June 2006
Article-Sarasota Magazine - Parade of Homes

The Five-Star Lifestyle
This year's Parade of Homes entries recall lavish luxury resorts.

 
Let’s face it—we want it both ways: personal amenities in hotels and resort amenities at home.

This spring’s 2006 Parade of Homes, sponsored by the Home Builders Associations of Sarasota and Manatee counties, proved that interior architecture for resorts and year-round homes have become inextricably intertwined, with differences fast disappearing in the million-dollar-plus category.

The parade, which ran from late February through mid-March, also demonstrated that homes in our region are not just getting bigger, they’re getting better—with builders attempting to re-create vacation experiences in everyday living and entertaining. Outdoor rooms provide lavish party space; kitchen equipment rivals that in California-style restaurant open kitchens; and bathrooms, gyms and game rooms are much like you’d find in a hotel. Master bedrooms are self-contained enclaves not unlike presidential suites in the finest hotels, with sitting areas, gentleman’s studies, mini-kitchens with microwaves, refrigerators and coffeemakers, ultra-luxury baths and outdoor saunas and showers.

One of the country’s leading hotel designers, Stephen Perkins of ForrestPerkins in Washington, D.C., says his firm is now sought out by residential redevelopers to bring a hospitality look to projects like the co-op conversion of the Watergate Hotel in the nation’s capital. Conversely, Perkins says top hotels now offer more elaborate bathrooms with upscale residential fixtures, luxury bedding and residential furniture styling in guest rooms.

“Shelter magazines and the Internet have helped consumers become more sophisticated,” Perkins says. That kind of sophistication is evident in the 34 entries in the Parade of Homes’ million-dollar-plus category (up from 24 last year).

The winner in the $1 million to $1.35 million category is the Monaco by Special Edition Custom Homes, which has a knockout outdoor environment, with a backyard view that focuses on water enclosed by the Silver Oak community’s columned stucco walls and hotel-like manicured roads.