Sally Mitchell and Crispin Spencer’s Central Beach home can truly be described as a modern architectural marvel. It has uniquely clean lines, with windows and 10-foot glass sliders everywhere instead of walls, and genius attention to detail that make this home museum-like, yet with a warm and comfortable feel.
This light-filled dream home built in 2012 fits naturally on the half-acre lot with stunning views of the Intracoastal, majestic oak trees and clever landscape design. “The original house that was here when we bought the property was built in 1955,” said Mitchell. “We liked it a lot but eventually decided that we couldn’t do what we wanted with it, even with a major renovation.”
The couple knew they wanted a modern, open, light-filled space so they started over again, building on the same footprint as the original home to preserve and protect the trees and environment. “We wanted to respect the vernacular of the neighborhood and not maximize the lot with the house. It’s scaled to fit the lot and doesn’t overwhelm the property. For a modern home it actually has lots of curb appeal,” said Mitchell.
The 3,100-square-foot house is set well back from the road and strategic plantings and landscape features create a natural canopied veil so passersby can’t see inside despite all of the glass. “Dan Ford & Associates Landscape Design did such a lovely job bringing the outside into the home, complementing all of the natural light,” Mitchell said.
The three year-long build was well worth the wait. They brought in architect Sanders Pace, whose work they knew and admired from living in Knoxville, TN, and hired Matt Roth of Roth Builders in Vero to construct the home. “We were lucky too that Matt has great relationships with the sub-contractors in town. It’s more difficult to build a modern home than a traditional home,” said Mitchell. “There is so much detail and craftsmanship that goes into a house like this. It’s difficult to create the symmetry of a modern house and all of the sub-contractors have to work together to get it right. Everything has to line up perfectly and that’s hard to do when there are no moldings or baseboards anywhere.”
Mitchell and Spencer wanted to create a house where every space was usable. “Our intention was to not have any spaces that we couldn’t use. We wanted to create something that was efficient and comfortable without defining spaces that couldn’t be something else,” said Mitchell.
One of the most unique features of the home is that it is completely computer controlled by a home automation system called Control 4 Smart Home. It’s an app that you can use on your ipad, iphone or computer and it controls everything in the house – the lighting, the electric shades, television, music, air conditioning, you name it. Everything can be modified as well. “I can be listening to music in the bedroom and Crispin could be listening to a news program in the office. There are speakers everywhere, including outside and they are all synched with each other,” said Mitchell.
The system makes the house extremely efficient when it comes to utilities. “We haven’t changed a light bulb in four years. All the lights are incandescent and we have it set up so that 30 minutes before dark it automatically brings up our evening scene,” said Mitchell. “And because there are four AC units in the house, and one in the workshop, the temperature can be controlled in different parts of the house, which adds to its efficiency.”
The floors of the house are poured concrete. “We wanted to reflect the light and trees and the amount of shininess to the floors. We didn’t want them so shiny that it was distracting. The treads on the staircase are also concrete but they have a different level of shine. Just more dull so they have better traction and texture,” said Mitchell.
The master bedroom can be totally private with sliders to close it off. It’s also completely soundproof. “The loft upstairs also has poured concrete floors and we used cast iron drains so that you couldn’t hear anyone using the water. So [even with] guests using the loft upstairs, the master bedroom is still totally private and soundproof from the rest of the house,” said Mitchell.
All of the wood used on the inside of the house is cherry and all of the wood on the exterior surfaces is an exceptionally durable Brazilian teak called Ipe. “There are also electric solar shades or total privacy shades on every bit of window in the house. All the windows and sliders are hurricane impact rated to withstand winds up to 150 mph,” said Mitchell.
The loft upstairs doubles as a guestroom. It’s open to the house because the owners didn’t want to use the space only as a guestroom. “You could add a door and make it private if you wanted to,” said Mitchell. There is a third full bath in the loft as well as a Murphy bed and balcony with hurricane resistant glass railings that provide unobstructed views of the river and the grounds. The finish floors in the loft are Ipe as well as on the deck. “All of the sliders upstairs and downstairs are so heavy duty, but you can open and close them with just your finger,” said Mitchell.
The other bedroom downstairs has its own bath but the couple uses it as their office for now. “It can easily be a third bedroom. We just don’t need a permanent spare bedroom, so again, to make the entire house usable for us, we have it as an office,” Mitchell said. Further down the museum-like hallway is a large laundry room and entrance to the oversize two-car garage.
Another unique feature of the home is the doors. There are no hinges, just beautiful German-made pulls. The doors don’t make a sound when they are opened or closed and they stay closed magnetically.
The kitchen is also like a work of art. Everything is white and clean with plenty of cabinets, storage and built-ins. “Local custom-made furniture and cabinetmaker, John Forrest, fabricated all of the cabinets using a material called Parapan. It’s a high gloss solid acrylic so they will never warp or scratch or stain. The counters are Corian and the appliances are all Thermador, Sub-Zero and Bosch,” said Mitchell.
There is a six-burner gas cooktop with colorful glass subway tile backsplash and comfy cork flooring between the huge island and cooktop area.
Living in virtually a glass house, you’d think that all the sliders and windows would take a lot of cleaning. Not the case. Because they are such high quality, Mitchell said they have to clean the inside once a year and the outside only 3 times a year. “And it never feels hot in the house. We don’t have any of that direct brutal western sun coming in. Just beautiful light filtering through the bamboo and palm trees outside,” said Mitchell.
Stepping out in the front of the house is a separate building which is currently the couple’s workshop. It was built with shiny Manganese ironspot bricks and is already plumbed for a bathroom if need be. “We knew we’d make it into a guesthouse, caretaker’s quarters or even a gym someday, so we kept all of that in mind when we built this. For now we use it for building wooden boats which is a hobby of ours and just for other woodworking projects,” said Mitchell.
Walking around to the back of the house, a path leads down to the pressure-treated wood dock where there is a lift for a boat, and electric and water hook-ups. The couple enjoys paddle boarding and kayaking in the lagoon.
“We have so much enjoyed building, creating and living in this beautiful, comfortable house,” said Mitchell.
