Lara Swimmer Photography

Project Feature in: Luxe Magazine & Luxury Living Brickell From skiing in the Swiss Alps to water sports in Key Biscayne, a relocation for a Chilean couple with three small children was a sea change. “They’re probably the most opposite places in the world,” says the husband about moving from Switzerland to Miami. The couple fell in love with a tropical modern house in Key Biscayne with architecture by Marta Zubillaga and Juan Jose Zubillaga of Zubillaga Design. The white-stucco home with horizontal planks of red cedar had them at hello due to the open interiors kept bright and airy with limestone and marble plus an abundance of windows. “The light,” the husband says, “is something we loved.” While in Miami on an overseas trip, the wife met with designer Maite Granda, whose style she had seen and liked online. For their interview, the homeowner brought along a photo book she created that essentially offered a roadmap to their family with profiles, likes, sports, and hobbies to navigate through the design. They immediately clicked, and Granda’s passion for designing children’s rooms was a value-added perk that the mother of three appreciated. “She painted a picture for me of each of the kids,” recalls Granda. “She said, ‘My boy is very creative—always building; he loves Legos. My oldest girl is very artistic— always dressing up in costumes, and she likes to sing. And the little one—we’re still discovering her personality.’” To read more visit: https://maitegranda.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/LX_MIA11_HOM_Maite_12.compressed.pdf Rolando Diaz

Hardscaping is balanced by layers of lush planting.

Latte poles are a perfect shading device. Used over the paved walkway and the outdoor terrace, they provide dappled light and shade both inside and outside.

Larkspur, CA, Photo by O'Connell Landscape

Mixing elegant bluestone and traditional house brick provides a nice contrast to the custom arbor and lush green landscape beyond

This remodel of an architect’s Seattle bungalow goes beyond simple renovation. It starts with the idea that, once completed, the house should look as if had been built that way originally. At the same time, it recognizes that the way a house was built in 1926 is not for the way we live today. Architectural pop-outs serve as window seats or garden windows. The living room and dinning room have been opened up to create a larger, more flexible space for living and entertaining. The ceiling in the central vestibule was lifted up through the roof and topped with a skylight that provides daylight to the middle of the house. The broken-down garage in the back was transformed into a light-filled office space that the owner-architect refers to as the “studiolo.” Bosworth raised the roof of the stuidiolo by three feet, making the volume more generous, ensuring that light from the north would not be blocked by the neighboring house and trees, and improving the relationship between the studiolo and the house and courtyard.

Photo: Mina Brinkey © 2013 Houzz

We had a storm and the house and a wonderful rainbow followed, so I wanted to share it with everyone, along with our pool and landscape.

Complete renovation of the kitchen, dining room and adjacent courtyard to improve circulation of air, light and people for a couple that loves to entertain.

Photography by Tim Street-Porter

Photo credit~Jeri Koegel