Character-Driven

On Florida's Siesta Key, a family built their forever house from the ground up, fashioning a home that could fool even a local into believing it had been there all along

- Paige Porter Fischer

Among the oaks

Traditional clapboard siding, copper gutters, and a cedar-shake roof deliver a traditional look to this brand-new home. Architect Kurt Zobrist worked closely with Nautilus Builders to ensure that every design detail felt authentic and appropriate for the magical setting. The house fits perfectly between the seawall and two century-old live oak trees.

Bringing the indoors out

The porch features a pair of rattan sofas with cushions in white performance fabric, and an unfinished teak coffee table that will patina beautifully over time. "This space is relaxed, inviting, and pretty, but it was designed for easy maintenance," says designer Jett Thompson. The porches have double retractable screens (one for insects and one for hurricane protection) that drop down at the push of a button, allowing the windows and doors of the home to open onto the porch without any threat of bugs entering. "Those screens allow the house to truly function as an indoor-outdoor home," says Zobrist.

When interior designer Jett Thompson first saw the bayfront lot where her clients were building their home on Florida's Siesta Key, she almost couldn't believe her eyes. "I went to the house very early in construction, and it was situated under these giant live oak trees that were dripping with Spanish moss," she recalls. "It honestly made my heart sing because they hadn't taken down all the native trees. They didn't clear-cut the lot to build the house, and they added mature native plants back upon completion of the project."