Guy About Town: Palm Beach Pop-Up Shops, Lovely Parties and Big Sales

Shopping is one of my favorite pastimes, in fact it used to be an addiction of sorts, before I started my own type of 12-step program that included avoidance, limitations and returns. But with all the great stores now located on Palm Beach Island, it is increasingly difficult to resist the urge to splurge.  

Speaking of shopping and splurging, what exactly is a pop-up store? Technically it’s a temporary store of sorts. Well, here in Palm Beach temporary can mean almost anything. Last year at The Royal Poinciana Plaza, my old employer from my youth, Cartier, created a seasonal pop up. And boy oh boy, that was some temporary space. The crisp and fluid architecture was totally sublime, with blond woods, velvets, brass and glass, not to mention the attractive staff that they pulled from their other locations. That store did so well that Cartier decided to make it permanent. In fact, that is generally the goal of a pop-up store.

At The Webster, on the corner of Sunrise and North County Road in the Paramount Building, J. Logan Home recently had a weekend-long pop-up store with an opening party that was custom made for the paparazzi. Annie Watt was there to photograph the young and the beautiful.  

The handsome Logan Horne creates one of a kind ready to wear and home décor objects made from vintage designer goods. His roomy Camp shirts made from designer silk scarves are my personal favorites. In attendance were Morgan O’Connor, Eric Viner and Alex Hammer, Ramona Singer, Harrison Morgan, David Koulakov, Nicky Hilton, George Chapet, Sue Jin Seth, Dylan Dixon, Rick Rose, and Eric Meier. By the way, the famed French patisserie Laduree was one of the sponsors. Yum!

Another pop-up store that I attended had the 211 Helpline charity as its evening benefactor. Decorator Danielle Rollins showcased the jeweler Susan Lister Locke, in Rollin’s permanent pop-up space on Georgia Avenue in West Palm Beach. The jewelry was very wearable, with the hand made creations ranging from $400 to $20,000 and up. I particularly liked the hand hammered gold bracelets with a scattering of stones. 

The 211 Helpline received a percentage of the jewelry sales to add to their Raise the Roof campaign to help them to build a new call center. Did you know that the 211 call center in Palm Beach County received over 3,000 calls concerning suicide last year alone? Please dial 2-1-1 if you or someone you know is in a crisis.

With the onslaught of New Yorkers that has moved here, Dan’s Papers is fast becoming a fixture here as well. The venerable Hamptons-based magazine held its inaugural Dan’s Papers Palm Beach Power List Party at The Colony Hotel recently. Honorees included people from all walks of life here in our community, and the raffle proceeds went to benefit the 211 Helpline. In attendance were Mayor Danielle Moore, Carol Calicchio, Iris Apfel, Camilla Webster, David McClymont, Veronica Webb, Chris DelGatto, Andrew LaRochelle, Anthony Bailey, Farley Rentschler, Randee Bank, Harrison Morgan, Jane Manus and Lorre Erlick

Most parties you remember for a few days, and then you forget about them. But my goddaughter, who I affectionately call my niece, got married recently, and that was one party that I will never forget. The rehearsal dinner was at Sant Ambroeus, where the mother of the groom, Nancy Walker, rented out the entire restaurant inside and out for 150 guests on a perfect Friday evening. The food was delicious, and the service was perfect, as it usually is there. And that is not so easily accomplished when everyone wants to be served at once.  

The next day on a balmy Saturday, Grace Knowlton Hyde walked down the aisle at Bethesda by The Sea church to marry Tally Walker. As she walked past the hundreds of spectators, she took our breath away. The bride wore a drop-dead gorgeous gown with a long train, a voluminous veil, and a matching bolero all in beige lace over tulle. The incredible ensemble was created by Oscar de la Renta, of course. The bride and groom left for Round Hill Jamaica after two days of much needed recuperation.

The effervescent Ms. Farley Rentschler hosted a sumptuous sit down dinner for 60 of her friends at her home on the north end. This was to celebrate the 50th birthday of her longtime friend Camilla Webster. It was a glorious evening with caviar and champagne, followed by clam chowder, and a lobster dinner. Yes indeed, that girl really knows how to throw a great party. Also in attendance were Renee Morrison, Barbara Crocker, Geri Emmett, Virginia Oatley, Deirdre Byrne, Anthony Bailey, Jayne and Chris Chase, Taniel and Arsine Koushakjian, Annie Watt, Vicki Schneps, Jennifer Goudy, Denise Fraile and Daniel Webster.

A gala evening called Art In The Eye to honor the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute was held at The Breakers. It was a rather intimate group of supporters, and we first enjoyed cocktails and sushi, as two artists sketched characters of the partiers. Then we all walked over to the circle room, which was decked out all in black, red and gold for the evening. The band played on as a dinner of filet mignon and lobster tails was served followed by dancing and a huge make-your-own Sundae. Some of the guests were Iris Apfel, Adrien Arpel, Harrison Morgan, Tova Leidesdorf, Ari Rifkin, Lois Pope, Arlette Gordon, Kristen Kelly Fisher, Cameron Neff and Judith Zerfoss from the International Society of Palm Beach. If you ever need serious help with your eyes, check out the wonderful things that Bascom Palmer does.

OK, enough about parties, and back to real estate. I think everyone thought William Lauder had gone over the top when he recently purchased a 6-year-old oceanfront mansion on N. Ocean Blvd for $110 million and immediately tore it down. Then he combined that lot with the one he owned next door to create a very rare 2.3 acres on the ocean and listed the two parcels together for $200 million. That’s a healthy price tag for an empty lot. But it will sell, as everything here does eventually. I just wonder which billionaire will add this little goodie into his or her portfolio?

And since we are speaking of buying and selling property, according to The Wall Street Journal, Katheryn Limbaugh, the widow of Rush Limbaugh, just sold her home at 1495 N Ocean Blvd for $155 million. The home with 16,629 square feet of interior space sits on 2.7 acres of oceanfront property. This seems like a great deal if you compare this home to the empty oceanfront lot of a similar size, being sold by William Lauder in the same neighborhood. But will the new owner — also William Lauder according to the Journal — keep the home, or tear it down too? I can’t imagine a $155 million house flip, but hey, you never know!

And whomever said that real estate is dead in Palm Beach, has certainly been proved wrong yet again. Time will tell!