The owners of this property approached our
firm to provide design services for a site located on a natural canal
leading to the intercoastal waterway. In recent years the couple has
begun to spend the majority of their time at the property in Vero Beach,
close to where Ms. Mitchell was raised. Living in the house it became
clear to the couple that improvements to the 50+ year old structure had
become a necessity.We began the process by first
evaluating the Client's goals with their existing property in order to
determine whether or not the existing single family residence on the
site could accommodate their needs. After a visit to the site it was
determined that any improvement to the existing residence would require
the demolition of the original terrazzo slab on grade, perhaps the
house's best asset. Once the decision to demolish was made a series of
design options were explored which maintained the scale and character of
the original house while adding new exterior program to the site. A
desire to preserve as much of the natural vegetation on the site as
possible including many beautiful live oak trees meant containing new
construction within the footprint of the original building. Improved
efficiency within the footprint of the building allowed us to provide
the same interior program within a smaller amount of conditioned space,
again a nod to the scale and character of the original historic
neighborhood. Materials used are also complimentary to the context and
include white stucco, dark brick, and native cypress. Landscaping
includes a combination of native palms and live oaks coupled with tall
drought tolerant grasses against the building providing a screen for
condensing units.
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