When people think about moving to Florida, it’s hard to imagine they don’t dream of moving into a home like this four-bedroom, four full- and three half-bathroom home in Miromar Lakes.
Designed by Stofft Cooney Architects, the 8,117-square-foot under-air (11,755 total) home is a beautiful blend of Key West and coastal styles and utilizes an open-concept floor plan to keep spaces bright and airy and current.
Lead interior designer Arlynn McDaniel of Freestyle Interiors says that the homeowners, Paula and Peter Pala, formerly of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, wanted something comfortable and user-friendly. “They do a lot of entertaining and wanted a sophisticated coastal feel. She loves blues and creams and the walnut woods, and was really into the contrasts,” McDaniel says. “We spent a lot of the time trying to find just the right blue. … (Paula) had a lot of input in this home. She has very good taste and she knows what she wants. It’s so individual. It’s transitional, but it’s them.”
Through arched mahogany and glass doors, the foyer, with a beautiful barrel ceiling covered in a subtle blue Venetian plaster, hints at the detail and design work ahead.
“It’s almost as if you’re walking through water,” Paula says. And once in the foyer you look out to the back, to the stunning 78-foot-long pool and to the lake. Dark stained walnut flooring leads guests into a great room that measures a whopping 43 by 23.5 feet. Ceilings in the home top out at 16 feet.
“I think the first thing you notice is the wall detail,” McDaniel says. “There are some great molding and wall details. And the ceiling detail in the club room was a winner.”
The Palas like things very symmetrical, so in that regard the residence takes on a very classical look. But in the clubroom, essentially a sports/game room, they wanted a TV, a bar, a billiards table and a cards table.
“We love food, we love wine, we love having people over,” Paula says. “It’s nothing for us to have 50 or 60 people over for something like the Super Bowl.”
McDaniel sectioned that room into fourths using a dramatic ceiling detail. The room features 90-degree sliding doors, allowing it to open directly onto the extensive outdoor living area, replete with an outdoor living room (with a two-way fireplace that can be enjoyed from the spa), an outdoor kitchen and a wood-burning pizza oven covered in turquoise tiles that look like fish scales.
And to help keep the party going, the home was designed with a 1,200-bottle glass wine room.
“We created a back wall in that wine room that is made up of various wine crates form their favorite vintners,” says Matthew Shull, director of operations at Gulfshore Homes, who built the home. “But the whole focus of the house is entertainment with a resort feel.”
And isn’t that exactly why any of us moved here in the first place?
Photographer: Lori Hamilton
Architect: Stofft Cooney Architect
Builder: Gulfshore Homes
Interior designer: Freestyle Interiors
Landscape designer: Windham Studio
