The young couple who bought this property did so with our design for the previous owner’s house. As is usually the case, what were meant as a few adjustments to it evolved into the creation of a quite different residence that would suit their tastes and very own social dynamic.

As the family expanded, the wellbeing and safety of their offspring turned into one of the main goals for their new house. This prompted our making a parent’s job somewhat easier by means of angles of sight and fenestration that would allow visual control of the playing space indoors, and the Swimming Pool and deck outside, from behind the Kitchen island. Upstairs, the seating area meant as a Family Room would hover over the Living Room, affording a comprehensive view of both the Motor Court and Garden in front _where children might be brought out to play on the grass_, as well as the Swimming Pool and deck in the rear. Furthermore, this seating area would feature a projector for movies and television, screening directly on the wall of the Second Floor Corridor, of obliged passage for children going in and out of their bedrooms.

A suitable Guest Bedroom and an ample Kitchen with a secret Pantry betray the fact extended family were never too far away, and gregarious entertainment and gatherings an expected recurrence.

Other than that, the house is characterized by its optimization of the tight landlocked lot it sits on, minimizing setbacks. Its East-West orientation allows for good solar control while sheltering the Swimming Pool and its deck. Meanwhile, the two-story Living Room in between the latter and the Motor Court provides a clear delimitation of semi-public and private outdoor spaces, to be blurred once both sets of sliding doors are open.

The house’s architectural syntax is quite minimalist, with a perceivable nod to the Art Deco past of historic South Beach. The orthogonal planes and volumes conforming it contrast with the single dynamic gesture of the curving front balcony that starts inside, at the Second Floor seating area overlooking the double-height Living Room, goes outside through the main façade _sheltering the large entry door below_, and continues beyond the Garage to wrap around the Southwest corner.  As it dies off against the wall, the matching eyebrow above smoothly transitions into the elongated, narrower eyebrow system along the South façade, essential to climate control.