Eible House

Style is back in style. This stunning residence in Sarasota’s Southgate community honors the timeless, mid-century modern architecture of coastal Florida in the 1950s and 1960s. Like a Frank Sinatra song or a Savile Row suit, that style is unmistakable. Our recent renovation redefines that style for today.

In the beginning. The original Southgate house was born in 1960. The light-filled, waterfront living space was a classic from day one. The one-story, 1,700 square-foot home had much to offer. An open-floor plan. Stunning terrazzo floors. A seamless connection between interior spaces and the great outdoors. This mid-century modern structure embraced gracious Florida living for its time. Architura made it work for our time.

The transformation. Our renovation doesn’t hide the home’s mid-century lineage. We take it even further. Using the base structure as a starting point, we’ve reinvented it for the 21st century. The results thrill the eye and sooth the senses. But it’s more than good looks. Some upgrades are structural and out of sight.

Getting in on the ground floor. We totally reimagined the first floor. The mood is thoroughly modern wherever you look. To complete that vision, we’ve planned such details as restored, mid-century furniture, a 20-foot art wall, vintage lighting, and a ceiling created from the house’s original beams. Style aside, there’s plenty of applied engineering. We’ve fully reinforced the floor itself and increased its bearing height to more than nine feet. We transformed the floor plan as well. The former bath and two small bedrooms have been expanded into a spacious guest suite. Using sliding glass doors, we opened the kitchen, dining room and living room to the pool patio (which we created with repurposed terrazzo from the old lanai.) The result is an indoor-outdoor great room, complete with a pool patio kitchen. Indoors and out, the flooring is grey, terrazzo porcelain. (Our homage to the original floors.) The expanded garage accommodates four cars; there’s also a dumbwaiter to the second floor. In the foyer, custom-designed stairs rise from a tranquil, indoor water garden. As you ascend to the second floor, 6′ x 20″ clerestory windows offer an expansive view of Florida’s natural splendor every step of the way.

Taking it to the next level. The new second floor boasts a highly updated ranch layout. A vaulted great room is the main attraction. The heart of that welcoming space is a vintage gas fireplace from 1960—a thing of beauty in shades of blue-green jade. Cypress hardwood floors add to the feeling of warmth. We also equipped our custom chef’s kitchen with restored 1960’s-era O’Keefe Merritt and G.E. appliances; their mod colors perfectly complement the fireplace. Glass walls and sliding glass panels beautifully echo each other. One faces east; the other faces west. The panorama is uplifting either way. The bold, front balcony extends the house, and offers a bird’s-eye view of the lush landscape. The second-floor bedrooms and master bath overlook the soothing beauty of Phillippi Creek. Each boasts expansive windows, and a canted bay window with a built-in seat.

Take it outside. James Hardie’s “Artisan” siding predominates in the house’s exterior, with stucco and rustic stone at the stair tower. Outdoor railings echo the material vocabulary of the exterior architecture. The 360-degree, disappearing-edge pool offers a sense of limitless space. Beyond the pool, the terraced backyard leads down to the water in a mesmerizing path punctuated by boulders. Above it all, the home’s denizens is sheltered by a galvanized aluminum roof.

And there you have it. Inside and out, we sweated every detail. The results are stunning, timeless, and functional. That’s our take on modern architecture for a new century. We hope it puts a smile on your face!

Credit where credit is due. We thank all our industry partners who lent their support on this project.