Going up the paved walk through a lovely front garden to the entrance of the Florida Vernacular home at 955 Riomar is like walking back in time. Built in 1929, the house is one of the original “Cleveland Cottages” erected by the well-to-do Midwesterners who founded Riomar Country Club and first made the barrier island a winter destination.
Flanked by casement windows and ornate woodwork, the front door leads into a slate-paved foyer that is both deep and wide and has a sloped, shed-roof ceiling. To the left is a spacious living room that reinforces the sense of historic architecture with a vaulted pecky cypress ceiling supported by cypress beams and a wood-burning fireplace. Original casement windows look out on lush garden views. Only the drywall and red oak floor are new, installed in recent years by Alex MacWilliam Real Estate agent Stacey Miller, who owns the home and has it listed for $1,699,000.
“The house was built by a widow from Cleveland who sold it to the Rowe family shortly afterward,” says Miller. “I bought it from the Rowes in 2005 and remodeled it over the next few years. I think Vero’s older homes should be preserved and that is what I had in mind here. The entire house was taken back to the studs. It was insulated and completely rewired. The bathrooms and kitchen were gutted and redone and new AC installed, but nothing was added on [and the appearance and structure of the house was not changed].
“It is an incredibly peaceful place tucked away beneath an oak canopy with lots of privacy. When people see it from the street, it looks like a small cottage, but there is actually a lot of house here.”
The main, two-story house is approximately 3,500 square feet, with 3 bedrooms and 3.5 baths and a large enclosed sleeping porch. In addition there are two cottages in the back of the .40-acre lot – one a converted garage and butler’s quarters, the other a studio built in 1998.
The back of the main house and the two guest houses enclose three sides of a private courtyard in which a free-form heated pool surrounded by a paver deck is the main feature.
Built of heart pine, an incredibly hard and durable material, the main house and converted garage have weathered every storm in the past 85 years.
Miller says shingle roof on all three buildings was put on in 1998, when the studio cottage was built, and that damage to the compound in the 2004-2005 storms was limited to the loss of two shingles.
Across the foyer from the living room, to the right upon entry, is the master bedroom.
The comfortable room’s original closet is small, reflecting a less materialistic time, but Miller has revamped the former maid’s quarters into a stellar walk-in with a built-in bureau, lots of mirrors, and sliding doors with glass panels around the perimeter.
The closet is at the far end of an elegantly remodeled master bath that is one step up from the bedroom and features another built-in bureau, dual vanities and some great light fixtures.
Back out in the foyer, a short hallway leads past the base of the staircase to the enlarged kitchen. At the top of the stairs are two guest or children’s rooms, with hardwood floors, cottagey dormer windows and sloped ceilings, two bathrooms, and a spacious sleeping porch with wrap-around casement windows.
The kitchen manages to retain a country-like, almost colonial feel while being completely modern, with off-white cabinets and wonderful wooden counters.
Miller says early Riomar homeowners tended to dine at the country club and had live-in help at home. Since residents didn’t spend time in their kitchens, the rooms tended to be small, basic affairs, not life-style statements.
“There were like two cabinets in here when I bought it and no counter space,” Miller says.
Miller took down a wall and opened the kitchen up to the adjacent dining room, making the entire back of the house into a single rectangular room that is both attractive and livable, with a cool beehive fireplace in one corner. She also added a powder room.
The kitchen and dining room windows overlook the pool courtyard. A side door leads from the dining room to a quiet covered porch.
“This is where I live,” Miller says.
The porch is open to the courtyard at one end, making it a perfect place to lounge between laps in the pool. Two other sides of the pool patio are faced by the studio cottage, which has a bedroom/living room, full bathroom, walk-in closet and loft Miller believes would appeal to kids.
“They could make a great fort up there,” she says.
The other guest house is a complete suite with living room, laundry, kitchenette, bedroom and bathroom. Formerly the garage and butler’s quarters, it features original heart pine paneling and framing and a pretty woven tile design in the shower.
Miller says the suite would be ideal as a nanny’s quarters or as a place for in-laws or other visiting relatives.
Miller’s charming Riomar home is located just a block from the ocean and she named it Seaglass Cottage when she bought it.
“I thought it needed a name,” she says. The interior design scheme picks up on the theme, featuring aquamarine, bottle green, red and other colors common in sea glass.
Miller says she has her eye on a couple of other older properties, one of which may become her next project when 955 Riomar sells.
“I want to save the older houses,” she says. “That is what it is all about.”
