With one of the more recognizable profiles at the Monaco Yacht Show, Heesen’s 164-foot Home is the first yacht of its size with a hybrid propulsion system mated to a fast-displacement hull. While that might sound like being crowned king of a very small, inconsequential kingdom, Home’s ability to run silently on electric power at 9 knots and cross the Atlantic at 12 knots with its diesels on just 26 gallons per hour are legitimate technical breakthroughs.
The real design genius behind Home, though, is the yacht’s interior. Cristiano Gatto set aside any classical notions of yacht design and, instead, used 14 shades of white, along with a handful of solid colors, and brushed spruce and gray Koto woods to create an entirely new style. So few materials and so many whites create striking contrasts and unusual depths in an interior that looks more like a beachfront home in Malibu or Miami Beach than a 50-meter superyacht.
Main-deck dining area. Photo: David Churchill
After a tour of the newest Heesen at the Monaco show, we left with the impression that Gatto nailed the sense of being home, at least for the owner, a Manhattanite who relishes modern interior design. Rather than wooden cabinets and other furniture built as part of the walls, which limit the sense of space, Gatto used loose furniture across the interior, combining it with floor-to-ceiling windows and generous headroom for a true open-plan design. Home had a more residential feel than any other 164-foot yacht at the show.
It’s not all just about the whites, but how they work with the other materials. The main saloon has an L-shaped leather lounge on a hand-loomed carpet surrounded by white walls. Nearby, a stainless-steel chair by Franco Poli not only adds a dynamic feel to the room, but serves as functional sculpture. The wooden floors provide warmth. The white rectangular dining table, inviting and semi-formal, offers stunning views through the picture windows on both sides. Scattered throughout are throw pillows and a leather stool in burgundy, the owner’s favorite color.
Home also has a nice sense of proportion in its different rooms, from the foyer (with a magazine rack full of architectural magazines) to the four guest suites belowdecks (with predominantly white materials and splashes of different single colors that define each room) to the upper saloon to the owner’s suite on the main deck.
Owner’s suite. Photo:David Churchill
The owner’s suite, with its own office and walk-in closet, is spacious but simple. The different shades of white on the carpeting, walls, and even the leather panels behind the bed are offset by a single light-blue sash across the foot of the bed. That color works well with the ocean and sky streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Perhaps even more than the rest of the interior, the bedroom has a sensation of floating in light and space, partly because of the intensity of so much white, but also thanks to the natural light.
Upper deck. Photo: David Churchill
The sense of connection to the outdoors is accentuated even more in the upper-deck saloon. Gatto opted to stay with the minimalist interior design by using only a few pieces of furniture. Floor-to-ceiling windows emphasize the line of sight out to sea, turning the room into more of a viewing platform than formal saloon. Flexiteek (faux teak) flooring covers the entire deck, joining interior and exterior so that the transition between inside and out is seamless. The full-width glass doors open to—what else—a white table for alfresco dining.
Home will be making its American debut next week at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show.
