“Can I buy you a drink in the clubroom?” It’s a question Stéphane Rambaud often poses to wife Jenna, after dinner at one of their favorite Naples restaurants.
The referenced room is found at their new home situated on a long, winding street on Hidden Bay Canal in the Port Royal neighborhood. Plans for the home, purchased with the lot, detailed a home office on the main floor with western views over the backyard—now containing a wraparound dock, boat, and impressive swimming pool and spa. “Very little work would get done if it were an office,” explains Stéphane.
Instead, the couple obviated the planned formal dining room to the left of the front entrance and turned the space into Stéphane’s office, leaving the glass-walled wine cellar in place—one that houses, in Stéphane’s words, “not a serious collection but a very drinkable one.”
The previously planned office became a private and cozy clubroom that hosts a substantial bar of quartzite, a high-top table and chairs, a dark wood wall, textured gray wallpaper, and artful pendant lighting. This room features a television on one wall, which is enjoyed by the Rambauds while sipping a pre- or post-dinner cocktail. (They purposely do not have a television in the kitchen or great room.)
Dark wood underfoot throughout the two-level residence sets the stage for a contemporary home, styled with elegant features, such as sleek custom kitchen cabinets, double islands, and defined wood ceilings in many of the rooms, as well as carefully planned lighting and wall treatments and great abstract art (at least two pieces were created by local artist Danny Geschardt).
Stéphane, a native of France, studied international business in Paris. He moved to Chicago at 22 years of age for an internship and never left, working in international logistics services, first with Phoenix International and then C.H. Robinson.
Jenna, whom he met in Chicago while she was leading the public relations department with Huron, a management consulting firm, is currently contracted as director of marketing and public relations for Halstatt Real Estate Partners, based in Naples, Florida.
In 2017, the Rambauds moved to Naples and became Florida residents. They purchased a home in Royal Harbor; shortly after relocating, they rode out Hurricane Irma. In 2020, they purchased their Port Royal property. Jenna spent 26 months engaged in every aspect of designing the nearly 6,000-square-foot home.
Three days after moving into the finished residence, she and Stéphane sat in the clubroom nervously watching the storm surge precipitated by Hurricane Ian cover first the dock and then the pool. Next, the surge crept perilously close to the bottom of the floor-length windows found on the main level of their home before it finally started receding. Although a nail-biting experience, Stéphane and Jenna remark they feel exceedingly grateful about their situation when they see the destruction some people suffered during the storm.
As Stéphane is actively involved with the global Young Professional’s Organization based in Chicago, he regularly visits their residence in Lincoln Park, Illinois; Jenna visits Chicago less frequently. Both have embraced the Naples lifestyle of working out and playing tennis every day, so they can partake of good food and drink frequently.
Although Jenna appreciated every moment of her involvement realizing a new home and would happily do it all over again, the couple have no plans of moving again. They are committed to their stylish residence on Rum Row.
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