Built Images:

The clients desired a residence that would be cozy and laid back, like the Brazilian beach town of Buzios; a place to escape from the pace of the city.  Refúgio do Gatão, meaning refuge of the big cat, is the family’s homage to Brazil, where the wife was born, and the family spends part of each year.

While there is a level of ruggedness associated with the intimate-scaled beach community, the clients requested that the existing site, wild and overgrown, be restored with an equal yet heightened character.  The property straddles the public road, providing an opportunity to form a unified campus identity, which will also make the shared streetscape more enjoyable for cyclists and runners, alike.

As the rear garden empties out into the Atlantic, the design begins to blend almost imperceptibly into the site’s existing dune system.  For that reason, Raymond used crooked character Sabal palms to lean into the view and accentuate the connection between the water and the house; the appearance of a natural clearing.  Adjacent properties were screened with native dense vegetation.  Minimal areas of lawn were designed for play, while intimate porch space and pocket beaches become central garden elements.

Raymond worked with the architect, Richard Skinner, who had already developed the hardscape for the entrance sequence, to further augment and detail certain elements.  From the west facing entry court, interplay of sound is heard from the horse trough fountain.  The terrace was built upon the existing dune, which leads into the Churrasquierra, representative of the traditional Brazilian grilling rooms.  This interior room opens to the exterior on three walls, becoming a focal point where the interior and exterior are fused together.

The main house is composed of surrounding porches, a small lounge pool, and interconnecting rooms that open up to the garden.  The guest house, which sits across the street, quietly compliments the architecture of the main house and provides a retreat for guests and cars.

The architecture is Florida Cracker (the original inhabitants of Florida designed for the climate, not mechanical systems) crossed with beach house.  The house is meant to be opened to the garden and beach, while gracious porches provide ample outdoor living space.

Overall, the garden is dense at the periphery, obliterating all signs of civilization, and the open space appears to have been a natural clearing in the coastal hammock.  Richard commented on the landscape, saying that it was “inevitable; it could not have been anything other than what it is.”