- September 12, 2024
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Some people write their autobiographies. Others do it with a great deal more panache. Like Mark Muse. Take his bungalow-sized home in Lakewood Ranch’s Country Club. It’s the story of his life, told not with words but with the things he loves — art, furniture and objects collected over the years, all arranged in a way that dazzles with its elegant sophistication.
For 32 years Muse held a most unusual niche in the world of corporate America. His job was to plan — and execute — company events at the highest level. The guests were CEOs and top government officials. He first worked for Phillip Morris, then changed to Mastercard International.
These events were much more than parties. They were business meetings, sightseeing tours and galas that would last for as long as five days. All the stops were pulled out. For a gathering in Budapest, Muse arranged for a private train excursion during which the 40 guests were “kidnapped” by a posse of Omar Sharif look-alikes and taken in luxurious horse-drawn carriages to an estate where they enjoyed a lavish multi-course Hungarian dinner and a performance by the national folkloric ballet. Then it was back to Budapest where the bar at the Four Seasons had been cordoned off for a nightcap of Cristal Champagne and canapes.
For an event in Mexico, Muse spruced up an entire picturesque village, painting the buildings and creating a fantasy of mariachis, street food, piñatas and dancing. He even had the local pigs all washed and groomed and then saturated the ground with rosewater.
With a background like this you would expect his own home to be something special, and it does not disappoint. There is no “tropical” or “coastal” vibe here. Instead, it’s rather dark and mysterious, an elegant, layered cocoon of perfect taste and subtle artistry. “Don’t ever fall victim to the general statement I’ve heard so often,” he says. “Now that I’m in Florida now. I have to go white and coastal. No, you don’t!
Muse believes in decorating with all five senses in mind, and when you walk into his home you enter a world of incredible attention to detail. The ceilings are high and the walls are dark. It’s hard to tell if they’re grey or blue or green. There’s a subtle, expensive scent in the air — “the perfect scented candle. I’ve been using it for years.” Chances are there’s some mood-setting music, probably bossa nova. Everywhere are luxurious textures to explore — fur throws and pillows, handwoven textiles and polished wood. And so much to look at. Muse’s colors are deep and saturated. Their very names summon up his aesthetic: cognac, caramel, moss green, burnished gold.
Muse was born and raised in Panama, where his expat parents encouraged his early interest in design and collecting. By 12, he was already decorating his own room. He still remembers “the unabashed joy of fussing over and selecting the fabrics for the curtains and throw pillows.” He even purchased a Percival Lafer coffee table (Lafer was a pioneer of the Brazilian modernist movement).
Mark and his father designed what he describes as “a gorgeous bookcase” stained to match the rosewood of the coffee table. A descendent of that bookcase now is the signature note of his Lakewood Ranch home. Almost 40 feet long, it sets the tone for his salon-style living area. On its shelves are displayed not just books but the treasures he’s acquired over decades of travel and collecting. You’ll see family photographs, museum-quality baskets woven by indigenous craftsmen, pre-Columbian sculptures, curious knick-knacks of forgotten origin, all perfectly lit by carefully positioned track lighting.
The right lighting is one of Muse’s passions. “I have an area of my home dedicated to the storage of incandescent bulbs. All sorts of them. And no LED, please. That technology has simply not arrived.” The result is both moody and evocative, a location hard to define in terms of geography and era but one that rolls over you in an emotional wave.
Overall, Muse’s home is that of a collector extraordinaire. There is a strong Latin America input, often with a tribal/ethnic slant. The red-walled primary bedroom is lined with “molas”— handwoven textiles created by the San Blas Indians of Panama. An extraordinary number of paintings and artwork enliven the home, and they are diverse in scope — check out the antique maps of his native Panama in the study — and provenance. Some are by well-known artists; others are finds from art shows and a secondhand store or two. For Muse, a prize possession might be found anywhere — a consignment shop, the internet, even Home Goods.
Muse is an unabashed bon vivant. Now retired from the corporate world, he designs and decorates for private clients. But living well may be his prime consideration. “I have 62 bottles of liquor,” he notes. “I just counted.” Fortunately, these are not for his own use but rather for his famous parties.
His party secrets?
“The appropriate glassware. Prime ingredients. Linen napkins, please. A lavish array of hors d’oeuvres, enough to make a meal of. The perfect scented candle. Put all this together with a great guest list — people who are charming, interesting, highly personable and love a fab get-together — that makes for a damn good party.”
Sometimes the party spills outdoors. Step through the sliding glass doors out to the pool area and you’re in Florida again. Here the mood is anything but subtle. Bright orange umbrellas enliven the atmosphere, with even more art on the walls and a view out to a lake. “That’s the reason I bought the house,” Muse says. “I walked in and saw that view and I knew this was it.”
Muse’s life isn’t all about his elegant possessions, though. He’s on the board of directors of Retreat Sarasota, a one-of-a-kind event space set on 84 acres of conservation land. Proceeds from rentals benefit Resilient Retreat, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering trauma survivors to be resilient and thrive by providing accessible and evidence-based programs.
And he loves all that Sarasota and Lakewood Ranch have to offer. “The area is superbly designed and aesthetically stunning.”
The same might be said of his home. It’s the story of a life well-lived, a self-anthology that continues to dazzle and delight.
