Cocktail Hour With Paula Bickford

Table Of Content

• Here’s What’s Happening in Palm Beach This Season
• Membership
• Palm Beach to review request for outdoor cafe seating at The Breakers, Carriage House Club
• Construction begins on Carriage House social club; opening planned for late 2021
• Council makes revisions in wake of neighbors' continued concerns
• 'Right on schedule': Carriage House social club expected to open by year's end

Opening this month in two historic buildings, the club will feature Mediterranean and Japanese cuisine in several dining areas. The Carriage House is the embodiment of the Palm Beach spirit, effortlessly blended with the time honored traditions of European hospitality. The club will focus on sophisticated, yet approachable service and best-in-class food and beverage.

Here’s What’s Happening in Palm Beach This Season

Carriage House, the swanky members-only club Michael and Paula Bickford carefully created from two landmark Maurice Fatio and Addison Mizner buildings, quietly opens its striking blue doors at the iconic Phipps Plaza entrance this winter. “It will be elegant, private, and discreet,” says Ms. Bickford of the unfussy opening, befitting a bastion for the international jet set. Architect Keith Spina rescued pecky cypress and oversaw restoration, while Ms. Bickford partnered with Madrid-based artist Luis Bustamante to craft elegant interiors. Vibrant colorways including red lacquer and indigo blue set distinctive tones for each room, from an emerald bathroom with backlit green agate stone floor to backgammon-inspired wood floors in the social club’s reading room and multicolored semiprecious stones that adorn dining room tabletops. According to town documents, the Carriage House is requesting three special exceptions. In a unanimous vote, the Town Council approved the private club's request to add 75 new members and potentially 150 more during the next three years, and transfer 40 of its approved indoor dining seats to outdoor courtyard seating.

Membership

“I love happy endings, especially after three turbulent months,” said Silvin. These concerns were allayed after months of negotiations with the Commission, which approved the changes at its May 19 meeting. It was built for financier EF Hutton – the ex-husband of the grain heiress and philanthropist Marjorie Merriweather Post – who used it to house the world’s first trading floor. Crews are starting to install the interior, Freijomel said, and exterior restoration is underway.

Palm Beach to review request for outdoor cafe seating at The Breakers, Carriage House Club

The Town Council will review a pair of applications seeking consent for the addition of outdoor cafe seating and other improvements during its development review meeting Wednesday. Even though the building will be soundproofed, the council limited live bands to no more than three musicians. Hedrick Brothers Construction started work last week on the two landmarked buildings that will house the club — the ground floor of 270 S. During the early years of the pandemic, there was a 20 percent increase in New Yorkers moving to Florida compared with the average of the previous eight years, according to I.R.S. immigration data. They are chasing good health, sunshine, Florida’s no-income-tax status and, for the wealthiest among them, the elusive private club membership. The narrow island of Palm Beach — 16 miles long with many billionaires according to a 2021 Forbes ranking and a median sale price for a single-family home of about $9.9 million according to Redfin — has drawn young arrivistes from New York City and elsewhere, who fled during the pandemic.

What to Expect at Carriage House, Palm Beach's Buzzy New Private Club

The club is seeking to expand its membership from 232 members to a total of 457 members, translating to 75 new members a year for three years, according to documents. Carriage House also will need to modify the same approval number for supplemental off-site shared parking at 230 Royal Palm Way and valet service to that lot from 205 Royal Palm Way. David Tyson, managing partner of Tyson Management Group, is managing the project.

Construction begins on Carriage House social club; opening planned for late 2021

According to town documents, The Breakers is proposing a new 1,763-square-foot glass addition; the renovation of its open-air courtyard and addition of covered structures; and outdoor café seating. The owner envisions a “modern conception of a classic English social club presented with sophisticated, international elegance, luxury and an overlay of wit and whimsy that is a signature of both Palm Beach and English club style,” O’Donnell said. Seats are limited to 153 and occupancy to 225 people, except for special events where there will be 250. Terms do not include a dance floor or amplified music and an outdoor closing time Sunday through Wednesday midnight and Thursday through Saturday at 12.30pm.

Inspiring Interiors

The courtyard's sidewalk is built in the same style as the one at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro—a nod to Paula's Brazilian heritage. Additionally, the club will ask to transfer 40 of its approved indoor dining seats to outdoor seating if weather permits. This shift would not increase the seating counts above the prior approved total of 153 (67 at lunch), according to town documents. The private club—the latest in a number of recent openings—is the vision of founders Michael and Paula Bickford, who moved to Palm Beach from London eight years ago. The couple came across the Mizner-designed building, at 264 South County Road, while restoring their own home from the 1930s. The building once contained the world’s first stock trading floor and was built for Marjorie Merriweather Post’s husband, E.F.

Council makes revisions in wake of neighbors' continued concerns

In Miami's Design District, Major Food Group collaborated with designer Ken Fulk on ZZ’s Club, which features a cigar lounge and a modern Japanese restaurant with Tokyo-sourced seafood and the largest offering of Wagyu beef in South Florida. The Bath Club, Miami's oldest membership club, recently reopened on Miami Beach after an extensive renovation of its 1927 building. Michael's wife, Paula, who was born in Brazil and traded commodities there before studying fashion design at Central Saint Martins in London, oversaw the design of the club. As creative director, she tapped architect Keith Spina to handle the restoration of the buildings and worked with Madrid-based designer Luis Bustamante on the interiors. Last month, after months of grinding debate and opposition from residents, the council gave permission for the club to operate in the residential area.

A few blocks south, the Aman New York will open this spring in the historic Crown Building at Fifth Avenue and 57th Street. The membership number is capped by the town of Palm Beach, and occupancy will be limited to 225 people except for special events, when it will be 250. What will Carriage House add to a town of about 9,000 that already has its fair share of social clubs? "It's giving the community an exciting, delicious, beautiful place to go and gather across generations in a place that feels like a home away from home," says one member, who grew up in Palm Beach and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The conditions are contained within a declaration-of-use agreement, brought to the council Tuesday for final approval.

But before the council could make the changes made Tuesday, it had to vote to revise the declaration-of-use agreement. Council President Danielle Moore dissented in the 4-1 decision to do that, noting that the council, town staff and neighbors had already invested a lot of time painstakingly drafting the wording of the conditions. Regarding restrictions for special events, the council removed language that would have allowed the club to occasionally hold town-permitted events at nearby Phipps Plaza Park.

In Miami’s Style and design District, Main Food items Team collaborated with designer Ken Fulk on ZZ’s Club, which functions a cigar lounge and a present day Japanese cafe with Tokyo-sourced seafood and the most significant featuring of Wagyu beef in South Florida. The Bath Club, Miami’s oldest membership club, a short while ago reopened on Miami Seashore soon after an substantial renovation of its 1927 setting up. Michael’s spouse, Paula, who was born in Brazil and traded commodities there just before learning fashion design and style at Central Saint Martins in London, oversaw the style of the club.

With interiors by architect Thierry W. Despont, the club offers members the prospect to e book 3,600-sq.-foot, comprehensive-ground duplex suites overlooking Central Park. A handful of blocks south, the Aman New York will open up this spring in the historic Crown Making at Fifth Avenue and 57th Road. "An endorsement from neighbors really is reflective of you being a successful business partnership within this community. The club has been a wonderful addition to the town." Two years after opening its doors, the Carriage House won approval Wednesday to increase its membership and add outdoor restaurant seating. Members of the Aman Club, a worldwide private club with a reported $100,000 initiation fee and annual dues of $15,000, have access to dedicated spaces within Aman destinations in urban locations.

Those concerns were resolved after several months of negotiations with the commission, which approved the modifications at its May 19 meeting. The club will occupy two landmarked buildings — the ground floor of 270 S. Nelo Freijomel, an architect with West Palm Beach-based Spina O'Rourke + Partners, the project's architect, said work on the club at South County Road and Phipps Plaza is expected to be complete by the end of the year. If you feel like having oysters and champagne, my favorite area is the Blue Bar. In this room, the height of the tables is designed in such a way that you are meant to eat something light.

Many, at first, stayed with their parents, then bought houses and, finding life and parties better, have decided to stay. Although the building will be soundproofed, the council limited live bands to no more than three musicians. Despite early objections from neighbors and approval problems with a Palm Beach city council, construction on the Carriage House Social Club is proceeding according to plan. Together with the design and style, the chance to have another spot to dine out and entertain is what captivated various Palm Beach front people to acknowledge the club’s invitation to sign up for and pay back an initiation cost rumored to be in the 6 figures. The private club—the latest in a selection of latest openings—is the vision of founders Michael and Paula Bickford, who moved to Palm Beach front from London eight yrs in the past.

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They will be able to take advantage of private club areas at the Aman properties in New York, Tokyo, and Venice, as well as all future urban destinations for the brand, like Aman Miami and Aman Nai Lert Bangkok. At Aman New York, the members-only Aman Club on the 14th and 15th floors of the 83-room hotel features a cigar lounge and a wine library. The club will enforce a strict no-photo and no-phone policy, Paula Bickford said, and members have been receptive. The Palm Beach social season may traditionally wind down next month, but a new private club is just getting started. Ziska requested another change, which also was made, pertaining to the requirement that the club maintain a valet stand and parking plan. Councilwoman Margaret Zeidman said Phipps Plaza Park differs from other town parks because of its close proximity to homes.