For leaving everyday cares behind, there's nothing like a trip to the beach. Jeannie and Alex Krumdieck of Birmingham get away from it all with a stay at their home away from home, a masterwork of architecture and interior design they've created in Rosemary Beach, Florida. The neo-traditional resort town, designed and planned by Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company of Miami, borders a stretch of sand on the Sunshine State's northwest coast. Rosemary Beach's regulations requiring top-notch design and construction attracted Jeannie, a designer, and Alex, an architect.
Throughout the beach community, landscaped common areas punctuate clusters of cottages and larger homes that adapt much of their visual style from coastal and Caribbean towns.
Initial Ideas
|
|
Paving landscaped with native plants surrounds the pool.
|
Jeannie and Alex collaborated on the design of their vacation home with co-owners Kristen and Alan Boan of Fairhope, Alabama. Homes in Rosemary Beach are flavored by a colorful palette, and the Krumdiecks found inspiration in the white stucco town hall, a local landmark designed by Merrill and Pastor Architects of Vero Beach. "Alex loved the town hall, and we all agreed that we liked the white stucco and the idea of using a parapet wall to achieve a more vertical feel," says Jeannie.
At Rosemary Beach, certain distinctive architectural features, such as the parapet wall, are sometimes repeated on houses of various styles and sizes. This recurrence of familiar elements helps give the community its own visual identity.
The Krumdiecks and Boans chose a corner lot that was large enough to build a small pool within an enclosed garden area at the rear. Stucco walls with end gables anchor the house's rear and side elevations. On the side facing the street, Alex selected a tall, multipaned window downstairs and balanced it with a second one above.
