By Editor,James Reginato

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Dee and I have worked on many houses together, but I would say that this one has been the most challenging,’ says Tommy Hilfiger of his latest home on South Ocean Boulevard in Palm Beach, Florida. He shares it with his wife of 17 years, Dee Hilfiger, and their (combined) seven children, aged 16 to 29.

‘It wasn’t just the vastness of the property and the scope of its renovation; we wanted this one to tick all the boxes of our previous homes,’ says Hilfiger, who sold their properties in Greenwich (Connecticut) and Miami to look for a space that combined the aspects the couple loved about both. ‘In Greenwich we had a long driveway and grounds, but our Miami house was located directly on the beach… We wanted to find the best of both worlds.’

After viewing numerous properties, the couple were shown one that had fallen into disrepair: a two-storey, 21,000-square-foot mansion built in the 1970s and designed by John L Volk, one of Palm Beach’s most revered architects.

Spread across three acres – vast by Palm Beach standards – the property is on a coveted stretch of South Ocean Boulevard and one of a handful of estates that stretch from the Atlantic Ocean to Lake Worth. It also includes a private tunnel running beneath South Ocean Boulevard, connecting the main house to the estate’s 300ft-long private sweep of beach.

‘When we walked in and could see the lake on one side of the living room and the ocean on the other, we knew it was the house for us,’ says Hilfiger.

The couple hired a trusted pair of hands, the Greenwich and Palm Beach-based interior designer Cindy Rinfret, to restore the property to its former glory. The brief? ‘Florida, but not cliché Florida,’ recalls Rinfret, who spent three years on the project.

Much of the main house was reclad in unusual coral stone sourced from Dominican Republic, an aesthetic that led to the couple naming the property ‘Coral House’. The walls are lined with custom-designed bookcases glazed with fine coral-stone dust, while silk curtains are lined with a bespoke coral patterned fabric designed by Rinfret. The most popular room in the house is the Coral Bar. With its vibrant lacquered surfaces and bamboo trim, it’s where family and friends gather for drinks and soirées.

The home is peppered with lavish details: a large hole had to be cut through a wall to bring in the marble kitchen units, and there is a look-through into the garage on the other side, home to Hilfiger’s car collection, which includes a pink 1957 Ford Thunderbird and a 1991 Rolls-Royce Corniche. ‘It’s the Ferrari of kitchens,’ says Rinfret.

In the entry hall, visitors are greeted by two striking Andy Warhol silkscreens, Flowers (1964) and Self-Portrait (1986). In the neoclassical-inspired living room, the focal point above the fireplace is a work by Picasso, Mousquetaire aux Oiseaux II (1972). ‘We bought this painting a year before we moved in, thinking it would go exactly there,’ says Hilfiger.

The dining room has hand-painted panels depicting lemon trees by de Gournay, and leads to Dee’s ‘dish room’, where her extensive collection of rare tableware is showcased on open shelves. ‘They’re such beautiful pieces,’ she says, ‘so why not?’

‘It’s kind of like wearing jeans with a silk shirt,’ says Rinfret of the overall design. ‘Nothing is too glam or glitzy.’

This is an edited extract from Hilfiger Homes by James Reginato, with photographs by Douglas Friedman, published by Vendome Press, £60