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Glass Front Residence on the Water in Coral Gables

Touzet Studio, out of Coral Gables, Florida, were tasked with building a modern home that the client desired while keeping the classically-oriented style that the city required. Located on a waterfront site with views across Biscayne Bay to downtown Miami, the home’s design had to meet a lot of challenges, and the final result proves that the compromise is better than anyone could have imagined.

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With the homeowner being a modernist and the City of Coral Gables having a zoning code that favors historical “styles” over contemporary, Touzet Studio had their work cut out for them. Their solution: design two sides of the home with one facing the city and the other facing the bay. The city side facade looks rather formal with two structures covered in stone that very much falls in line with the architecture of the neighboring homes. The lower volume is clad in rough-hewn Florida Keystone and the larger, main volume is covered in honed limestone. The fortress-like exterior only has two openings on the western facade and a sliver of windows above. Even though they followed the rules to fit in, the house is all but hidden from the street.

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The interior was fair game and was clearly designed around the water views. The wavy, wood clad ceiling draws your eye to the water.

We are also loving that Vin de Garde modern wine storage.

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The bay side of the house is more tailored to the homeowner’s taste with sleek floor-to-ceiling windows framing the view.

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Alcoves of patio space were built into the design to provide private outdoor space.

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The bay side makes up for the closed off street side with sweeping walls of glass that completely open the house up.

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Photos by Robin Hill.

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.