Coral Gables Historical Archive
The Times
Saturday, May 22, 1976, page 15 (of 28)
The page
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Home Life • Decorating • Design • Remodeling
The Coral Gables Times The Guide Home Life • Decorating • Design • Remodeling
Unusual touches make their Gables home unique
the times-guide visits . . . karalyn and steve robinson By ERICA MEYER Staff Writer A dark wooden plantation fan is suspended from the natural wood beams in Karalyn and Steve Robinson's living room. White walls contrast with the polished wood and dappled sunlight reflects off the glossy brick-red ceramic tile floor. Palms and thick bushes brush against the picture windows in the living room and it is impossible to tell that the house is only steps away from one of Coral Gables busiest streets. The house is individualistic and has been made more so by the Robinson's art collection and by careful placement of wicker accessories, plants and classy mementos of the family's worldwide travels. An Ethiopian basket, woven in tight rows of brightly colored straw, sits in the corner of the entry way near two family portraits, one showing just Steve and Karalyn and the other showing them with their two sons, Lowell, age six, and Alexander, almost two. A wooden lattice panel by the front door creates a Spanish atomosphere in the entry, especially as combined with the fine antique table and a second basket overflowing with bright yellow chrysanthemums. The flowers are on a low dividing half-wall separating the entry from the living room, where art work again dominates. A mammoth abstract, in black with rainbow panels across the top, covers the far wall. A grand piano, a wicker rocking chair and a sofa covered in muted flame-patterned browns, golds, greens and oranges are complemented by two chairs shaped like sideways "Z's". The unusual chairs, one green and the other orange, are remarkably comfortable. Steve describes them as Dutch imports called "amoeb" chairs. A single step from the entryway, kitty-korner to the living room, is a family room with another pair of unusual chairs. Tubular chrome supports sturdy leather strips shaped as deeply angled seats and broad armrests. Throughout the family room books overflow from built in shelves, travel mementos from Thailand and Africa and India are displayed and paintings and photographs beckon for closer inspection from the walls. Steve, an attorney active in civic affairs from the Players Repertory Theater to the Transition prisoner rehabilitation program, and Karalyn, a member of Dade's Democratic Executive Committee working for Jimmy Carter and a part of the grant review committee for the Division of Retardation, believe in exposing their children, at however early an age, to both art and travel. "We take them with us on trips," Karalyn said. And Steve added, "It's complicated, but it's not difficult." And, as for the artwork, "it's better for kids to grow up with art around them," Karalyn feels. "Now, I wouldn't tease them by putting something fragile on a low table, but they have to learn and they've been very good. Lowell used to tell company 'paintings are for looking, not for touching!' " The Gables house, especially with its unusual designer touches like the skylight in the master bathroom and the butcher block counters in the kitchen, is lovely, but, the Robinsons have found that they are outgrowing it. Architect Andy Fabregas, who helped them decorate their current home, designed the new home they are building in South Dade. They plan to move in August. "The new house will be completed different. It's designed to display the paintings," Karalyn said. In both homes, she said, the operating theory is "my children live in my house. Things are here for them." Consequently, among the plans for the new house are a separate work room for Karalyn and a separate playroom for the boys. Now, Lowell has a small bedroom with a gold shag rug and curtains and a window seat covered in a merry Marimekko fabric — white with the alphabet in red, blue, yellow and green. Alexander has a white crib in his father's study, nestled among the books and filing cabinets. The bassinet works oddly well next to the desk, but Karalyn hopes to end the joint arrangement in the new house. The master bedroom has a See EVERY, Page 16 Photos by ELIZABETH OWEN Steve and Karalyn are active in civic affairs. They both believe in exposing their children to art and travel at an early age. Palms and bushes brush against picture windows in the living room (below) and at one end of the entry-way (below right) hangs a family portrait.