Facing the ocean, a raised loggia led to a 12-foot-wide arched window so large that the freight cars transporting it from Pittsburgh were rerouted around tunnels and low bridges. At the entry to the grand room, cherubs were carved onto each of 34 recessed panels on massive arched doors. In the dining room, decorated with murals modeled after frescoes in Rome’s Chigi Palace, Urban designed a 4,000-pound inlaid marble table, based on antique tables he’d seen in Florentine galleries, that was crafted by a team of 15 artists in Italy.
Each of the bedroom suites in the house was named for its design: the Adams Suite, with its Colonial style; the Dutch Suite, with Dutch delft tiles Post’s mother had particularly enjoyed; the Spanish Suite, with porcelain “ladies-in-waiting” figurines nestled within the niches of a tiled fireplace; and the Venetian Suite, with its crystal chandeliers.
