Suncrest

The arrival sets the tone. A path of pale stone slabs crosses the lawn beneath a mature shade tree to a portico framed in coral stone, a simple post-and-lintel that steps forward from the facade like a gatehouse. Behind it, a tall timber door sits between slender sidelights. Smooth white stucco alternates with stone-clad walls along the street front, and beside the entry, rain chains carry water from the eaves into raised planters edged in stone.

Inside, the plan is the project’s central idea. The shared rooms sit at the base of the U. The living room rises to double height, with a clerestory band pulling light deep into the space and a full-height wall of vertical timber slats anchoring it. The kitchen pairs twin white islands with walnut-toned cabinetry and a built-in banquette for everyday meals. One wing holds the primary suite, its bath and an office. The other belongs to the children and their guests, with bedrooms and social spaces of their own. The result is a house that separates without isolating.

The rear elevation is where the composition resolves. A taller central pavilion, its hipped roof carried on stone piers and beams, shelters an outdoor living room on axis with the pool. Along both wings, covered terraces with warm timber soffits and ceiling fans give the family shaded rooms that stay usable through the afternoon heat, including an outdoor kitchen set under the eaves. Dark bronze frames draw a precise line around every opening, so the lawn, the pool and the mature canopy beyond read as a sequence of composed views.

The same attention reaches the private rooms. In one bathroom, a freestanding tub rests on a bed of river stones, facing a full-height view of the garden and the pool. Beyond the terraces, a standalone cabana houses a yoga studio, so practice happens in the garden rather than inside the house. Featured in Florida Design Magazine in 2022, Suncrest shows that a house can be architecturally assured and still belong, first, to the people who live in it.