London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Jul 25, 2025

In a Neighborhood of Gigantic Villas, This Charming, Pint-Sized Bungalow Holds Its Own

In a Neighborhood of Gigantic Villas, This Charming, Pint-Sized Bungalow Holds Its Own

As architect Lee F. Mindel demonstrates, sometimes you have to pare down to level up.

A couple of winters ago, when Herb Sambol decamped from Manhattan to a tiny Palm Beach bungalow, he was trying it on for size—literally, and without even realizing it. Already the owner of two stunning homes in New York (a 1,700-square-foot aerie in a Richard Meier–designed glass-and-steel downtown tower, as well as a four-bedroom Sag Harbor residence), the real estate entrepreneur was not shopping for a third home, much less one the size of a studio apartment. But the “cozy cabin,” a short drive from the stable where Sambol keeps two horses, grew on him. At the end of his rental period, when he heard it was going on the market, he asked the owners to sell it to him.

Sambol enlisted architect Lee F. Mindel, with whom he’d worked on several apartments over 25 years, to help him reimagine the seaside getaway, which had knotty wood walls and a low ceiling. “I’ve done 80,000-​square-foot homes, and 8,000-​square-foot homes, but not 800,” says Mindel, whose soft-spoken manner and conversational detours about everything from 1950s doo-wop to Dutch still-life paintings belie his status as one of New York’s most in-demand architects. “It’s a very humble project,” he adds, “but humble can be majestic.”

In the living room of Herb Sambol’s 1920s Palm Beach bungalow, the chairs and cocktail tables are from Hemisphere, the sofa is by RH, Restoration Hardware, and the armoire is by Crate & Barrel. The daybed is by Hästens, and the floor lamps are by Flos (left) and Gandia Blasco (right). The artwork is by Thomas Trum.


Indeed, the modest bungalow tells a Palm Beach tale that’s slightly different from the backstories of its neighboring ultra-​amenitized palazzos. Like the surrounding structures on Root Trail, a charming block-long enclave by the sea known for its bohemian vibe (Mr. Margaritaville himself, Jimmy Buffett, has a house on the street), the place was originally constructed to shelter the workers who labored on the town’s jazz-age mansions. “It was very upstairs, downstairs—and sideways,” Mindel says of the project, which he landed in the early days of the pandemic.

Unable to travel to the property at the time, he and his team had no other choice but to rely on the magic of FaceTime. With his contractor Jason Shinn masked up and socially distanced, Sambol climbed ladders with a tape measure in hand, reporting dimensions via iPhone to Mindel and his architectural designer (and husband) Jose Marty.

From their New York home office, the duo strategized. With such a small space, no design feature could be impractical, no item superfluous. “It’s like when you’re on a ship or a train, everything has to be functional,” says Mindel. “But those are some of the nicest places—think Orient Express.”

The primary bedroom’s bed and linens are by Hästens, the Design Within Reach side tables are topped with vintage travertine lamps by T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, and the 19th-century watercolors are by David Roberts.


The remit was as simple and challenging as a Zen koan: Pare it down, level up. The answer—a home as weightless and happy as a cartwheel—started with knocking out the attic, which gave the place a cathedral-like envelope. Rebuilding the walls was another game-changing transformation. While the three main rooms stayed intact, the shells around them were reconfigured to enable flow. The bedroom, for instance, is now accessible by a doorway in the back of the house rather than one in the middle of the living area, which had given it a slightly college-dormitory feel. And the multitasking living space—call it a great room, or do as Mindel does and refer to it as “a living room, a guest bedroom, a dining room, and a kitchen”—feels far more intentional, not to mention intelligent.

The end-to-end sofas do double duty as guest beds, beneath which sliding boxes function as extra storage space for visitors. Much of the furniture is meant to be moved around, or folded up and hung on walls when Sambol doesn’t need outdoor seating (in keeping with the home’s modest intentions, the maximum patio capacity is four).

In the living room, a side table by Serena & Lily separates a pair of daybeds by Hästens, the vintage molded plywood chair is by Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown for Knoll, and the vintage stools are by Barry Simpson. A collection of coral lines a high shelf above artwork by Thomas Trum.


“We were focused on getting it to the bare essence and not overdoing it,” says Grace Sierra, director of interiors for Mindel’s firm, who took charge of sourcing the restrained and happy decor. Notable players are the pair of Popsicle-bright paintings by contemporary Dutch artist Thomas Trum that hang over the daybeds and their counterpart near the sofa. Instead of a wall mirror, Mindel chose a silver orb lamp that throws light around the already sunlight-flooded residence.

Root Trail homes are shoulder-to-shoulder, which means a sense of community is baked in. Privacy? Not so much. Working with the outdoor space—some patches of which were a mere two feet wide—Mindel created a bracket of hedges, encircling the house in an external layer and creating something of a secret garden out back.

Sambol takes his coffee every morning out there, along with his dog, Jack. “I know it’s a modest home, but I have the opposite experience when I’m there,” he says. “It feels spacious and open, which are qualities that are hard to find in even a much larger house.”


Tour This Happy Palm Beach Bungalow


 Front of bungalow : Bougainvillea frames the front facade of Herb Sambol’s 1920s Palm Beach bungalow, which was renovated by the architect Lee F. Mindel.


Living space : In the dining room, the console from Design Within Reach is topped with vintage lamps from Bacchus Antik in Stockholm. The pendant is by Flos, and the artwork is by Nightshop.


Owner Herb Sambol : Homeowner Herb Sambol with his border terrier, Jack.


Living room : Inside the living room of the 800-square-foot bungalow.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
×