The British West Indies-style home at 2245 Ocean Oaks Circle is tucked away in a peaceful location at the end of a cul-de-sac, adjoining a conservation easement on one side. Set well back from the street on a half-acre lot and surrounded by lush landscaping, it seems more like a country estate than a house in a gated subdivision.
The subdivision, Ocean Oaks West, is a small enclave on the river side of A1A about a mile south of the Moorings and within easy walking distance of Round Island Park, a favorite spot for watching manatees at play and one of the county’s ecological treasures. There is a central lake and deeded access to the Atlantic Ocean beach across the road.
The three-bedroom home with three full baths and one half-bath has 3,640 square feet of air-conditioned space arranged in a classic split floor plan, with the owner’s suite and a guest bedroom on one side of the central living area and the family room, kitchen, breakfast area, laundry room and another guest room on the other side.
The back of the house is largely open to a lanai with a summer kitchen and a screened patio area with a heated swimming pool and spa. The back yard is completely private, surrounded by hedges, trees and other tropical landscaping.
“I love the view when you enter the house from the front door,” says co-owner Terry Bouveri. “I love seeing out the many French doors overlooking the pool and the greenery in the back yard. I especially like the conservation area . . . in the winter when some of the trees are bare you can see the owl that lives in that area. He usually comes out to perch on a dead tree that can be seen from the family room with the sun setting behind him. The guest bedroom on that side is affectionately known as ‘The Wild Room’ because you can hear the sounds of the critters that live there.”
William Bouveri calls the nature preserve “the ultimate neighbor” and says it extends all the way to the Indian River Lagoon.”
In front there is a wide paver drive leading up a courtyard with a two-car garage on one side and one-car garage on the other. The front façade includes attractive West Indies elements such as open eaves with exposed rafter ends, carriage lamps, and a charming bow window with a copper roof.
There is a covered, columned porch and wooden door with side and top lights.
The house has a rather modest appearance seen from the street, but upon entry it opens up with a much more stately impression.
The traditional foyer has a powder room and coat closet in an alcove on the right side. They foyer leads to the home’s main public space, the combined formal living room and dining room. Both the foyer and grand public room have 16-foot-high ceilings. The living room/dining room ceiling is beamed and coffered with double crown molding. There is a gas fireplace with a white wood mantle flanked by built-in cupboards and shelves. Two sets of French doors lead out to the lanai and pool area.
“We put a lot of money into the millwork [and] . . . the dining room is very large,” says Terry Bouveri. “It can easily seat fourteen or more.”
The owner’s suite encompasses a walk-in closet as large as a standard bedroom with a built in bureau and shelves, a lavish bathroom and large bedroom with a door that opens onto the patio
The guest bedroom has large windows to let in natural light, a full bathroom and a walk-in closet.
Going left from the foyer, one passes on the left a handsome library with a tray ceiling and the pretty bow window. Beyond the library is the kitchen/family room wing of the house.
Starting from the front, it includes a second en suite guest room with walk-in closet – “the wild room” – a large well-equipped laundry room, a spacious custom-designed breakfast area, the chef’s kitchen and, in the back, the cozy family room with tray ceiling and glass doors leading out to the lanai and pool patio.
The kitchen is a cook’s dream with black granite countertops a prep island, extensive solid maple cabinetry and cabinet-style pantry, a professional stainless steel GE six-burner gas stove with two-ovens, a hotplate and a professional stainless hood, stainless steel double wall ovens, wood paneled side-by-side GE refrigerator/freezer and paneled GE dishwasher.
“The house is very well built with impact resistant windows and every available builder’s upgrade,” says Victoria Wilburn of the French & O’Dare team at Premier Estate Properties.
“It has been maintained impeccably, it looks like a showroom model with all of the upgrades, including Viking appliances in the summer kitchen,” says broker associate Cindy O’Dare, who co-listed the house with her partner Clark French for $1,095,000. “In my opinion, the value of the home is way more than what we are asking.”