Alameda

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Alameda

About the project

This four bedroom single family home at Alameda Avenue combines the advantages of the British West Indies Style with contemporary interior design and state of the art technical equipment.   alameda-4

The Location

Alameda Avenue is a gem in real estate property development in Sarasota. Located almost at the coast, the avenue is lined with trees, amongst them pines that are eponymous for the original meaning of the word Alameda. Alameda Avenue offers you a retreat from the exciting and busy live in downtown Sarasota, yet you are never far away from it.   alameda-1

The Style

The style – named after the British Overseas Territories in the Caribbean – is characterized by clean lines, covered verandas and large open spaces. Due to the tropical climate in the Caribbean, houses built in this style have spacious entrance areas that allow the air to circulate. The climatic conditions are very similar in Florida and the architectural design of this house follows the same logic and function. When the slide doors in the living room, kitchen area or the master bedroom are open, a cool breeze blows through the house bringing the spirit of the Caribbean to the West Coast of Florida. The British West Indies Style is also coined by the combination of local architectural style and materials, crafted and adapted by the settlers in the 18th and 19th century that incorporated their style and talent from their country of origin. We follow this legacy by using Italian marble and local pine wood, arranged and ornamented by skilled craftsmen.   alameda-11

Interior Design

In our architectural composition of the Alameda house we follow the functional design of the British West Indies Style. Our interior design, however, is also inspired by nature itself. Azul blue mosaic tiles like the water surrounding the house, mingh green representing the green of the trees along the Alameda Avenue and light sand colors reminiscent of nearby beaches and ground texture   alameda-8 alameda-7

The Rooms

The heart of the house is the kitchen and living room area on the first floor. Here the almost complete glass front opens up magnificent views across the canal and the bay of Sarasota. The breeze circulating through the open doors and the tranquility given off by the wooden beams of the interior, give you the impression to be anywhere in the Caribbean, when in fact you are close to downtown Sarasota and the airport. The exotic is mixed perfectly with the practical – the essence for the sophisticated traveler of today. On the first floor, the kids’ bedrooms and the guest room are located. Their special features are small alcoves by the windows, to facilitate relaxed reading with a formidable view in this comfortable seating! The master bedroom, up one floor on the wooden staircase, is exquisitely laid with hand carved wooden stucco on the ceiling, the inner window and terrace door frames and floor edges. Its private balcony faces the bay.   alameda-6

Woodwork

This project has mainly been using three types of wood that all can be found locally. Each floor is laid out with carefully manufactured, amber colored maple wood. The beams in the living room are made of yellow pine wood, which stands in nice contrast to the darker wooden floors and the white walls. In the style of the houses in the Caribbean, the outside also presents carefully crafted ornaments made out of cedar wood. This gives the house a sophisticated elegance in midst the tropical surroundings.   alameda-10

Bathrooms

Certainly one of the many highlights of this exceptional property are the bathrooms. Each comes in a different design and all are tiled with marble by AKDO Eternal Thassos, imported from Italy. The combination of natural stones is unrivaled in their variety of colors and patterns. Each bathroom has a special mosaic design in soft pastel colors representing various elements essential to the location of the house. The surrounding waters and beaches find themselves in kids’ bathrooms. One is held in azul blue reflecting the water element and sea. The other kid’s bathroom features various sandy colors giving it playful, yet calm look. The trees surrounding Alameda Avenue are reflected in the mingh green mosaics that give the guest bathroom an extraordinary flair. This elusive marble is a translucent gem that gives guests a spa like experience, which is enhanced by the cabinet tops made of white onyx. The exotic stone is translucent so it can be illuminated to create a special effect. The master bathroom uses handmade mosaic for the flooring in the shower and wall cladding playing with an eclectic mix of azul blue, mingh green and thassos white. The cabinet tops are made of quartzite, using a natural stone from Brazil called lumen, which fits in smoothly with the color of the mosaics. All faucets are chrome two-handle high arc bathroom faucets type Waterhill made by MOEN. Besides their unbeatable look, they are also exceptionally maneuverable.   alameda-5

Kitchen

The kitchen is the central point of the house. It extends into the living room creating a lively, energetic space. Its look is inspiring. The counters are made out of white marble called Bianco Gioia, an Italian natural stone. The backsplash convinces with a mosaic using the finely granulated marble Statuario from Carrara-Marmore in Italy. This type of marble is very rare and has been used by stone carvers over centuries. To accentuate the look of the room and to deliver state of the art devices, the kitchen is equipped with Viking products. The spacious farmhouse sink is made out of solid, heavy duty fireclay by the Italian producer Aulani.   alameda-9

Features

The house has a solid ground foundation. The living room and kitchen area as well as the 2nd floor Master Bedroom rest on concrete pillars to give it all the benefits of British West Indies Style air circulation. Technical support for a ceiling-TV, loud speakers and lights are installed, so that the place can function as an outdoor living room or spacious lounge area. This open space area underneath the 1st floor expands onto to the canal on two sides and gives direct access to pool in front or the jetty to the left. The pool is one of the most exciting features of this exceptional property, surrounded on two sides by the canal and providing a view onto the sea. It comes with a sun shelf, sitting and table area, salted water, Jacuzzi and heatable water. Smart appliances allow you to control A/C and cameras at the front door with a smart phone or tablet, to control the temperature inside the house before you go in or to watch for what happens upfront. Inside the house the elevator shaft has been closed off to provide for additional storing spaces on each floor, hidden behind wooden doors. If needed, an elevator can be installed for an upgrade of 25.000 dollars. All windows and doors are resistant against wind with over 150 mph, a quality exceeding the hurricane safety regulations. The house has excellent sound and heat insulation as well as an aluminium roof. Most of materials used to build and insulate the house are made in the USA. It is the key value of our projects to use high quality materials, while also supporting local American producers, whenever possible. The garage provides two lots and there are more parking spaces in the runway to the garage.   home-1