The Calascio is offered furnished and available for immediate occupancy. For more information please contact the Estuary Sales Center at 239.261.3148. For your new construction, remodel or renew of your home, contact Collins & DuPont to assist you in turning your space into timeless designs of gracious living at 239.948.2400.

Naples Casamore Broker Grand Opening Event

June 9th kicked off the first of many planned Broker Happy Hour events at the all new Naples Casamore. The developer team for Gulfshore Development II, LLC are Daniel Whitefield, Grigory Levinzon & Ryan Lang, who were all in attendance for the broker grand opening event on site located at 1754 Gulf Shore Blvd North just south of the Edgewater Hotel in Olde Naples. Also in attendance along with Collins & DuPont Interior Design were Rothchilds International Realty the project and marketing agents, BCB Homes the builder, and Stofft Cooney the architect for the private enclave of 12 detached grand estate homes, each with it’s own private boat slip and in-ground pool and spa.

The Collins & DuPont model at Naples Casamore will open in February 2011 and will feature a Luxury Coastal design theme. This theme fits the community and its location in the heart of Olde Naples. The model is the largest of three floor plans available and will face the canal and boat slips. Pricing starts at $3,995,000 with total square feet of 5941 to 6413. For more information please contact Rothchilds International Realty at 239.687.3226 or visit the web at www.naplescasamore.com.

This month we are proud to feature our first contributor, Ms. Cheryl Draa of Marietta, Georgia. She is the owner of
Cheryl Draa Interior Designs. Please enjoy her article on “Summer Trends” which was inspired by her spring visit to the mini market in Atlanta and Joe Ruggerio.

I recently read about the School Resource Center at the Lee County Schools Foundation, located on Second Street between Jackson and Hendry Streets in downtown Fort Myers. The dedicated staff at the School Resource Center collect corporate and individual donations of school supplies, art supplies, books, and classroom materials.  Lee County teachers can “shop” for free, getting much needed supplies for their classrooms and their students.   Most classroom teachers purchase supplies for their students on their own dime, so the Resource Center fills a great need.

When Collins & DuPont’s resource library had a sizable number of fabric sample books to discard, I thought they might enjoy a new life in classroom art projects.  This afternoon, I’m taking our second car load of sample books to the Resource Center. The teachers are happy, our design librarian is happy, and we did our part to “reduce, reuse, and recycle!”

To make a donation, or for more information, call the Resource Center at 239-337-0433.

Below are a few of my favorite snapshots of Wearstler’s designs. I love the fabulous bar with interesting molding and mirrors, the unique library, and hotel common area. By the way, The Viceroy in Santa Monica, CA, which Wearstler designed is a cool spot to have a cocktail. When I went, there was a fun loungey vibe around the pool and Eddie Murphy was dining under a beautiful white tent on the patio.

On Haight street my husband and I ate tapas at Cha Cha Cha and then moved on to Middle Eastern cuisine at Kan Zaman where people were smoking from hookahs. Sadly, we missed the belly dancers.

We strolled through China Town and Little Italy on the same afternoon and enjoyed lunch in Fisherman’s Wharf at Tarantino’s. We stayed at the Grand Hyatt on Union Square (which was wonderful) and did a little shopping. We visited the Museum of Modern Art where we enjoyed the Georgia O’Keefe and Ansel Adams exhibit the most.

Seeing the Golden Gate Bridge and the famous Painted Ladies was a thrill. Ghirardelli Square is neat — even the bars there have character with ivy growing on their brick walls. Sausalito was surprising and romantic. It was cool to be in this charming town full of dog lovers and cyclers and to look across the bay at the San Francisco skyline.

In summary, our trip to San Fran was a 10! If you have a chance to visit, don’t hesitate to go.

Say goodbye to Summer…. SEASON has arrived

Now… is the time to support what’s going on in Southwest Florida

As the steady steam of our friends from the north begin to arrive, just watch the weather reports to our north as it gets colder nearly everywhere north of Orlando and fluffy white flakes ride the jet stream and fill the northern air, we’ll soon notice the increase in our traffic and streets filling up. It takes longer to get around, traffic lights have a longer delay, slow cars in Fast Lanes and on and on..

No complaining here; it’s just a matter of fact.

Year round Florida residents like myself welcome all back home.

Perhaps the petite little “older gal” has a driver this year (at least I hope so… for all our safety)!!

Anyway, it’s all our own piece of paradise….right???

We all look forward to this time of year. Our local area businesses, social outlets and networking spots are in full gear and the “Let the Festivities Begin-welcome mats” are in place.

Whether it’s our famous dining spots, night club scenes, theatre, shopping, art events or renowned charity events, our area is ready to put aside the doom and gloom of these trying, economic times and enjoy the beautiful place we call home.

Hopefully, my blog and more times than not, ramblings will put another twist on a wide variety of venues, Social Events, Art Shows, Theatre Performance, what’s the hottest ticket at the “Phil”, Barbara B. Mann Performance Art Center, best eats for cheap or going overboard. Shopping for that perfect pair of shoes or hopping from one party to the next. But the fun of a full social calender is worth it! And of course, you must eat and enjoy libations along the way.

My first highlighted event to kick-off the 09’ season is to join other colleagues and you should too….at the NORTH NAPLES ARTS ALLIANCE’S:

“Underground Art Wednesday”… scheduled for this Wednesday, October 7th from 6:00-9:00 P.M.

(This is the last scheduled event on their Summer Events Calendar)

NOVEMBER 4th, 2009 will be the Alliance’s “Fall Kick-Off Event! Most of the 15-20 group members are in their studios for this event. I’ll write more on this later. Please use the attachment here to go to any of these websites and see their work!

Richard Rosen

Patty Kane

This Fine group of artisans is located in and around the Trade Center Way area located near Pine Ridge and Airport Pulling Roads in North Naples.

The group hosts an open house event the first Wednesday of every month.

We’ve got our own, Miami style art district right here in Naples. Diverse in what they offer; these artisans have a true passion for sharing their work and have a great sense of community. Just envision owning a piece of their artwork, watching some of these artists “live” at the event creating spectacular artwork and perhaps for you. Events like these give us all an opportunity to appreciate the talented artists in our own backyard.

Perhaps you could stop by the Shops at Mercato for a nice dinner at The Capital Grille, cocktails at Blue Martini or The Pub while you’re there, why not visit the condominium residences developed by the Lutgert Companies?  Collins & DuPont’s designers completed two award winning models at the Strada-Residences 5407 and 7304.

Make it an evening out on the Town-Underground Arts Wednesdays and the Mercato!

As we begin to mark our calendars, I have highlighted just one of our areas ongoing and upcoming events that you should start thinking about.

Art League of Bonita Springs

Watch for upcoming highlights on everything that Southwest Florida has to offer (and my ongoing tidbits of “this and that” as season continues)!