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The project began with the owner’s vision to create on their Atherton property a new home, reminiscent of the Mediterranean villas and gardens they loved to visit on European holidays. They wanted to create an oasis, a home that would nurture their creativity and foster a feeling of calm.
The design creates this sense of transition right as you enter the property, through a long, tree-lined driveway, thru a custom gate and into a gracious entry court. Walking through a formal entry garden, you arrive at a round entry tower, completing the transition from street to home. Separated into three primary zones, the main bedroom wing is a two-story volume anchoring one side of the center Living / Dining spaces, while the 2-story Library and Kitchen / Family Room anchor the other. All of the primary public spaces in the home are oriented toward the rear garden.
The home features 5,500 square feet of living space, a 3-car garage, a separate guest suite and private master sauna pavilion. Solar power, battery back-up, integrated building controls and on-site water storage are a few of the technical systems installed.

In a wooded area of Lafayette, a mid-century home was re-imagined for a graphic designer and kindergarten teacher couple and their three children. A major new design feature is a high ceiling great room that wraps from the front to the back yard, turning a corner at the kitchen and ending at the family room fireplace. This room was designed with a high flat roof to work in conjunction with existing roof forms to create a unified whole, and raise interior ceiling heights from eight to over ten feet. All new lighting and large floor to ceiling Fleetwood aluminum windows expand views of the trees beyond.
The existing home was enlarged by 700 square feet with a small exterior addition enlarging the kitchen over an existing deck, and a larger amount by excavating out crawlspace at the garage level to create a new home office with full bath, and separate laundry utility room. The remodeled residence became 3,847 square feet in total area including the garage.
Exterior curb appeal was improved with all new Fleetwood windows, stained wood siding and stucco. New steel railing and concrete steps lead up to the front entry. Front and rear yard new landscape design by Huettl Landscape Architecture dramatically alters the site. New planting was added at the front yard with landscape lighting and modern concrete pavers and the rear yard has multiple decks for family gatherings with the focal point a concrete conversation circle with central fire feature.
Everything revolves around the corner kitchen, large windows to the backyard, quartz countertops and cabinetry in painted and walnut finishes. The homeowners enjoyed the process of selecting Heath Tile for the kitchen backsplash and white oval tiles at the family room fireplace. Black brick tiles by Fireclay were used on the living room hearth. The kitchen flows into the family room all with views to the beautifully landscaped yards.
The primary suite has a built-in window seat with large windows overlooking the garden, walnut cabinetry in a skylit walk-in closet, and a large dramatic skylight bouncing light into the shower. The kid’s bath also has a skylight slot with light angling downward over double sinks. More colorful tile shows up in these spaces, as does a geometric patterned tile in the downstairs office bath shower.
The large yard is taken full advantage of with concrete paved walkways, stairs and firepit circle. New retaining walls in the rear yard helped to add more level usable outdoor space, with wood slats to visually blend them into the overall design.
The end result is a beautiful transformation of a mid-century home, that both captures the client’s personalities and elevates the house into the modern age.

Photography: © Stephen Kent Johnson / OTTO
LandFluent was brought onto this remarkable Beverly Hills project by Raymond Jungles, Inc. to provide expert Construction Administration services. Our primary role was to bridge the gap between Raymond Jungles’ design documents and the on-site construction team, ensuring that every detail of the original vision was accurately executed in the built environment.
A significant aspect of our work involved collaborating closely with the construction team on the selection, sourcing, and precise placement of each specimen tree and palm, ensuring their delivery, orientation, and integration seamlessly complemented the overall design. From the early stages of site preparation to the final touches of hardscape detailing and understory planting, we remained deeply engaged, overseeing the process with precision and care.
It was a privilege to work alongside such a talented team, contributing to a project where every element—from the foundational groundwork to the finest landscape details—was thoughtfully realized to create a truly exceptional space.
Scale
1.2 ACRES
Scope
HARDSCAPE + PLANTING DESIGN
Raymond Jungles, Inc. as Design Landscape Architect
LandFluent as local Landscape Architect
Year
2022
Press
Architectural Digest
Architecture
Studio William Hefner
Interior Design
Jamie Bush + Co.
Landscape Architecture (Design)
Raymond Jungles
Landscape Architecture (Local)
LandFluent
General Contractor
MG Partners
Landscape Contractor
Clark & White Landscape
Construction Management
Stonemark Construction Management
Specimen Tree & Palm Suppliers
Bob Everett & Calligari & Associates, LLC
Find the right local pro for your project

The project began with the owner’s vision to create on their Atherton property a new home, reminiscent of the Mediterranean villas and gardens they loved to visit on European holidays. They wanted to create an oasis, a home that would nurture their creativity and foster a feeling of calm.
The design creates this sense of transition right as you enter the property, through a long, tree-lined driveway, thru a custom gate and into a gracious entry court. Walking through a formal entry garden, you arrive at a round entry tower, completing the transition from street to home. Separated into three primary zones, the main bedroom wing is a two-story volume anchoring one side of the center Living / Dining spaces, while the 2-story Library and Kitchen / Family Room anchor the other. All of the primary public spaces in the home are oriented toward the rear garden.
The home features 5,500 square feet of living space, a 3-car garage, a separate guest suite and private master sauna pavilion. Solar power, battery back-up, integrated building controls and on-site water storage are a few of the technical systems installed.

Janet Paik © 2016 Houzz
Daphne Edwards in collaboration with Fernau and Hartman
Inspiration for a modern landscaping in Other.
Inspiration for a modern landscaping in Other.

One of the greatest privately owned landscaped properties in the USA on 47 separate land parcels totaling 525 acres. The horticultural collections includes over 3000 planted trees and hundreds of shrubs and flower varieties from around the world. This landscape Art Sanctuary includes private lakes, water features, water falls, creeks andseveral man-madebridges within the Arboretum area. There are also several fenced horse and cattle pastures and 8 miles of hiking and horse back riding trails.The primary residence is 6500 sq/ft with a western design and there are 7 other houses for guests and/or employees. There are many outbuildings including a 12,000 sf show room for vintage cars and carriages. Just north of the house is a private golf driving range, chipping and putting area to PGA Standards; perfect for improving your golf game while at home. A half mile to the west of the primary residence is a 2200 foot landing strip for airplanes; however there is also a roll-away heli-pad next to the primary residence for daily commuting. By helicopter Misty Isle Farms is only 7 minutes to Boeing Airfield, or by Ferry it is only 40 minutes to south Seattle. Rarely does such a large unique Estate so Close to a major city such as Seattle become available. Simply too much to post, please call listing agent for more details.

Photographer: Jay Goodrich
This 2800 sf single-family home was completed in 2009. The clients desired an intimate, yet dynamic family residence that reflected the beauty of the site and the lifestyle of the San Juan Islands. The house was built to be both a place to gather for large dinners with friends and family as well as a cozy home for the couple when they are there alone.
The project is located on a stunning, but cripplingly-restricted site overlooking Griffin Bay on San Juan Island. The most practical area to build was exactly where three beautiful old growth trees had already chosen to live. A prior architect, in a prior design, had proposed chopping them down and building right in the middle of the site. From our perspective, the trees were an important essence of the site and respectfully had to be preserved. As a result we squeezed the programmatic requirements, kept the clients on a square foot restriction and pressed tight against property setbacks.
The delineate concept is a stone wall that sweeps from the parking to the entry, through the house and out the other side, terminating in a hook that nestles the master shower. This is the symbolic and functional shield between the public road and the private living spaces of the home owners. All the primary living spaces and the master suite are on the water side, the remaining rooms are tucked into the hill on the road side of the wall.
Off-setting the solid massing of the stone walls is a pavilion which grabs the views and the light to the south, east and west. Built in a position to be hammered by the winter storms the pavilion, while light and airy in appearance and feeling, is constructed of glass, steel, stout wood timbers and doors with a stone roof and a slate floor. The glass pavilion is anchored by two concrete panel chimneys; the windows are steel framed and the exterior skin is of powder coated steel sheathing.

Sponsored
Columbus, OH
Free consultation for landscape design!
Peabody Landscape Group
Franklin County's Reliable Landscape Design & Contracting

Stuart Wade, Envision Virtual Tours
The second-largest and most developed of Georgia's barrier islands, St. Simons is approximately twelve miles long and nearly three miles wide at its widest stretch (roughly the size of Manhattan Island in New York). The island is located in Glynn County on Georgia's coast and lies east of Brunswick (the seat of Glynn County), south of Little St. Simons Island and the Hampton River, and north of Jekyll Island. The resort community of Sea Island is separated from St. Simons on the east by the Black Banks River. Known for its oak tree canopies and historic landmarks, St. Simons is both a tourist destination and, according to the 2010 U.S. census, home to 12,743 residents.
Early History
The earliest
St. Simons Island Village
record of human habitation on the island dates to the Late Archaic Period, about 5,000 to 3,000 years ago. Remnants of shell rings left behind by Native Americans from this era survive on many of the barrier islands, including St. Simons. Centuries later, during the period known by historians as the chiefdom era, the Guale Indians established a chiefdom centered on St. Catherines Island and used St. Simons as their hunting and fishing grounds. By 1500 the Guale had established a permanent village of about 200 people on St. Simons, which they called Guadalquini.
Beginning in 1568, the Spanish attempted to create missions along the Georgia coast. Catholic missions were the primary means by which Georgia's indigenous Native American chiefdoms were assimilated into the Spanish colonial system along the northern frontier of greater Spanish Florida. In the 1600s St. Simons became home to two Spanish missions: San Buenaventura de Guadalquini, on the southern tip of the island, and Santo Domingo de Asao (or Asajo), on the northern tip. Located on the inland side of the island were the pagan refugee villages of San Simón, the island's namesake, and Ocotonico. In 1684 pirate raids left the missions and villages largely abandoned.
Colonial History
As
Fort Frederica
early as 1670, with Great Britain's establishment of the colony of Carolina and its expansion into Georgia territory, Spanish rule was threatened by the English. The Georgia coast was considered "debatable land" by England and Spain, even though Spain had fully retreated from St. Simons by 1702. Thirty-one years later General James Edward Oglethorpe founded the English settlement of Savannah. In 1736 he established Fort Frederica, named after the heir to the British throne, Frederick Louis, prince of Wales, on the west side of St. Simons Island to protect Savannah and the Carolinas from the Spanish threat.
Between 1736 and 1749 Fort Frederica was the hub of British military operations along the Georgia frontier. A town of the same name grew up around the fort and was of great importance to the new colony. By 1740 Frederica's population was 1,000. In 1736 the congregation of what would become Christ Church was organized within Fort Frederica as a mission of the Church of England. Charles Wesley led the first services. In 1742 Britain's decisive victory over Spain in the Battle of Bloody Marsh, during the War of Jenkins' Ear, ended the Spanish threat to the Georgia coast. When the British regimen disbanded in 1749, most of the townspeople relocated to the mainland. Fort Frederica went into decline and, except for a short time of prosperity during the 1760s and 1770s under the leadership of merchant James Spalding, never fully recovered. Today the historic citadel's tabby ruins are maintained by the National Park Service.
Plantation Era
By the start of the American Revolution (1775-83), Fort Frederica was obsolete, and St. Simons was left largely uninhabited as most of its residents joined the patriot army. Besides hosting a small Georgia naval victory on the Fort Frederica River, providing guns from its famous fort for use at Fort Morris in Sunbury, and serving as an arena for pillaging by privateers and British soldiers, the island played almost no role in the war.
Following the war, many of the townspeople, their businesses destroyed, turned to agriculture. The island was transformed into fourteen cotton plantations after acres of live oak trees were cleared for farm land and used for building American warships, including the famous USS Constitution, or "Old Ironsides." Although rice was the predominant crop along the neighboring Altamaha River, St. Simons was known for its production of long-staple cotton, which soon came to be known as Sea Island cotton.
Between
Ebos Landing
the 1780s and the outbreak of the Civil War (1861-65), St. Simons's plantation culture flourished. The saline atmosphere and the availability of cheap slave labor proved an ideal combination for the cultivation of Sea Island cotton. In 1803 a group of Ebo slaves who survived the Middle Passage and arrived on the west side of St. Simons staged a rebellion and drowned themselves. The sacred site is known today as Ebos Landing.
One of the largest owners of land and slaves on St. Simons was Pierce Butler, master of Hampton Point Plantation, located on the northern end of the island. By 1793 Butler owned more than 500 slaves, who cultivated 800 acres of cotton on St. Simons and 300 acres of rice on Butler's Island in the Altamaha River delta. Butler's grandson, Pierce Mease Butler, who at the age of sixteen inherited a share of his grandfather's estate in 1826, was responsible for the largest sale of human beings in the history of the United States: in 1859, to restore his squandered fortune, he sold 429 slaves in Savannah for more than $300,000. The British actress and writer Fanny Kemble, whose tumultuous marriage to Pierce ended in divorce in 1849, published an eyewitness account of the evils of slavery on St. Simons in her book Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation in 1838-1839 (1863).
Another
Retreat Plantation
large owner of land and slaves on St. Simons was Major William Page, a friend and employee of Pierce Butler Sr. Before purchasing Retreat Plantation on the southwestern tip of the island in 1804, Page managed the Hampton plantation and Butler's Island. Upon Page's death in 1827, Thomas Butler King inherited the land together with his wife, Page's daughter, Anna Matilda Page King. King expanded his father-in-law's planting empire on St. Simons as well as on the mainland, and by 1835 Retreat Plantation alone was home to as many as 355 slaves.
The center of life during the island's plantation era was Christ Church, Frederica. Organized in 1807 by a group of island planters, the Episcopal church is the second oldest in the Diocese of Georgia. Embargoes imposed by the War of 1812 (1812-15) prevented the parishioners from building a church structure, so they worshiped in the home of John Beck, which stood on the site of Oglethorpe's only St. Simons residence, Orange Hall.
The first Christ Church building, finished on the present site in 1820, was ruined by occupying Union troops during the Civil War. In 1884 the Reverend Anson Dodge Jr. rebuilt the church as a memorial to his first wife, Ellen. The cruciform building with a trussed gothic roof and stained-glass windows remains active today as Christ Church.
Civil War and Beyond
The
St. Simons Island Lighthouse
outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 put a sudden end to St. Simons's lucrative plantation era. In January of that year, Confederate troops were stationed at the south end of the island to guard the entrance to Brunswick Harbor. Slaves from Retreat Plantation, owned by Thomas Butler King, built earthworks and batteries. Plantation residents were scattered—the men joined the Confederate army and their families moved to the mainland. Cannon fire was heard on the island in December 1861, and Confederate troops retreated in February 1862, after dynamiting the lighthouse to keep its beacon from aiding Union troops. Soon thereafter, Union troops occupied the island, which was used as a camp for freed slaves. By August 1862 more than 500 former slaves lived on St. Simons, including Susie King Taylor, who organized a school for freed slave children. But in November the ex-slaves were taken to Hilton Head, South Carolina, and Fernandina, Florida, leaving the island abandoned.
After the Civil War the island never returned to its status as an agricultural community. The plantations lay dormant because there were no slaves to work the fields. After Union general William T. Sherman's January 1865 Special Field Order No. 15 —a demand that former plantations be divided and distributed to former slaves—was overturned by U.S. president Andrew Johnson less than a year later, freedmen and women were forced to work as sharecroppers on the small farms that dotted the land previously occupied by the sprawling plantations.
By
St. Simons Lumber Mills
1870 real economic recovery began with the reestablishment of the timber industry. Norman Dodge and Titus G. Meigs of New York set up lumber mill operations at Gascoigne Bluff, formerly Hamilton Plantation. The lumber mills provided welcome employment for both blacks and whites and also provided mail and passenger boats to the mainland. Such water traffic, together with the construction of a new lighthouse in 1872, designed by architect Charles B. Cluskey, marked the beginning of St. Simons's tourism industry. The keeper of the lighthouse created a small amusement park, which drew many visitors, as did the seemingly miraculous light that traveled from the top of the lighthouse tower to the bottom. The island became a summer retreat for families from the mainland, particularly from Baxley, Brunswick, and Waycross.
The island's resort industry was thriving by the 1880s. Beachfront structures, such as a new pier and grand hotel, were built on the southeastern end of the island and could be accessed by ferry. Around this time wealthy northerners began vacationing on the island.
Twentieth Century
The
St. Simons Island Pier and Village
opening in 1924 of the Brunswick–St. Simons Highway, today known as the Torras Causeway, was a milestone in the development of resorts in the area. St. Simons's beaches were now easily accessible to locals and tourists alike. More than 5,000 automobiles took the short drive from Brunswick to St. Simons via the causeway on its opening day, paving the way for convenient residential and resort development.
In 1926 automotive pioneer Howard Coffin of Detroit, Michigan, bought large tracts of land on St. Simons, including the former Retreat Plantation, and constructed a golf course, yacht club, paved roads, and a residential subdivision. Although the causeway had brought large numbers of summer people to the island, St. Simons remained a small community with only a few hundred permanent residents until the 1940s.
The
St. Simons Island
outbreak of World War II (1941-45) brought more visitors and residents to St. Simons. Troops stationed at Jacksonville, Florida; Savannah; and nearby Camp Stewart took weekend vacations on the island, and a new naval air base and radar school became home to even more officers and soldiers. The increased wartime population brought the island its first public school. With a major shipyard for the production of Liberty ships in nearby Brunswick, the waters of St. Simons became active with German U-boats. In April 1942, just off the coast, the Texas Company oil tanker S. S. Oklahoma and the S. S. Esso Baton Rouge were torpedoed by the Germans, bringing the war very close to home for island residents.
Due in large part to the military's improvement of the island's infrastructure during the war, development on the island boomed in the 1950s and 1960s. More permanent homes and subdivisions were built, and the island was no longer just a summer resort but also a thriving community. In 1950 the Methodist conference and retreat center Epworth by the Sea opened on Gascoigne Bluff. In 1961 novelist Eugenia Price visited St. Simons and began work on her first works of fiction, known as the St. Simons Trilogy. Inspired by real events on the island, Price's trilogy renewed interest in the history of Georgia's coast, and the novelist herself relocated to the island in 1965 and lived there for thirty-one years. St. Simons is also home to contemporary Georgia writer Tina McElroy Ansa.
Since
Epworth by the Sea
1980 St. Simons's population has doubled. The island's continued status as a vacation destination and its ongoing development boom have put historic landmarks and natural areas at risk. While such landmarks as the Fort Frederica ruins and the Battle of Bloody Marsh site are preserved and maintained by the National Park Service, and while the historic lighthouse is maintained by the Coastal Georgia Historical Society, historic Ebos Landing has been taken over by a sewage treatment plant.
Several coastal organizations have formed in recent years to save natural areas on the island. The St. Simons Land Trust, for example, has received donations of large tracts of land and plans to protect property in the island's three traditional African American neighborhoods. Despite its rapid growth and development, St. Simons remains one of the most beautiful and important islands on the Georgia coast.

Our client was drawn to the property in Wesley Heights as it was in an established neighborhood of stately homes, on a quiet street with views of park. They wanted a traditional home for their young family with great entertaining spaces that took full advantage of the site.
The site was the challenge. The natural grade of the site was far from traditional. The natural grade at the rear of the property was about thirty feet above the street level. Large mature trees provided shade and needed to be preserved.
The solution was sectional. The first floor level was elevated from the street by 12 feet, with French doors facing the park. We created a courtyard at the first floor level that provide an outdoor entertaining space, with French doors that open the home to the courtyard.. By elevating the first floor level, we were able to allow on-grade parking and a private direct entrance to the lower level pub "Mulligans". An arched passage affords access to the courtyard from a shared driveway with the neighboring homes, while the stone fountain provides a focus.
A sweeping stone stair anchors one of the existing mature trees that was preserved and leads to the elevated rear garden. The second floor master suite opens to a sitting porch at the level of the upper garden, providing the third level of outdoor space that can be used for the children to play.
The home's traditional language is in context with its neighbors, while the design allows each of the three primary levels of the home to relate directly to the outside.
Builder: Peterson & Collins, Inc
Photos © Anice Hoachlander

The Alley Cat ADU serves two young professionals who live there during the warm months while renting out their primary residence. In the winter, they rent out both their primary residence and their ADU while they live abroad.
The clients’ love for plants guided much of the design, including the large Catalpa tree in their yard. The ADU takes advantage of the extensive tree canopy by tucking the deck, which also serves as the 2nd level entry, underneath the branches. We paid special attention to the exterior form so that the Catalpa tree appears to envelop the ADU. Gardening is also important to the homeowners, so the ADU was carefully located on the site to maintain as much backyard space as possible.
Numerous windows and skylights create a sunlit space for the homeowners’ numerous house plants. The plants, natural light, and compact size create a cozy space full of nooks to relax in.
The kitchen, although compact, has a full-size refrigerator, dishwasher, and stove top. A creative touch is the picture-framed kitchen window, which is a continuation of the butcher block counter. To maximize the efficiency of the small space, their cat’s litterbox is cleverly tucked away into a cabinet with a cat-sized hole.

The Alley Cat ADU serves two young professionals who live there during the warm months while renting out their primary residence. In the winter, they rent out both their primary residence and their ADU while they live abroad.
The clients’ love for plants guided much of the design, including the large Catalpa tree in their yard. The ADU takes advantage of the extensive tree canopy by tucking the deck, which also serves as the 2nd level entry, underneath the branches. We paid special attention to the exterior form so that the Catalpa tree appears to envelop the ADU. Gardening is also important to the homeowners, so the ADU was carefully located on the site to maintain as much backyard space as possible.
Numerous windows and skylights create a sunlit space for the homeowners’ numerous house plants. The plants, natural light, and compact size create a cozy space full of nooks to relax in.
The kitchen, although compact, has a full-size refrigerator, dishwasher, and stove top. A creative touch is the picture-framed kitchen window, which is a continuation of the butcher block counter. To maximize the efficiency of the small space, their cat’s litterbox is cleverly tucked away into a cabinet with a cat-sized hole.

Primary bedroom terrace with a Japanese Maple tree in the corner and at the top of the frame is a white bud tree. The tree in the foreground is a Mexican Plum tree.
David Morello

Rooms as stages at sunset under the 100-year old oak tree. Gallery hallway leads to guest bedroom and Study (with en suite bathrooms). Primary bedroom at second floor with Poul Kjaerholm PK24 chaise lounge at window. Photo by Dan Arnold

The Alley Cat ADU serves two young professionals who live there during the warm months while renting out their primary residence. In the winter, they rent out both their primary residence and their ADU while they live abroad.
The clients’ love for plants guided much of the design, including the large Catalpa tree in their yard. The ADU takes advantage of the extensive tree canopy by tucking the deck, which also serves as the 2nd level entry, underneath the branches. We paid special attention to the exterior form so that the Catalpa tree appears to envelop the ADU. Gardening is also important to the homeowners, so the ADU was carefully located on the site to maintain as much backyard space as possible.
Numerous windows and skylights create a sunlit space for the homeowners’ numerous house plants. The plants, natural light, and compact size create a cozy space full of nooks to relax in.
The kitchen, although compact, has a full-size refrigerator, dishwasher, and stove top. A creative touch is the picture-framed kitchen window, which is a continuation of the butcher block counter. To maximize the efficiency of the small space, their cat’s litterbox is cleverly tucked away into a cabinet with a cat-sized hole.

The Alley Cat ADU serves two young professionals who live there during the warm months while renting out their primary residence. In the winter, they rent out both their primary residence and their ADU while they live abroad.
The clients’ love for plants guided much of the design, including the large Catalpa tree in their yard. The ADU takes advantage of the extensive tree canopy by tucking the deck, which also serves as the 2nd level entry, underneath the branches. We paid special attention to the exterior form so that the Catalpa tree appears to envelop the ADU. Gardening is also important to the homeowners, so the ADU was carefully located on the site to maintain as much backyard space as possible.
Numerous windows and skylights create a sunlit space for the homeowners’ numerous house plants. The plants, natural light, and compact size create a cozy space full of nooks to relax in.
The kitchen, although compact, has a full-size refrigerator, dishwasher, and stove top. A creative touch is the picture-framed kitchen window, which is a continuation of the butcher block counter. To maximize the efficiency of the small space, their cat’s litterbox is cleverly tucked away into a cabinet with a cat-sized hole.

Framed by mature trees and nestled within Sarasota’s historic McClellan Park, Sunset Place is a home shaped by a deep understanding of, and sensibility for, its setting—reflecting the charm of the neighborhood, the rhythm of downtown living, and the client’s vision of entertaining, connection, and family life. Every decision—from site strategy to spatial flow—was made with intention: to support a lifestyle centered on warmth, community, and a strong sense of place.
At its core, the project is a masterclass in leveraging zoning and code to unlock the full potential of a complex site. Though landlocked, the home lives like waterfront—offering openness, privacy, and expansive sunset views. Placing the pool in the front yard, within the 25-foot setback, redefines the entry experience. It captures the western light and sets a relaxed, resort-like tone from the very first step inside the gate. Paired with a rear-loaded garage, accessed discreetly via the side setback, the layout transforms the site’s limitations into its greatest assets. Architecture and landscape take center stage, while the full buildable envelope is maximized without compromise.
A natural rise of eight feet from front to back—rare in Sarasota—was embraced as an opportunity. Site walls function as both retaining structures and architectural elements, elevating the pool terrace and entry by over four feet to align with the main interior floor level. The result is a fluid connection between indoors and out: kitchen, dining, and living spaces unfold onto the terrace, blurring boundaries and enhancing everyday rituals as well as social gatherings.
Architecturally, the home is coastal contemporary: open yet composed, airy yet grounded. Clarity in the massing tells a story of the inhabitants from the first glance, while the interior planning offers spatial generosity and ease. The interiors echo this sensibility with a palette that is soft, natural, and tactile—serene without being neutral. The landscape design provides a lush tropical frame, softening edges and reinforcing privacy through layered plantings rather than enclosure.
Ultimately, Sunset Place is not defined by any single gesture, but by the way the home reflects its owners. Their gracious, family-centered nature informed every layer of design—resulting in a space that feels deeply personal, tailored for connection and ease, and perfectly suited for gathering, unwinding, and watching the sun slip behind the trees from the comfort of home.

Primary bedroom terrace (beyond the wall), with a Japanese Maple tree in the corner, and at the top of the frame is a white bud tree. The trees along the fence are Eagleston holly trees.
David Morello

Build the Brookshire Home Plan by Main Street Homes! This award winning floor plan has a spectacular first floor layout which includes formal living and dining rooms, a library, a mudroom, and gourmet kitchen with breakfast nook opening to a large great room. The second floor has plenty of space for the whole family with three secondary bedrooms all with walk-in closets, a Jack and Jill bathroom, a full hall bathroom, and the Primary Bedroom. The primary has a large walk-in closet and en suite bath with dual vanities, a soaking tub, separate shower, and access to the laundry room. Other options are available including a third floor and walk-out basement. To design your own Brookshire plan, go visit https://www.gomsh.com/plans/two-story-home/brookshire/ifp.

The Alley Cat ADU serves two young professionals who live there during the warm months while renting out their primary residence. In the winter, they rent out both their primary residence and their ADU while they live abroad.
The clients’ love for plants guided much of the design, including the large Catalpa tree in their yard. The ADU takes advantage of the extensive tree canopy by tucking the deck, which also serves as the 2nd level entry, underneath the branches. We paid special attention to the exterior form so that the Catalpa tree appears to envelop the ADU. Gardening is also important to the homeowners, so the ADU was carefully located on the site to maintain as much backyard space as possible.
Numerous windows and skylights create a sunlit space for the homeowners’ numerous house plants. The plants, natural light, and compact size create a cozy space full of nooks to relax in.
The kitchen, although compact, has a full-size refrigerator, dishwasher, and stove top. A creative touch is the picture-framed kitchen window, which is a continuation of the butcher block counter. To maximize the efficiency of the small space, their cat’s litterbox is cleverly tucked away into a cabinet with a cat-sized hole.
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