Simply Abu Dhabi XXII

1 9 8 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I T o call Joseph Leone a visionary is an understatement. The jewelry-designer- turned-developer doesn’t just have big ideas. His larger-than-life imagination and creativity encompasses, as its most notable distinction, perfection. During a walk through of the French-inspired, Beaux Arts masterpiece, Le Palais Royal in Hillsboro Beach, Leone points out every detail — from the $6 million in gold leafing that adorns everything from ceilings to the front entrance’s wrought iron gate to the first IMAX screening room to be installed in a private residence in the world. There are other one-of-a-kind amenities that make this palace not just a piece of property, but a true work of art. The chef d’oeuvre has received lots of worldwide media attention for its multi-million dollar price tag, making it one of the most expensive listings in America. Born in Bologna, Italy, Leone grew up in France the son of a tailor. Young Joseph would go to his father’s shop— first in Italy, then in southern France—where he was creating men’s suits. He says his eye for detail and creative fashion sense is inherited fromhis father, while his business savvy comes fromhis mother’s side. “My (maternal) grandfather was a big businessman and on my father’s side, they were in the fashion business. I think this is what I believe is what makes me very different from most people — I have two parts of the brain that work together.” Leone says that he has realized through the years that “it is very difficult for businessmen to be creative, and it’s the same thing for designers — it is tough for them to be good in business.” But he has an equal gift for both. When he was 23 years old, he started his own high-fashion jewelry design and manufacturing company inMarseille, working with the biggest names in French haute couture, such as Jean Patou, Rochas, Celine, and Annick Goutal. He decided to go into business designing for some of the biggest names in France. “I was designing for all the large companies and the fashion industry in Paris. I was living inMarseilles, but I would spend the week in Paris because that’s where fashion was,” says Leone. It was the mid to late 1980s and it was, as Leone says, the time to be involved in the fashion business in Europe. “This was the era. Fashion was high and creative. You had