Grandeur magazine

grand | OPEN DOOR

Anthony Farhat is president of PGI Homes and his wife, Tia, is the company’s design director so they used their expertise to create their dream home on Sanibel Island.

DREAM HOME Anthony and Tia Farhat’s blueprint for their custom island home was a natural fit.

STORY BY ANDREA STETSON | PHOTOS BY AMANDA INSCORE GRANDEUR | DECEMBER 2017 | 63

ia Farhat loves bling, while husband Anthony veers toward politics.

Preston, 10, is a Star Wars fan and Pierce, 8, is a young artist. The Farhats designed their two-story home on Sanibel Island with their passions and love of the island as the beacons for their blueprint.

Anthony is president of PGI Homes. Tia is the company’s design director. When they created their Sanibel dream house, they knew exactly what they wanted.

Tia’s fancy for bling is evident in the dining room chandelier, which has 184 large prisms and hundreds of tinier prisms that look like they are floating above. “Lighting is the jewelry of the house,” she says. There are sparkly lights in the entrance hall, more glittering lights by the bed in the master bedroom and glittery, silver pillows on the master bed.

The couple created matching his and her dens—both hosting spacious desks. “This is my favorite spot,” Anthony says. The desks are “so big because we work on blueprints all the time.”

While the furniture in both dens is the same, the style is quite different. Anthony has letters from Vice President Michael Pence and Gov. Rick Scott on his, while Tia’s display family photos.

Both have acrylic cabinets from Italy. Anthony’s displays the Aurora Awards his company has won, while Tia styles hers with a miniature sandcastle and coral. “I love everything Sanibel,” Tia says. “I tried to make it with things that remind me of being on such a cool island.”

On the other side of the main floor are the family room, dining room and kitchen. Those rooms all overlook a terrace that has a white spiral staircase that leads to the lanai and pool.

The family room features a large television, comfy sofas and chairs. The formal dining table keeps the Sanibel theme with a decorative piece of driftwood in the center and napkin holders with a shell design. The spotless white kitchen has an island bar where the children usually eat. “We eat at the table and then there is always the couch. We eat there about 50 percent of the time,” Anthony says.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Tia and Anthony Farhat’s bedroom is one of the only rooms without a television, but it has a great view of the outdoors though the sliding glass doors. • Tia Farhat loves bling and says the dining room with its bling chandelier with sparkling prisms is her favorite place in the home. • Pierce’s bedroom has an artsy look to match his love of art. The round chair and colorful décor contribute to the art theme. • Tia Farhat’s closet looks like a fancy department store display.

There’s more bling in the lighting fixture and a comfy pink chair in the middle of the spacious closet. • Anthony and Tia Farhat and their sons, Preston and Pierce, love their Sanibel Island home. • The boys say they often eat at the wide white island in the kitchen while their parents admit to enjoying meals sitting on the couch in the family room.

64 | DECEMBER 2017 | grandeurmagazine.com

grand | OPEN DOOR

GRANDEUR | DECEMBER 2017 | 65

grand | OPEN DOOR

The terrace continues the white color with its white couches, chairs and table. Automatic roll-up screens keep out insects and allow breezes when it’s not buggy.

Upstairs is the boys’ favorite place in the house. “I like my room because I am a Star Wars geek and everything in there is Star Wars,” Preston says happily.

A large Death Star print hangs over his bed and adds a twinkle to the room with the little lights that are imbedded in the picture. There are models on the shelves and Star Wars books on the desk and bookshelf. There is even a white Darth Vader sculpture made from pieces that crumbled from the National Cathedral in Maryland.

Preston’s dark-gray desk looks like a metal locker or something you might see on a spaceship. His fan has six oval-shaped blades that circle a round orb center. The tongue-and-grove ceiling is gray. “It keeps the theme of space,” Tia explains.

Pierce’s room is white with bright splashes of color that match his passion for art. There are paintings he did of palm trees and the beach, along with a painting that features swirls of turquoise and teal colors. His rug looks like a colorful artist’s palette.

His white comforter is accented with pillows that have colorful paintbrushes and paint as a design. On 66 | DECEMBER 2017 | grandeurmagazine.com

his shelf is the book “The Day the Crayons Quit.” On his desk is a book about contemporary art. Pierce’s desk is a sleek, modern white, as is the tongue-andgrove ceiling. It is a stark difference to his brother’s bedroom.

“I like black; he likes white,” Preston explains.

The master suite is a vision of white, glass and bling. While there are flat-screen televisions in almost every room, including the boy’s bedrooms, dens, family room and lanai, there is no television in the master suite.

“No TV, I lost that argument,” Anthony says. “I don’t get one. Everybody else gets one. I watch TV on my iPad in bed.”

He can also watch the scenery through the sliding glass doors leading to the terrace. More glass creates the wall and entry to the master bathroom. The entire bathroom is bright and light with white tiles and cabinets. There is no drywall in the bathroom, only tile.

Tia’s closet has a bling light and a pink chair in the middle. Shoes are meticulously aligned in cubbies.

Clothes are all hung as neatly as a luxury department store. Anthony doesn’t care to show his closet. “Everyone has to have one junk room,” he divulges.

While Pierce said his bedroom is his favorite place

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: White is the prevalent color in the Farhat kitchen and family room and even with two children, the white is spotless. • There is a doggie wash in the laundry room. • Tia’s den is a mirror image of her husbands.

While they have the same desk and bookcases, they are decorated differently. Tia’s den features family photos and beach and shell items on the shelves. • A spiral staircase leads from the terrace by the main oor down to the swimming pool and lanai area. • Preston loves his Star Wars themed room. The Death Star print over the bed has tiny lights, the desk looks like something from space and he even has a Darth Vader sculpture made from pieces that crumbled from the National Cathedral in Maryland.

in the house, he wanted to add a second favorite—the downstairs video room.

The game room, on the lowest level, has an Xbox and a Wii U. There is a super-sized, at-screen monitor, gray leather couch and two giant Fat Boy bean bag chairs. This is where the boys play and hang out with friends. Just beyond that room is a guest suite with a king-sized bed, a painting done by Tia and Pierce and views of the lanai and pool.

The lanai also features a ping pong table and sitting area.

The Farhat house has other unique features. Butcher block steps were used on the staircase. A wall of white quartz is featured on the staircase, family room and lanai. Rock-climbing sculptured men decorate the wall by the stairs. The laundry room has a dog

wash area.

Anthony points out one more space: a closet for the electronics that run the smart home. Everything from the lights and blinds to the music and televisions can be remotely controlled. The bedroom shades are on an automatic schedule. So are some of the lights. “At 6 a.m., the lights come on in the kids’ rooms. They can’t sleep in,� Tia explains.

The four-bedroom, four-bathroom home with two dens spans 4,100 square feet under air and 6,400 square feet of total living space. It also has a three-car garage plus extra garage space for a golf cart. The Farhats moved into their dream home in August 2016. “We love Sanibel,� Tia says. “It’s the school and the sense of community. We just love being here. It is like an old-fashioned sense of community.�

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