The 124 rooms and lofts are decorated with damask carpets and oak and leather panels, while the bathrooms have glass tile walls and Molton Brown amenities.

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Inside, art enlivens the dark marble lobby by Singapore's LTW Designworks: guests are greeted by Australian artist Jane Cowie's 9.9-meter-tall glass tile installation depicting a koi pond and subtly etched scenes from China Merchant Group's 141-year-old history.

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To demonstrate the technique, the team painted batteries onto steel, glass, ceramic tile and even a beer stein.

BBC: 'Paint-on' batteries demonstrated

They used glass, stainless steel, ceramic tile, flexible polymer sheets and even a mug to demonstrate how well the paint works.

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Hawkins paces out just one square foot of foreshore and picks up Victorian plate, modern glass, oyster shell, medieval roof tile, granite ballast from merchant ships and clay pipe stems.

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In hindsight, the well-polished checkered tile floor and pristine, clear glass display cabinets should have alerted me that this was no ordinary gelati joint.

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They did a 10-month remodeling that included making a television room out of a screened porch while preserving original details like the pecky cypress ceilings in the living room and library, the handblown stained-glass panes in the powder-room door and the Cuban tile floors in the dining room.

WSJ: A Modest Home for Palm Beach | Open House