Vibrant yellow-and-white beach umbrellas set against an azure sky, with crystal-clear waves rolling across soft white sandy beaches: It’s a setting that immediately alleviates stress and brings peace to the soul. If you’re looking for a pampering getaway, look no further than Forbes Five-Star Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa. With impeccable service and the ultimate luxury spa, this beach resort should be on your Florida-stay bucket list. 

Located in the small seaside town of Manalapan just south of Palm Beach, overlooking south Florida’s turquoise waters, the sprawling, Mediterranean-style waterfront escape offers two outdoor pools, tennis courts, and four exceptional restaurants, all set on seven acres of lush tropical grounds. 

Upon check-in, guests are greeted with a glass of bubbly before heading to their spacious and colorful accommodations designed by Jonathan Adler, featuring soaking tubs, luxurious bedding, and private balconies with hanging chairs to enjoy ocean views. 

But amazingly enough, the luxury accommodations and the ocean views are not the main attraction for many guests. The resort boasts a 42,000-square-foot spa—a playground for adults—where all the senses are pampered and indulged. Spend any amount of time in this soothing Shangri-La and you’ll want to book your next trip.

Start your visit by lounging in the co-ed Self Centered Garden, a courtyard at the heart of the spa. The garden has several soothing water features including fountains and waterfalls and is lined with bromeliads and palms. White canvas tents shade lounge chairs, plush couches, and daybeds. Rattan swing chairs float over a shallow reflecting pool—the perfect place to rock your cares away. 

Separate lounges for men and women are located inside the spa, and just as the garden offers a relaxing setting, the interiors don’t disappoint. The oversized whirlpool in the women’s side is surrounded by heated stone loungers. This wet spa also houses the sauna and steam room. Guests can create their own body scrub at the Polish Bar before hitting the steam.

Nineteen therapeutic treatment rooms offer the ultimate “me time” experience. Among the treatments on offer are the One Love Facial, which treats the skin with Alpha Beta peels, vitamin C mask, and collagen-stimulating LED light, and the Eau Naturale Facial, an organic anti-aging facial that turns back the clock with botanicals. The Garden of Eden massage for two, and the Turkish Rhassoul Mud Ritual to soften and exfoliate skin, while sipping Champagne prove there is something for just about everyone on the spa menu. 

After a morning at the spa, have an umbrella set up on the beach in front of the hotel, where you can rent SUPs, snorkel gear, and body boards for an afternoon frolicking in the sun and surf. 

For dining, the resort offers incredible gastronomic delights. Whether you are in the mood for classic American surf and turf, sushi featuring Florida’s freshest catch, or upscale Italian cuisine, the resort has something for everyone’s palate. Angle offers a farm-to-table experience focused on regionally grown produce and prime meats and fish paired with wine from its award-winning selection. Boken shows off the creativity of head sushi chef Chris Cantrel.

For the ultimate experience, dine at chef Cantrel’s table for an Omakase meal, a one-of-a-kind tour of authentic Japanese cuisine. Or take your taste buds to southern Italy at Polpo Palm Beach. Upscale fare inspired by regional dishes with an Italian-influenced wine list is presented by Eau Palm Beach’s executive chef Neall Bailey. Choose to dine inside or out—I chose to dine outside to hear the waves lapping at the shore and see the stars coming out in the evening. 

Truly a playground paradise, this stellar spa and resort experience is not to be missed.

The site may be small, but the views are stunning. On the southwest coast of Maui, architect Mark de Reus took advantage of a narrow, 102-foot-wide lot by directing the eye, through a 6,000-square-foot home, out to three small islands in the distance.

He kept his design simple. “One of the things I’ve learned to appreciate is that restraint is good,” he says. “There’s a lot of elegance that comes through simplicity—it’s a nice, elegant solution.”

He maximized visibility and the indoor/outdoor living experience by placing a pool and spa at the leading edge overlooking the Pacific. He added an open lanai adjacent to it and a covered lanai next to that. “They merge together in one large, luxurious space,” de Reus says.

Behind the outdoor spaces are a casual living area, dining area, and kitchen. They integrate with the bigger lanai through sliding glass doors that disappear into walls. “The climate on that side of Maui means you can open it up and live in that luxurious air,” he says. “It’s one outdoor living area.”

The architect worked with land planner Don Vita of Vita Planning and Landscape Architecture, someone he’s collaborated with for 24 years, to address the lot. If one challenge was its narrowness, there were also the houses that flank it on either side. 

“The view is directional,” Vita says. “We had to deal with that and make sure it’s interesting and take advantage of it in as many places inside the home as possible.”

He placed plantings and walls strategically to block sound and sight to and from the homes next door. After all, people on Maui want to spend their time outside as much as possible, without a lot of visibility. “The climate is very nurturing: It feels just right for your skin, and there’s just enough salt spray in the air,” he says. “And the breezes are always there to moderate the temperature, so you end up living outside—and there’s a flow, inside to outside.”

The clients, a pair of attorneys from Sacramento, California, wanted a home that could double as an escape. They also wanted spaces that were not only easy to maintain but water-conscious, too, because the new house is on the dry side of the island. “There are northeast trade winds, so there’s a wet side and a dry side,” Vita says. “The dry side might get 10 inches of rain a year, but the other gets 115 inches.”

That led the landscape planner to work with a water budget, and he used most of it at the entry. There, he placed water-intensive gingers and heliconia for their color, scent, and deep green foliage that gives a lush and tropical feel. 

Carefully placed coconut palms frame views from bedrooms and outdoor spaces. Below the lanai, Vita allowed kiawe and grasses to work their way up to the house. “The thing about designers is that they have to design,” he says. “Sometimes, the genius is to leave it be.”

The architect addressed scale and proportion in his arrangement and composition of living and transition spaces. “You come in from the auto court into a cozy foyer,” de Reus says. “Then you transition from compression to expansion into a larger volume that’s the main gathering space.”

That larger area needed to be a comfortable fit for friends and family. The architect defined it by maximizing its opening for the most drama, merging interior spaces into exterior ones.

“Then you add the materiality. The client liked the use of rich woods,” he says. “We used a number of them on the interior because they’re dark and rich in character.”

While the coral stone cladding the home was imported, walls and ceilings are native ohia wood. Most of the interior furnishings were selected by Marion Philpotts-Miller and Anne Tanaka of Philpotts Interiors in Honolulu. Among the woods chosen for furnishings were ohia, koa, mango, and monkeypod. “You support your local craftsmen in the middle of a pandemic by having things made right on the island,” Philpotts-Miller says.

A cabinetmaker created the oversized, live-edge dining room table from the trunk of a local tree. The headboard in the master suite and the vanities in the bath are both koa, one of the most sought-after and overcut woods on the island. “It’s like royalty,” she says. “It has dark and medium colors, mixed.”

A sense of calm is the overwhelming takeaway from the interiors, and that’s no accident. “There are soulful and restful components, like a yoga and meditation area upstairs,” says Philpotts-Miller. “It’s a retreat where the clients can find quiet time—a nice approach to designing a vacation home.”

And if they feel a sudden need for drama, they can always step out into views of the Pacific. 

Learn more about the project team

For more information visit dereusarchitects.com; philpotts.net

Real estate investment firm Trinity Fund Advisors LLC has purchased the award-winning Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood, Florida from Brookfield Properties for $835 million to private, and signed a 40-year management deal for the property with Hilton Hotels and Resorts to oversee the resort’s operation as part of the Curio Collection by Hilton brand.

The transaction is the third largest single-asset hotel/resort sale in United States history.

The property is perched on nearly 10 acres of Atlantic beachfront, overlooking both the Atlantic Surf and Intracoastal Waterway. The property – where an extensive, $90-million renovation was completed in 2017 – consists of a twin-spired, 36-story tower housing the resort rooms, a 15,000-square-foot spa and salon, six restaurants and bars, as well as multiple pools with cascading waterfalls and designer cabanas.

The Diplomat Beach Resort is the largest convention and meeting space in North and South America as well as the Caribbean. With 1,000 traditional guest rooms and suites and more than 209,000 square feet of integrated meeting and events space, the Diplomat is also the second largest beachfront resort in South Florida. Located between Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport and Miami International Airport, the resort offers unparalleled access to guests from major markets throughout the United States, Latin America and Europe.

At the same time, award-winning hotel manager Dean Lane was named general manager of the property.

“I look forward to this new opportunity and am proud to be able to lead the phenomenal team at The Diplomat Beach Resort,” Lane says. “My ultimate goal is to ensure this premiere Resort remains the unquestionable leader in the South Floridian market for both leisure and business travelers visiting the area, by delivering an unparalleled guest experiences and best-in-class amenities around every bend.”

Known for its extensive offerings, The Diplomat holds multiple award-winning recognitions and accolades, including being awarded 2022 Top Beachfront Resort in the US by the World Luxury Hotel Awards, 2022 #1 Luxury Beachfront Resort in Florida by the Luxury Lifestyle Awards, 2022 Gold and Silver Awards by Travel Weekly for Best Overall Beach Resort and Best Overall Business/ Conference Center respectively, 2019 Best Family Resort by Travvy Awards, One of the Top-10 Resorts in Florida by Conde Nast Traveler in 2019 and is the recurring recipient of the AAA Four Diamonds Award®.

For a Corona del Mar couple, the decision to rebuild on a very specific lot came down to two key factors: nostalgia and family history. “It’s a really sweet story,” says interior designer Denise Morrison, principal of Morrison Interiors in Orange County. She worked alongside architect Christopher Brandon, president and principal architect of Brandon Architects in Costa Mesa, enlisted by the couple to bring the approximately 4,200-square-foot residence to life. “One of the homeowners’ parents lived in the home [built in the 1960s], and it was very loved by our clients and our clients’ children, who grew up visiting their grandparents at the home.”

The couple, who envisioned a light and open house with a cohesive indoor-outdoor flow that captured both bay and ocean views, also wanted to create a destination for family gatherings and a space for new memories. “The home held many pleasant memories for us, and we felt this was a way of honoring those memories,” says the wife. “We wanted it to be comfortable for the two of us while still accommodating a larger group of family and friends. It was also important for the spaces to incorporate existing items, especially art, and integrate them with new furniture and decorative pieces.”

For the overall design, an array of elements and materials were carefully implemented, including a standing seam metal roof; exposed steel beams; exposed white oak tongue-and-groove ceilings; and natural tumbled stone, along with a warm, organic contemporary aesthetic with calming shades of white, black, and khaki. Subtle pops of earthy reds and terracotta and artwork from the couple’s collection were placed primarily in the entry.

“There was a feeling that this had to be a perfect family home that honored the past and set the stage for the future,” explains Morrison. “Incorporating the homeowners’ important collectibles was key to making this new home feel familiar and respectful of its history.”

Design elements throughout the house include stone floors; a dirty kitchen separate from the primary kitchen for prep and cooking; a spacious office with plenty of storage and two large working spaces and a shared peninsula; and an outdoor patio with a full-size pool with an infinity edge. Apart from the outdoor space with drool-worthy, unobstructed ocean views, the pièce de résistance is the great room with a powder-coated aluminum coffee table by Alfonso Marina; swivel chairs by Thomas Lavin; a T-Street sofa by HOM (House of Morrison), designed by Morrison and upholstered in a linen-blend fabric; and an oil-on-canvas “Horizon Series #15” painting by artist Jeff Peters that hangs above the fireplace. “It is hard to select a favorite space because we like them all,” admits the wife. “If we had to choose, it would be a tie between the great room and back patio, followed closely by the office. Honorable mention goes to the art wall.”

In the entry, a long corridor creates a sense of arrival and an opportunity to take in the ocean views. “I love their entry and the fact that so much space is devoted to it with so much natural light,” adds Morrison. The serene space is dotted with a sideboard made from a single slab of old Caribbean walnut; wall sconces by Allied Maker; a wood carving sculpture on a pedestal procured by the couple on their travels; and a flat, woven embossed linen wallpaper by Adrienne Laskin & Associates that serves as a perfect backdrop for art. Black-and-white artwork from the couple’s collection is paired with a large, commissioned piece by Victoria MacMillan from Salt Fine Art Gallery in Laguna Beach.

“The commissioned piece was of Crystal Cove Beach, but they wanted it to depict the area of how it used to look when there were trailers in the area before they were removed in the late 1990s,” explains Morrison. “Many of the other art pieces we used throughout were items the couple had purchased on their travels all over the world. Antique rugs and textiles from Morocco were framed in plexiglass, and there are watercolors from Luxembourg.” 

With a fresh beginning anchored on such a significant piece of the past, the couple couldn’t be happier. “Both the exterior and interior designs exceeded our requirements and wishes,” explains the wife. “The longer we have lived there, the more we like it, as does our extended family.”

Brandon agrees: “We’re thrilled with how this home has been completed, taking advantage of the seamless indoor-outdoor aspect of the design with the pocketing doors, and ample space for entertaining and expansive ocean views. We feel like this home is a perfect example of a Southern California transitional design.”

For more information, visit morrisoninteriors.com

“I consider my botanical artworks portraits,” says Jessica Hollander. “They are as individual as people: Every flower, every seed pod is unique.”

Hollander, the creative force of nature behind the New York City–based lifestyle brand India & Purry, gently traces the outline of a poppy petal on a pillow, admiring its “bewitching beauty.” 

“I’m simply obsessed with poppies,” she says. “I love the way the petals are folded like crepe paper. They are otherworldly and delicate.”

For the last decade, Hollander has been creating décor—everything from bedding and wallpaper to table runners, serving trays, and framed giclée prints—that brings the artistry to the everyday home.

“I’m constantly buoyed by the beauty I see all around me in the trees, in the light, in the water,” she says. “And I want to help people create lovely, happy spaces that infuse the mundane with the divine beauty of nature.”

In her portraits, Hollander probes the petals and pods, peeling away the pretense to reveal personality. 

The hellebores are haughty; the poppies are playful; the scabiosa are showy. The dainty dandelions are demure. 

“There’s a quirkiness and sometimes a slight awkwardness to my work that adds edge,” she says.

Growing up in a quiet neighborhood on New York’s Long Island, Hollander was attuned to her suburban surroundings. 

“I’ve always had a deep love of all plants and animals, including insects,” she says, adding that India & Purry is named after her two rescue cats, sisters she welcomed into her home around the time she started the business. “My mother, who is artistic, had an organic garden, and she taught me the Latin names of plants. This love of nature has always been my driving force.”

So has her affinity for art. 

Hollander started drawing in kindergarten, and after graduating from college with a degree in painting and drawing, she began painting portraits of people, not petals.

Although she still does an occasional personal portrait, most of her work focuses on botanical images.

Hollander, a colorist who favors shades of peach and orange and who sees every plant as a sculptural and architectural form, is constantly on the search for beautiful blooms to add to her pictorial garden.

She purchased the poppies, her signature, from a florist in Williamsburg, Brooklyn; she bought the Purple Sheen Sea Hollies from a local bodega; she picked the Queen Anne’s lace by the side of the road in her Greenpoint, Brooklyn, neighborhood; and she plucked the dandelions and roses from her mother’s backyard in Huntington, New York.

Painting is a solitary, soothing pursuit for Hollander, who sets up her easel outdoors. 

“I’ve painted in the woods upstate and deep in Central Park,” she says, adding that the al fresco sessions help her reconnect with her artistic roots and the healing nature of the living landscape. 

Her product designs are derived from her botanical paintings—small watercolors done in a single sitting and large oil-on-canvas works that can take three to four days of concentrated work to complete.

“I curate a collection for each product,” she says, adding that each type of item is individually designed.

She points to the India & Purry Turkish marble coasters, which are available in a variety of patterns and colors. Each coaster in the set of four is a standalone work of art that, when grouped with its mates, forms a different image.

Hollander, who designed a collection of window shades for Hunter Douglas, has plans to expand the India & Purry brand with other licensed work. She recently added resort wear—slacks and caftans—to the line.

“I want to branch out,” she says. “I have a true passion for interior design, and I’d like to create a collection for a boutique hotel. And I envision other types of spaces, commercial as well as residential, fully decorated with India & Purry products.” 

For more information, visit indiaandpurry.com

Address: West End, Tortola
Price: $25,000,000
Acres: 8
Bedrooms: 13

Perched on a rocky cliff on Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, the Steele Point estate is made up of four separate villas, each with its own private pool, connected by lush, plant-lined paths and surrounded by turquoise seas and breathtaking views. Though the property is secluded on the western point of the island, a helipad, two private docks, and road access make it easy to come and go and enjoy the pleasures of the rest of Tortola.

The Steele Point villa is composed of multiple pods nestled into the rocky hillside, including a separate structure for the master bedroom suite and another containing three bedrooms, private decks, and access to a swimming platform. The main house is organized around an elegant stone courtyard that leads to the open plan kitchen, dining and living area, and another bedroom.

The intimate, West Indies-style Treehouse villa sits among the wooded area on the ridge of the peninsula, offering some of the most stunning views available from the property. The great room features high vaulted ceilings and sprawling glass doors that open to welcome in inviting ocean breezes. Blackbeard’s Hideaway is the most recently built of the villas, and offers an elegant entertaining space and a family-friendly layout. Designed to maximize indoor/outdoor living, the Gestalt villa emulates a tropical garden paradise with living areas that open into outdoors seating; private, open-air showers; and a pool surrounded on three sides by luxuriant vegetation.

For a complete listing, broker information, and more photos, visit redcoralbvi.com/properties/steele-point-estate-2.

Taking over an iconic hotel built in 1924 on one of Palm Beach’s most fashionable main streets, The White Elephant is a 32-room boutique property (with 13 rooms and 19 suites spread across four stories) that offers the glamour of the 1920s with all the modern amenities of a five-star luxury hotel. 

The Addison Mizner–style facade was fully restored in creamy-white stucco, black trim, and terracotta roof tiles. Black-and-white striped awnings offer a polished, fabled look. Guests are welcomed by a seven-foot white elephant statue by Santa Fe–based artist Fredrick Prescott. 

Designed by Elkus Manfredi, the hotel has more of the feel of an upscale private residence, featuring a neutral color palette with metal accents, vibrant splashes of color, and more than 120 pieces of artwork, carefully curated by the owners and design firm, on display throughout the common areas and guest rooms. An original fireplace mantel welcomes guests in the lobby. The hardwood floors, Carrara marble, elegant tiles, and woven rugs offer a luxurious, textured contemporary style. 

Artists on display include Robert Rauschenberg, whose early creations in the 1950s anticipated the pop art movement, and Jennifer Bartlett, known for her small, square steel plates that are combined in grid formations to create large-scale works. Several pieces by painter Kenzo Okada, the first Japanese-American artist to receive international acclaim using abstract expressionist style, are on display, as are works by Donald Baechler, part of the East Village, New York, 1980s art movement.

A 54-inch-round acrylic work by Orit Fuchs was specifically created for the hotel and is a focal point of the lobby; six prints by Yinka Shonibare can be found on the second-floor corridor. Doodle Boy, a 10-year-old British artist, was commissioned to create 30 exclusive pieces for the powder rooms. Using clean black lines hand drawn with a thick marker, he incorporated a hidden signature elephant in each of his drawings. 

Each guest room door is outfitted with an elephant door knocker. Upon entering your spacious room, you are greeted with an impeccable designscape, featuring custom furniture and plush couches covered in soothing gray and cream-colored fabrics. The ultra dreamy king-sized beds are outfitted with Pratesi linens and upholstered backboards accented in a colorful palm and floral print. Console tables by Selamat Designs, in collaboration with Morris & Co., are wrapped inside and out with authentic William Morris “Strawberry Thief” covering. The bathrooms feature marble tiles, double stone sinks, a dry vanity, and glass-enclosed showers. Everything is automated including temperature, shades, and lighting, which can be set to any mood you wish. The guest rooms are so beautiful and comfortable, you may just forgo exploring the city.

 When you are ready to get some of Florida sunshine, an outdoor courtyard offers the perfect spot to relax or take a dip in the pool. The manicured grounds feature mature palm trees and lush, fragrant flora. White Elephant Palm Beach’s signature restaurant Lola 41—a Nantucket staple—serves globally inspired dishes and local seafood specialties. If you’re able to get a spot on the patio, I highly recommend it.  

For more information, visit whiteelephantpalmbeach.com

A 1980s Arts & Crafts–inspired home in Greenwich, Connecticut, has found new life in the classical vernacular.

That’s because New Canaan–based Wadia Associates advised their clients to gut the interior, rethink the flow of its space, and orient its rooms to 270-degree views of Long Island Sound. When they did, the former Shingle Style gave way to a more traditional look and feel.

It was a complete overhaul with an artisanal approach. The designers reimagined the home’s exterior by brightening its shingles with a light gray tone. Inside, they chose natural light over darker detailing, and delivered a soft touch with all-new fabrics and fixtures. 

“We took away some of the Arts & Crafts influence inside and added more of a classical approach to the details,” says Saranda Berisa, Wadia’s director of interior design and decoration. “Now there’s air and breath to the home where before the molding was dark and heavy.”

The clients are a young Indian couple with three middle schoolers. They wanted to show an Eastern influence inside and outside their house, and display their collection of Indian art. “They wanted more of their heritage in the space, and with a classical backdrop it’s more conducive to their desires,” Berisa says. “They wanted to feel like they were home.”

The main architectural challenge was to rethink the “L” shape of the main living spaces, kitchen, dining area, and living room. “Functionally, the task was to open up a plan that was convoluted, so that it flows,” says Wadia architect Robert Butscher. “Now each of its three zones has its own identity.”

Case in point: the breakfast room, where a decorative pattern on the domed ceiling offers an Indian touch. “There are plaster moldings applied to the ceiling, and that gives it a light, delicate, geometric design that echoes more traditional Indian design in a modern way,” he says. “It’s an eight-sided pyramid.”

The kitchen features a center island countertop with colors reminiscent of the sea—blues, greens, and yellows. A surrounding all-white Glassos counter freshens it up. Kitchen cabinets alternate between walnut and dark-teal tones. “There’s a wood grain to the cabinetry, with a high-design veneer,” Berisa says.

In the living area the designers added 24-foot-wide sliding windows that open up to a new porch. The addition not only doubles the indoor/outdoor living area space, but also nearly snugs up to the swimming pool, California-style. “Now it’s a space that’s open on two sides and has a very warm, sheltering feeling. It fits the balance between indoors and out,” project architect Melanie Smith says.

That sheltering feeling is enhanced by a hand-carved teak ceiling designed by a Wadia architect and then fabricated in Italy. Again, it’s a touch that emphasizes the couple’s Indian roots. “It was from an image that the clients saw on a trip while we were in the middle of construction; they came back with a photo,” she says.

The designers added a cupola over the main staircase to bring in natural light at the stairhead above, much like a skylight. Then they opened the ceilings up more. And they reshaped the fireplaces for more classical references. “The assignment was to take a good house and make it a great house,” Butscher says. 

It’s functional because there were three children to consider. But it’s designed for having fun, too, since entertaining was one of the goals of the client. “It lends itself to the objective of vibrant colors, with a little bit of flair and fun,” Berisa says. “It’s a party house: They definitely like to have people come in and enjoy the fruits of their labor.”

A marble entry invites guests in. There’s sparkling Venetian plaster, walls painted by an artist, plus a quartzite countertop and a mosaic floor in the bath. “We used a lot of jewel tones to pay homage to their heritage,” she says. “There’s a rich texture with wallpaper, and a lot of lush treatments in terms of plasters.”

The 9,000-square-foot house took about 18 months to complete, in the middle of the pandemic. But now, almost all of its rooms have views out to Long Island Sound, and they still manage to flow easily from one to another. “It’s breezy and fresh and doesn’t feel big either on the inside or outside,” Butscher says.

As they renovated, the architects made significant technological updates to the house. “We ended up with a fabulous, high-tech, and beautiful home, with the detailing and feeling of an intimate resort,” Smith says. “It’s lit up beautifully at night—it’s almost like a little jewel box on the sound.”

Inside, it’s also a series of high-style spaces, with drama to spare. And while its gables outside may still say Arts & Crafts, the classical makeover of this home is light, airy, and open. 

For more information, visit wadiaassociates.com

A long, narrow site along Cancun’s Golden Mile drove the design of a new Waldorf Astoria on the beachfront there.

A typical response might have been to insert a simple horizontal bar of a hotel on that strip of sand between mangrove and sea.

But SB Architects principal Stefano Falbo is no typical hospitality architect. And EDSA principal Astrid Hoffmann is no ordinary landscape architect. The two firms work together regularly, often with pleasing results. “It’s always a mutual collaboration,” Falbo says. “Sometimes we call them in, and sometimes we get the same from them.”

The project started with a 2017 visit by the architects, who walked the site, talked to the client, and then wrapped their heads around the size, scope, and program for the hotel and spa.

Then came the edgy part, when the architects initiated a design charrette on site. Over a couple of days, they rolled out sketch paper and drew up a series of solutions for their clients. “You’re drawing by hand – and creating a vision right there,” he says. “It would have taken twice the time in the office.”

They followed an agreed-upon design footprint, with client decisions made on the spot. “It’s so valuable in a short period of time with all the stakeholders there,” Falbo says of the charrette process. “There it was – the combination of master plan and architecture.”

They’d sketched out a hotel with 173 ocean-facing rooms on that narrow strip of land, plus lobby, ballroom, meeting rooms and restaurants. “We wanted to break it up and articulate it, almost in a horseshoe shape,” he says. “We did not want a long, monotonous, and boring space.”

EDSA’s Hoffman was responsible for everything except the building itself. That meant the entrance sequence, the welcome center and guardhouse, the eight-minute drive through an otherwise untouched stretch of mangrove, the porte cochere, and the spa area.

“The site is a jagged line between the dunes and the mangrove,” she says. “It’s about the water, the flow, and the lines that cross the natural elements.”

The entire site is 865 acres of dense growth. The landscape architects didn’t touch the mangrove except for the road leading to the hotel. All around the structure, they used low-maintenance plantings, adaptive to the climate and natural to the place. Hoffmann’s material palette for the hardscape was a native stone, including the pools.

“It’s a very natural environment, immersed in the mangrove – you feel like you’re away from the world and in a wellness-oriented space,” she says.

Once an arriving guest has gone through a decompression phase from highway through mangrove to hotel entrance, an element of surprise awaits. “We wanted to create the ‘Wow!’ effect there,” Falbo says. “In a guest’s mind, the thought should be: ‘Yes – I arrived at the right place.’”

Hoffmann is a little more succinct. “I would say it’s a window to the sea,” she says.

And to the designers’ credit, it’s a sensitive triumph of nature over the built environment.

When Marieanne Khoury-Vogt and her husband, Erik Vogt, first arrived in the Florida panhandle to help get Alys Beach up and running, they figured they’d be back in Miami within two or three years. But the New Urbanist community hugging the Gulf of Mexico coastline became much more than a temporary stopover: In a 20-year stint as town architects for Alys Beach, the couple has brought to fruition everything from residences to retail spaces to civic buildings, setting down roots in the area and raising their children along the way. 

So when Alys Beach sold its first private Gulf-front lot, owners requested to work with Khoury Vogt Architects, to help make their dream home a reality. The original master plan for the town was by Duany Plater Zyberk & Co., but the plan for the Gulf-side blocks was further refined by London-based architect Demetri Porphyrios. He designed the lots in a picturesque, slightly staggered manner, prescribing the footprint for all homes for the Gulf front as well as the 3 tiers behind, keeping view corridors open so that Gulf views could be enjoyed by all.

“Given the value and desirability of Gulf-front lots, the footprint was smaller than other lots in Alys,” Marieanne says. “To compensate for this, the design code allowed for three floors of living space, which immediately resulted in a kind of townhouse configuration, with a main living room raised to the second floor for the best views.” While the town of Alys Beach is inspired by Bermudan architectural influences, the Gulf-side lots drew from Mediterranean precedents for this courtyard house tailored to the site’s zero lot line constraints. “We wanted an architectural form that could be sculptural without being overly ornate and that would contribute to an overall urbanism that was harmonious, cohesive, and beautiful.” 

This inaugural Gulf-front residence in Alys Beach has a striking difference from the neighbors that followed it: a forecourt, created by setting back the first floor of the house about 16 feet from the southern property line. “The conventional wisdom would call for building right up to the line to maximize views and living space,” Marieanne says, “but both the owner and we agreed that a court nestled in the scrub of the dunes and adjoined by a loggia would make for a really unique experience.” A center stair in the entry hall organizes the first-floor spaces; an elliptical opening in the pool court and a limestone-framed opening in the raised courtyard frames views of the dunes and the Gulf, while a covered loggia attached to the courts is appointed with an outdoor fireplace and summer kitchen.

On all three floors, the design emphasizes “long axes and perspectival views,” Marieanne says. “The lot size is modest, so we always want to draw your eye out and extend your views as much as possible. We tried to be judicious and deliberate in designing the floor plan.” As one ascends the first stair, one enters into a family room that spans the second floor, and one’s gaze naturally travels to a bowed bay window. The living room at the front of the house opens up with a floating kitchen wall and a dining alcove positioned toward land; on the Gulf side, opened pocket doors dial up the expansive views, accompanied by a loggia balcony projecting over the courtyard.

The uppermost floor echoes the second floor. Stairs divide the floor plate into landward and seaward sections, the master bedroom opens up to a porch with pocket doors, and the master bath floats in a vaulted space as “a room within a room with buttressed corners, like a miniaturized version of the house itself,” Marieanne says. On the northern side, an additional bedroom suite has a balcony above the family room bay below. While affording ample privacy, the third floor also offers a striking twist on the maritime ambiance. “When you’re in the master bedroom, it is akin to being on a ship as the expansive ocean is the principal view and a most desirable space to watch the sun rise and set,” Marieanne says. 

Copper awnings, limestone flourishes, and acroteria ornamentation thoughtfully embellish the residence’s exterior. Meanwhile, hewing to Fortified Standards as well as criteria set by the Florida Green Building Coalition ensures resilience and sustainability, a mandate required by Alys Beach to help give its owners assurances that their houses will withstand the harshest elements. 

“It was wonderful to work on a project where everybody was as inspired and involved as they were,” Marieanne says. “The homeowner was engaged in the design process. They were extraordinarily respectful of [my and Erik’s] very strong thoughts, but they definitely influenced the design. They pushed us, and we pushed them.” 

Learn more about the project team

Architect: Khoury Vogt Architects
Interior decor: The Iron Gate