This house is a reward for a successful business career, to be used as the base camp for new ventures and a more relaxed lifestyle. Located on a double lot on a Floridian barrier island, the site provides over 250’ of beach frontage. A major disadvantage of the site is a dune line blocking the view of the ocean from the ground level. State flood level designations also limit the usability of this first level to storage and mechanical spaces. The house will be used year-round by the husband and wife and a teenage daughter.
Great interest has been given to the entry sequence that rises traveling from the ground level to the living level, established 14’ above the ground. For the visitor it is a grand staircase rising between water features that sparks the initial interest – spilling and capturing water around you until reaching the front door and a view of the Atlantic. For the owners, a glass enclosed circular stair with an elevator at its center provides access to the living level or the bedroom level above. Taking advantage of the wide lot and with an interest in providing a view of the beach to for every space, the house is intentionally designed as primarily only one room wide. Like the “Erik” project, the design is organized into three interlocking bays connected by a continuous hallway running parallel to the beach. A two story living-dining space occupies the middle of the house with the more private spaces on either end. The three level design provides differing amounts of solidity. The lower storage is primarily solid acting as a base for the living level almost entirely enclosed by glass. The upper bedroom level is a combination of the two.
