The White Stuff

The ground floor of Leah and Jim Richardson's house is a loft-like multipurpose space for cooking, living, and dining. The entrance area is paved with nougat-pale travertine slabs; the wood floor a step below was milled from heart-pine beams salvaged from a Tennessee barn.

Lit by a chandelier found at a flea market in Paris, the dining area is furnished with a limestonetopped table and a casually elegant mixture of contemporary chairs slipcovered in white linen and antique Italian pearwood armchairs from a plantation estate sale.

Ceramic white pears are deployed as a sensual, sculptural centerpiece.

Leah terraced the steep, narrow lot to allow maximum use of the landscape; at the water's edge is a tabby-clad guest cottage with a roof terrace.

Close to the main house, which is located at the top of the hill, is one of several entertaining areas, a flagstone-covered terrace with a view of Destin harbor and the Gulf of Mexico beyond.

Rudy, the Richardson family's Yorkshire terrier.

Creeping fig clings to the home's tabby-clad walls. The front door is an Italianate antique.

Star fixtures hang from the entry's cedar-plank ceiling.

The only door in the open plan main living area is to a powder room. Leah designed the iron staircase that leads to the second-floor bedrooms.

The master bedroom is painted a pale shade of sage; bamboo roller blinds filter the sun.

A painting by Leah's artist mother hangs above a chair.

A bathtub is placed to offer a view of Destin harbor.

Vintage shutters line a wall of the study.

Separated from the living and dining areas by large columns, the sunny kitchen has clerestory windows from an Alabama church. The travertine marble of the entry continues on the kitchen floor.