Daniel Ponton’s condo evokes Moroccan design by Geoffrey Bradfield

This should not come as a surprise. Daniel Ponton, who has owned Club Colette for more than 25 years, has four building projects under way simultaneously.

“I create backdrops for celebrations for people, and we are constantly transforming Club Colette,” he explains, referring to the many parties he hosts during the season at the private club on Peruvian Avenue. “So my work, which I really love, continues into my private life.”

Present ventures include his new condominium at Trump Plaza on Flagler Drive in West Palm Beach; a whaling captain’s house in Cape Cod, Mass.; a renovation to a mid-century residence in the Caribbean; and an environmentally sustainable building project in Rwanda.

And over the past 20 years, he’s transformed a total of seven properties in Palm Beach and vicinity. “When I finish a project, I just need to keep re-creating,” Ponton says.

And that means that his two-bedroom, three-bathroom condominium ― No. 2-B in the oceanfront Dunster House, which is decorated in sophisticated-yet-exotic style by prominent designer Geoffrey Bradfield ― is for sale.

With ocean views from its balcony, the apartment at 360 S. Ocean Blvd. has 3,200 square feet of living space, inside and out, and has been listed by Barrett Welles Property Group for $3.49 million, a price that includes almost all of the furnishings. The artwork is available in a separate transaction.

Argentina-born Ponton, who has lived in the United States since he was a young boy, arrived in Palm Beach in 1982. He came to live at the contemporary-style Dunster House after being diagnosed five years ago with a brain tumor, which required surgery as part of its treatment. The health crisis caused him to take a hard look at his priorities, he explains ―and among those was creating a “bucket list” of things he wanted to get done.

“And the No. 1 thing on it was to simplify. So I wanted to move from my big house on Golfview (Road) to an apartment, and I wanted to have Geoffrey Bradfield, a dear friend, design a fanciful, luxurious and intimate environment that was a conglomeration of different cultures centered around the Middle East,” Ponton says.

The end result was a design inspired by Morocco, a multicultural oasis known as the “Land of a Thousand Kasbahs.”

He bought the condo in 2007, and with its high ceilings and white-with-blue color palette, it could, indeed, be a kasbah. But far from being a traditional “citadel” or “stronghold,” this striking residence, with its many windows, offers pleasant views and ocean breezes in a setting that is as far-flung as it is memorable.

“The fun thing about this apartment is that everything was created for it,” Ponton says, referring to, well, everything ― the Venetian plaster walls, the custom moldings, hand-painted tile, the Stark carpeting, the lighting, the furnishings and the window coverings.

Even the ceiling in the entry is an experience ― it’s covered in white gold leaf. And over the white CaesarStone quartz floor is a decorative area rug shaped like a palm of a hand and decorated with fish and eye motifs ― it welcomes visitors, while setting the overall design tone. A contemporary painting of a face is almost entirely blue and appears to blend in with the wall. Opposite is a mirrored alcove.

Door openings to the living room and bedroom wing are topped with ogee-shaped arches, a classic Middle Eastern motif.

For the living room, Bradfield edged the ceiling with a custom-designed molding that mimics the design in the carpet, as well as the blue edging on the white chenille chairs. There also are two white couches and Lucite tables. The artwork includes a reverse image of the entry painting.

Glass doors, draped with cream curtains edged in blue, open to the terrace that overlooks the pool.

On the north wall are two floor-to-ceiling mirrors, again framed in ogee arches, that echo the shape of the openings ― hung with blue lattice doors ― to the dining and media rooms.

Spring Parade of Homes: Grand Award Winners

In the market for an award-winning dream home?

Well, look no further ― Medallion Homes might have just what you want, and it can be seen on the Topeka Home Builders Association’s Spring Parade of Homes, which runs through this weekend (noon to 5 p.m. daily).

The four-bedroom, 3,093-square-foot home at 6023 S.W. 4th St. ― one of two Grand Award winners on the parade ― was built by Ron Faught in the River Hill Estates and styled around a dream designer Annette Stahl had about “Alice in Wonderland.”

“I woke up at four in the morning and drew up the design, and called Ron and asked him if we could build it,” Stahl said. “If you look at all the pictures I did, you’ll see they’re all big and over exaggerated.”

The designer described the house as having a flow, “moving from one room to the next.”

“When you’re in the master closet, you’re right off the laundry room,” Stahl said. “When you come in from the garage, you’re right off the laundry room, so there is a whole flow to it.”

The upstairs features a master bedroom, master bathroom, walk-through closet, laundry area, kitchen with dining area, walk-in pantry, living room, bathroom, media center and a deck. Downstairs includes two bedrooms, a family room, wet bar, playhouse under the stairs, patio doors, an additional bathroom and a safe room.

There are walnut and tile floors, as well as carpet, throughout the home. The kitchen has granite countertops and Custom Wood cherry cabinets.

“The best thing about this home is the view,” Stahl said. “When standing in the living room, the cathedral ceilings follow all the way out to the back deck.”

There are 24 lots in the River Hill Estates, Faught said.

“When we design a home, we try to take into consideration the lot and the direction the house sits,” Faught said. “Because the houses are only 20 feet apart here, you don’t want a window looking over at the neighbor. So there are no windows that you can look out from either side of the home, only out the front and back of the house.”

Harold Ramsey, owner of Ramsey Custom Homes, takes pride in building stylish homes that meet Energy Star standards at an affordable price.

The ranch-style house at 2125 S.W. Village Hall Road in the Miller’s Glen community ― a Grand Award winner on this year’s Spring Parade of Homes ― is one of the most energy efficient homes a person can buy, Ramsey said.

“In this price range, there are virtually no new homes that can be built,” Ramsey said. “This is the least expensive, most efficient that can be built. Our primary focus is the Energy Star built homes that give the customer lower energy bills, which is what everyone wants these days.”

The three-bedroom, three-bathroom home features a custom lighting package, red oak floors, ceramic tile in the bathrooms, 10-foot-high ceilings and crown molding throughout. It also has an open floor plan, walk-in pantry and a fireplace.

The appliances are energy efficient, too, Ramsey said.

Schools must rely less on testing

Today is National Teacher Day. On this day set aside to honor those who hold the future in their classrooms, I am being joined by 31 Central/East Texas superintendents and thousands of teachers in sending a strong message to Gov. Rick Perry and members of the Texas Legislature: The current system of standardized testing and method of funding our districts is broken, and it is time to repair it for the betterment of the citizens of our great state.

Accountability is one of the tenets we strive to teach our students from the time they enter our schools until they graduate. We strongly believe in the concept of accountability and support efforts to hold Texas schools to a high standard.

When accountability becomes an overwhelming system of rules and regulations which propel Texas school districts into a quagmire of standardized testing that creates excessive burden and anxiety on students and teachers alike, however, then we wholeheartedly agree with Education Commissioner Robert Scott who proclaimed our current system a “perversion” of its original intent.

Preparing Texas students for post-secondary success is a priority. Their success is vital to our economy, our prosperity and our competitiveness. A student’s path to that success should be marked by rigorous, relevant instruction of the highest standards. As part of that path, standardized testing should be used as an assessment tool to determine the quality and depth of instruction. It should not become the overriding, overbearing instrument we have today.

The problems and inadequacies of the Texas testing and accountability system must be addressed.

Cautious consideration must be given to the number of days given over to testing, the number of tests being administered, as well as passing standards and impact on school ratings.

Additionally, the woes of the funding system for Texas public schools continue to drive districts into even deeper quandries.

While scrambling to balance budgets with dwindling revenue, the seemingly endless stream of unfunded mandates, particularly in regards to the standardized testing system, have caused districts to begin making cuts that will negatively impact the quality of instruction sooner rather than later.

Texas public schools are financed by a combination of state, local and federal revenue. This system has produced glaring inequities among the state’s 1,030 school districts. With property taxes as the local source of operating revenue, a wide disparity exists in education spending. Districts with expensive commercial property have high tax bases, while other districts must impose higher tax rates to offset a low tax base, a system which produces less money for poor districts.

Though the rankings and methodology vary from year to year, Texas consistently has ranked in the bottom tier of states with regards to per-pupil education spending. By what logic is a state’s investment in educating a child worth more in New York than in Texas? Within our own state, the system suggests that a child in one town is worth more than one just miles away.

We are currently operating under a formula that ties school funding to earned revenue districts had in 2006, resulting in similar funding inequities now that existed then.

Do districts need more money to adequately meet the needs of today’s operational budget requirements? Absolutely. Will more money magically solve the woes of public education? Absolutely not.

A level playing field across the state, coupled with adequate dollars to survive in today’s economy, however, will begin the process so desperately needed by Texas public school districts.

Business opening showroom in downtown Fowlerville

The owner of a new downtown Fowlerville flooring showroom said she wants customers' shopping experience to be free from worry.

"I want the overall experience for Mrs. Jones to be like going to the spa," said Dawn Hatcher, of Flooring Finesse by Design.

The business, founded in 2008, has served commercial designers and architectural clients, and is now expanding to serve residential customers. Its showroom at 141 S. Grand Ave. is scheduled to open May 18.

"We want to increase our diversity," Hatcher said. "I get gratification of the customer being able to touch and feel the product and when his or her eyes open wide.

"I get the personal gratification in seeing that initial excitement in the customer's eyes. If I can assist and make it more of a home, I've met my goal," she added.

While the business doesn't install the flooring, Hatcher said she's willing to offer customers information on referred installers who she said will come out and measure dimensions for "Mrs. Jones' backsplash and kitchen floor."

The highlight of the business' 850-square-foot showroom is the "feature wall," she said, which displays unique tiles and mosaics.

"There are endless possibilities with what you can do with mosaics," Hatcher said. "It is just phenomenal.

"It's a lot of fun to sit with a customer and show them what they can do with them. They're great for backsplashes, fireplaces and pools," she added.

One product the showroom carries is a glow-in-the-dark tile infused by solar light by Spanish manufacturer Vidrepur. The tiles are made from 99 percent recycled material, according to the manufacturer's Web site.

"It's not the ordinary product that you'll see in box stores," Hatcher said.

Assistant Terry Boyd-Leonard is new to the flooring industry, but said she's learned a lot after attending Coverings, an international trade fair and expo for ceramic tile and natural stone. The event was held in April in Orlando, Fla.

"I've been in sales forever," she said. "But I never knew there was so much to learn about tile."

Big Dig left city with ugly network of tunnels

For ugly, it’s hard to beat the tunnels of Boston - those filthy, unfinished, aesthetically bereft, subterranean blights that are a visitor’s first experience of the post-Big-Dig city - no matter what direction they come from.

“Welcome to Boston, where we don’t care how we look,” these engineering marvels say to incoming Duluthers or Gdanskians, not to mention zillions of commuters.

“What can we do?” they shrug. “We ran out of money.”

There is so much ghastliness. Where to begin? How about the dirt? It’s bad enough the walls are covered in those endless, boring, white porcelain tiles (on which more later): They’re also so exhaust-blackened, the tunnels look like one vast New York Port Authority bathroom, circa 1978. Some of the walls and grates haven’t been washed in years. A few have never made the acquaintance of Messrs. Soap and Water.

“I don’t think in past years we’ve been as diligent about cleaning,” says Frank DePaola, MassDOT’s newish highway honcho and master of understatement. But he promises a big push on the cleanliness front starting this month, when nocturnal, raincoated crews will wield power washers.

That ought to brighten the tunnels a bit. Lord knows, they need it. Because most of them are lit by the saddest lights you’ve ever seen, long lines of wan, fluorescent fixtures that seem to be using all of their energy just clinging to the ceiling, and cast a pale, sickly glow that would make a teenaged Goth swoon.

And that’s the ones that are working. Almost every mile of tunnel has lights out. The bumpy, crumbling turnpike tunnels that run under the Prudential Center boast the gloomiest gloom. There, DePaola’s people have installed new lights to bolster the pathetic old ones, but they’re so oddly spaced, it looks like a ruffian has come in and punched out a bunch of the tunnel’s teeth.

DePaola is talking about replacing the lights in all tunnels with new, LED numbers. I’m conflicted about this. Because, even though it will make the tunnels safer, better lighting means it will be harder to ignore the most egregious of the aesthetic transgressions perpetrated by highway officials in their quest to save money. In most of the artery’s tunnels and connectors (except the Ted Williams Tunnel, which was finished first), the tiles stop about two-thirds of the way up to the ceilings. In their place, there is black-painted concrete, steel grates, or, as on the Storrow Drive ramp, a pocked and jagged wall.

The steel grates, offensive as they are, were an attempt to prettify the even uglier nothingness begat by budget cuts. But even that has been messed up, with chunks of the metal cut away, willy-nilly, as workers try to control the water leaks the project’s flawed design made inevitable. And above it all are ceilings one might find in a coal mine - sprayed black, and sporting a messy array of exposed cables and pipes.

After a couple hundred feet of this, you long for the relief of the above-ground. But here is one of the artery’s cruelest jokes: Emerge in the North End, and you’re greeted by an unlovely monument to dashed hopes - a forest of irregular rebar jutting out of the road dividers. The metal was left exposed because it was going to be connected to a YMCA once planned for the space above. But that dream is even rustier than the rebar.

Exit the main artery to the south and you land on Interstate 93, where barriers on both sides of the highway host an alarming array of unsightly weeds that seem set to engulf your car, should you get caught too long in a traffic jam.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. When the Central Artery Project was first conceived, it was going to be a grand, underground boulevard like those in world-class cities like Montreal and Madrid. One of the world’s most ambitious public works projects, it was also going to be one of its most beautiful - a source of civic pride for generations to come. Artists were chosen to add distinctive touches. The monotonous bathroom tiles were to be broken up with mosaics and illustrations to give you a sense of where you were in the city, just as the elevated road, which for so long defined ugly in this town, did.

But then the project’s budget exploded, a huge scandal erupted, and Big Dig bigs decided an easy way to pop ballooning costs was to do penny-ante stuff like scrimp on finishes. So underground, the overpriced engineering marvel we ended up with has a face only a mother could love.

Its father, not so much. “This was a public work we wanted the public to love; that was the philosophy,” says Fred Salvucci, the former transportation secretary credited with conceiving the project. In the 1970s, when he first explored the idea of depressing the Central Artery, we still believed in big civic projects in this country. We had as much pride in our city as we did in our overpaid pro athletes. We had more faith in government - could we now have less? - and more of a sense of community.

The project’s coverups and cost overruns didn’t help, of course. But neither did the failure to fully realize Salvucci’s original vision.

“Those 4 million bathroom tiles set the tone,” Salvucci says. Their message: “We’re going to spend a zillion dollars for these things engineers love, but we’re not going to do things that make the general public love it, too.”

So, here we are. And here we shall stay. State transportation officials face a $1.3 billion annual deficit, partly because of the miserable finances of the MBTA, partly because of the backlog of highway projects and repairs. They have their hands full keeping bridges from falling down and roads from swallowing cars. Nobody is going to spend money prettifying tunnels.