Rich walnut and creamy neutrals give the interiors a grounded backdrop, but it’s hard to think of Brazil without imagining lush landscapes and vivid color—which is why Jaegger carefully layered touches of complementary organic shades drawn from nature. “We played with red, orange, terra cotta and green,” she notes. The foyer houses a moss-colored sofa, an olive-toned chair occupies the living room, and the primary bedroom’s linens incorporate blush and terra-cotta hues.
Outside, color mostly comes from the blue-tiled pool and the waterway that winds along the verdant lot, so the furnishings here sport a refined black-and-white scheme. Vibrant artwork adds to the abode’s colorful impression—beginning in the foyer, where the designer hung a vivid geometric wall piece by Brazilian artist Marcelo Catalano. The artistic approach continues in the living room, where two of the residence’s most eye-catching works by Mai-Britt Wolthers, another Brazil-based creator, enliven the walnut panels concealing the television. “They give the room just the right amount of color,” Jaegger says.
Thoughtfully layered with cultural references, the house offers the wife a sense of belonging—a sentiment her designer relates to instinctively. “We understand each other,” Jaegger muses. “I could live here, because it speaks my language.”