I wasn’t really planning to buy a place in Eilat, but as soon as I saw the view I
changed my mind,’ says English businessman Martin Abramson, who made aliya with
his wife, Karen, five years ago. “I just knew I could make it into a one-off
apartment.”
They live in a beautiful home in Herzliya Pituah which is
very much their private domain, but Abramson is so proud of the holiday home in
Eilat that he is happy to share the story with others. A very successful
businessman (“I’m totally self-made”) he is clearly a closet interior designer
who loves nothing better than to take a house or apartment and refurbish it to
express his vision.
“I love projects,” he says
enthusiastically.
Over the years he’s had several homes on which he has
put his personal stamp including several in his native Manchester. He also owned
a palatial home in France which he redesigned together with a French architect
from whom he feels he learnt a lot about the principles of interior
design.
The first thing that attracted him about this apartment, the
upper floor of a two-story building outside the town on the way to Taba, was the fact that looking out of his balcony he
could see the whole bay stretching before him as far as the eye could
see.
The balconies alone account for 200 square meters of space, while
the actual interior adds up to 300 sq.m. The pool is 15 meters long and curves
round to follow the shape of the outer wall. Inside are six bedrooms to
accommodate the family when the three children visit with the 10 grandchildren,
although he confides that this particular home is intended primarily for Karen
and himself.
The emphasis is on total comfort and convenience, with the
colors chosen to blend with the outside and in some way bring the sea into the
home, just as in previous homes he had always tried to bring the garden in and make it part of
the home.
As he is not trained as an interior designer he contacted Sari
Danone, and the two worked together to produce the fabulous place pictured here.
All the furniture was purchased in Jaffa, much of it imported from Italy by
Hommage, where he was able to find the look he wanted.
The lounge chairs
have been upholstered in three different fabrics, but all blending pleasantly
together and all suggesting the colors of the sea. Over the dining room table
hangs an unusual wooden light fitting, very striking and creating an impression
of branches.
“I felt a crystal chandelier would not be right for a
holiday home by the sea,” says Abramson.
On the far wall the collection
of different sized clocks and wheels also makes an immediate impact.
“We
needed something on the back wall that hits you between the eyes and this
succeeded in breaking up the monotony of the wall,” he says. On the neutral
couches, the same fabric as on the dining chairs reappears as cushions. Two easy
chairs are covered in rich royal blue. Conveniently near the dining room is the
open-plan kitchen, which is strictly kosher and has two of everything as well as
attractive mushroom chairs around the breakfast bar which doubles as a work
top.
The master bedroom boasts a four-poster bed painted in ebony black
and is made up with elegant white sheets trimmed with black, and monogrammed
pillows. The guest bedrooms all have their own color schemes, one of the
prettiest being a twinbedded room in Wedgwood blue and white and another in
delicate shades of eau de nil and cream.
On balmy Eilat nights they love
to sit on the terrace at the end of the pool where a bar has also been set up
and enjoy the lights twinkling over the bay.
Karen insists that she had
no say in the decorating of the apartment and it is all her husband’s work. She
is busy running her own photography business in Tel Aviv.
“We find it
very peaceful and calming whenever we come to Eilat,” they say.
“We feel
on top of the world.”
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