Undertaken as a speculative remodel, here the design brief was very straightforward: make this house look as great as it was ever meant to, with the accomplished goal of selling for a good profit.

Its desirable location on the eastern side of Dilido Island, within a 5-minute walk from Lincoln Road, came with waterfront views of South Beach’s skyline and the Miami Harbor. On the down side, it was next to trafficked Venetian Causeway and had a bridge behind, with resulting noise and privacy problems. Built in 1949, the house proper was an interesting structure from a transition period in local architectural tastes, so Art Deco-inspired elements coexisted with a MiMo open floor plan, but it was dilapidated.

The first thing we procured was a proper sequence of access. A new sleek metal fence with gate and hedge enclosed the previously open front yard, and a new white concrete driveway placed automobiles to the sides. In the middle, the square concrete pads gracefully veered into a more secluded front garden, finally arriving at the new entry steps and distinct overhang above. Once inside, the succession of tighter outdoor spaces and rotated entrance gave way to an expansive vista through the Grand and Family Rooms, terminated at a new infinity-edge Swimming Pool on axis, floating on grass, and the Biscayne Bay waters and City view beyond.

We integrated the Dining Room into the open floor plan, arranging the adjacent Kitchen in a double-galley configuration with a convenient Mud Room behind. We relocated access to the Master Bedroom suite, eliminating a wasteful corridor in favor of a Foyer and a larger Master Bath, and creating a Walk-in-Closet where there was none, sized up to contemporary expectations. The Powder Room wound up at a discreet location and a long-converted Garage turned into a comfortable Guest Bedroom suite. New impact resistant windows, a repaired masonry wall along the Causeway, and a tall hedge dealt with privacy and noise issues effectively. We corrected window proportions to complement the strong horizontal lines of the continuous overhangs, and turned the partially enclosed Family Room into a transparent box bringing the outdoors inside, with a new Porch doubling its size in cooler months.

In spite of having central HVAC for the first time, the thoughtful window placement and casement handing channeled prevailing breezes throughout the house; thus cutting on energy bills, increasing resiliency, and preserving the original sensibility to local climate.