The classical-looking Mediterranean-style home at 600 Reef Road in the Oceanside subdivision across from the Moorings is an ideal family beach house, with plenty of room for kids to play when little and entertain friends when older. The house has a swimming pool and movie theater and is situated on an unspoiled beach with good surfing, swimming and fishing, so there is plenty for kids of all ages to do.
At the same time, the expansive rooms and details like a wine cellar with a table set up for wine tastings and a gourmet kitchen make this a great house for adult entertaining and parties of all kinds.
“Holidays are amazing in this house,” say homeowner Andonia Kleopoulos who lives here with her three teenage children. “Everyone comes here for New Year’s Eve and 4th of July. The kids can be downstairs with their friends and music while the adults are partying up here, listening to Jazz.”
Downstairs – the first level of this three-story, 12,000-square-foot home – includes a huge family room with a pool table, a well-equipped exercise room, the wine cellar with a handsome wrought iron door, and a complete mother-in law or maid’s suite with a kitchen and large bathroom.
“This is the most fun part of the house,” says Nectaria, 16, “because you are out of your parent’s vision for a while!”
“My parents used to live down here,” says Andonia, “When the kids were little, they would get their little blankets and pillows say they were going to grandmas and head downstairs. It was so cute.”
On the main or street level, a beautifully landscaped and terraced yard with palms, neatly manicured bushes and statuary adds to the classical ambiance that seems appropriate for this family of Greek descent who completed the home in the early 2000s.
A semi-circular drive with pavers curves up to a Porte Coche fit for a palace. There is a columned front porch and figured mahogany doors surrounded by glass to let in the Florida light.
Beyond the doors is an exceptionally grand foyer, rising two stories to a vaulted wooden ceiling. On the right, a curved staircase with hardwood treads and risers and a wrought iron rail sweeps up to the third floor gallery that overlooks the entry and living room.
Beyond the marble-floored and columned foyer is the home’s largest public room, a combination living room and dining room that is more than 1,000 square feet, 24 feet deep and extending 54 feet across the back of the house, which is mostly glass, with floor to ceiling sliding doors that open onto two oceanfront patios. There is a fireplace, an atrium and a L-shaped bar, perfect for the parties Andonia enjoys hosting.
The marble-floored room is so large that Andonia says, “The kids used to ride their bikes around in here when they were little.
The main level also includes the kitchen, which is open to the dining room and has sliders leading out to the swimming pool on the north side of the house, a TV room, an office and the movie theater.
“I love the theater,” says Anna, 18. “It is really big and we can watch all our favorite movies with our friends.”
The theater is an example of the home’s versatility: while Friday nights are reserved for teenage entertaining with school friends and popcorn, Andonia has a girls movie night with drinks and hors d’oeuvres on Sunday evenings.
Bedrooms occupy the third level of the home, including a luxurious owner’s suite with an office, generous master bath and bedroom with fireplace and a 20-foot by 20-foot balcony overlooking the Atlantic.
On the opposite side of the center hall are the three kid’s rooms. John, 14, has the front bedroom with surfing mural on the wall and a tranquil garden view. His room shares a Jack-and-Jill bath with Anna’s room, which has a view to the south and an elegant coffered ceiling.
Nectaria’s room is in the back, a location she loves.
“When you go in my room, it seems like you are on a cruise ship,” she says. “From the balcony all you can see is the ocean!”
Her bedroom includes a large bathroom with a Jacuzzi as well as the 20-foot by 20-foot balcony that mirrors the one in the master suite, adding to the home’s pleasing sense of symmetry. “My favorite thing about our house by far is waking up in the morning and watching the sunrise, which is absolutely spectacular,” says Nectaria. “I mean, it is amazing. You wake up and walk a few steps out the door and you are on the beach!”
“Being so close to the ocean is my favorite thing, too,” says John, who has lived in the house since he was only a few months old. “You can swim and surf and fish. We have one of the best shelves out there, so the waves are nice open barrels, and there are so many snapper, you are almost guaranteed to catch something when you go fishing.”
Andonia says John frequently catches the family dinner and brings it up from the beach.
Her brothers, Vlas and Charles Parlapainides, enjoy the home’s oceanside ambiance almost as much as her children. The writing partners penned the original script for “The Immortals,” a film that cost $75 million to make and grossed $400 million. They are wrapping up the script for an “Immortals” sequel and working on a movie about Benghazi with the team that made “American Sniper.”
“They fly in and stay with us when they want to get away to a quiet, beautiful place and concentrate on their writing,” Andonia says.
The three siblings – and sometimes their famous uncles – kayak and paddle board when the water is calm. When it gets clear in summer, they snorkel over the offshore reef.
“It is really incredible to live here, because you can be one with nature,” says Nectaria. “A couple of years back a turtle came up right beside us and made her nest. We saw her lay her eggs and saw the baby turtles hatch, too. It was amazing.”
The home has lots of outdoor living space in which to commune with nature, including two large patios, a fire pit and the pool area.
The kids like their neighborhood, too.
“There are good-quality, well-educated people here,” says Anna. “They are the kind of people you want to be around, especially if you want to bring your children up in a good neighborhood.
“You definitely feel safe in this neighborhood,” says Nectaria.
“Everyone gets along,” John adds.
Other advantages to the aptley-named Oceanside subdivision are its proximity to St. Edward’s school, less than half a mile away, and to the Moorings Yacht and Country Club, which had some of the finest social and recreational facilities on the island.
“The kids love the Moorings,” says Andonia. “John plays golf and the girls play tennis.”
The Kleopoulos clan is ready to make a move, maybe to a house on the river, so another lucky family now has the opportunity to live an idyllic Florida beach lifestyle in this large, happy, light-filled home.
