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MOKU - Tropical Island House

Stephen Ellis, Owners Representative, contracted with a Tampa based Developer with a young family who purchased this boat-access-only private island home near the north end of Longboat key.  The Polynesian style home, originally built in 1990 needed a complete facelift inside and out.  We worked together with a local architect to create a comprehensive scope of work, collect bids, select a contractor  and transform this otherwise sturdily-built piling home into a resort style paradise comprised of 5 bedrooms and 5 baths, with a new in-ground pool, outdoor kitchen and additional 
accessory structures.

MOKU

Bayfront Modern Sarasota

Dream Island Getawayex

Dream Island Getaway

Casey Key Sarasota Beachfront LEED Platinum Home

Denizens of larger, more complicated residences, the homeowners—a physician and his wife— had lived in upstate New York and on barrier island Casey Key for 30 years. When researching a brand new style of living, they were buoyed by Sarah Susanka’s book, “The Not So Big House” with its economy of space through smaller, intimate rooms. The couple wanted these rooms designed to feel bigger than they actually were in the projected 3,400 square foot property, however, with architect Yehuda Inbar on board and interior designer Bob Neal executing the plan in furnishings and color palettes. A new guesthouse, decking and garage were also on tap.
“The original structure was a 1950s beach bungalow on the property that was torn down,” says MGB’s Steve Ellis, noting the program included sustainable materials such as bio-based foam insulation, recycled glass kitchen countertops, dual-flush toilets and photovoltaic solar panels which helped it achieve LEED Platinum.

Deeply committed stewards of the environment, vegetative beachfront plantings using indigenous plant material and crushed coral pathways were also paramount for the homeowners, as was a dune garden defined by driftwood and other discovered beach “art.” The home’s interior has a tactile quality with fabrics and hues redolent of the sand and sea that surround it.

Carl Abbott Restoration

When the time came for a classic 1980’s Carl Abbott house renovation (Abbott is a preeminent member of the Sarasota School of Architecture), preserving an iconic piece of architecture was at the top of our agenda.
With the residence a real showcase for a noteworthy collection of modernist furniture (Eames; van der Rohe), we were charged with removing and replacing the entire façade. This included reapplying shiplap cedar siding and restoring exterior decking, replacing the existing pool and hardscape. Long, distinctive panes of glass that reflect the siding design were left intact as they are irreplaceable, unable to meet today’s energy standards.

Boca Grande Rebuild

Complete deconstruction and re-build of a 6000 square foot waterfront home and separate guest house in Boca Grande, Florida on Gasparilla Island Florida - Boca Grande Isles Subdivision.

Boca Grande Custom

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New Custom Home in the heart of Sarasota - West of Trail

Osprey Ave

Point Crisp

In a reverse kind of manifest destiny, a Hollywood actress and her producer husband sought to produce a dream home on Florida’s Gulf Coast.

Sited on a double plot of land that stretches purposefully into Sarasota Bay and the Intracoastal Waterway, the three-story Point Crisp residence interacts with nature and light. These were courted largely by virtue of a lush garden walk to the front entrance, an outdoor cooking/dining space, a glass-encircled “point room” for entertaining, a circular floating staircase ascending to a glass floor that channels sunlight into the space below, pneumatic glass tube elevator and large covered patio with a folding wall of glass.

The undulating shape of the roof was inspired by the water. The four-bedroom, five-bath home boasting 300-degree water views from most points including its ample closets, as well as the master bath shower with a large window of electrified “smart glass” that can be switched on for privacy or off to reveal a long view across Sarasota Bay. Amplifying storage and improving the use of exposed space, kitchen cabinets are 16 inches instead of the standard 12 inches deep and bathroom vanities lift with interior lighting and concealed outlets.

Designed by Mark Sultana of DSDG Architects, the home achieved LEED Gold status.

Sarasota Island House

Nestled on a 1.5-acre parcel on a private 38 acre island, this family vacation home looms large though homegrown and nurtured behind its boats-only access. Sited on stilts—22 piles driven 20 feet below grade and topped with beams—the 3,000 square foot home features only 1,860 air conditioned square feet, favoring outdoor space much in the way someone might live on a boat.
As a native New Englander, MGB Co-founder Steve Ellis worked his way through college performing bright work (varnishing; painting) and exterior maintenance on boats from Boston to Maine, serving as a mate on a 111-foot motor yacht traveling from Canada to the Caribbean. “Boats are about not wasting space,” he says, applying the tenet to his current profession whenever possible.

His love of all things nautical and sustainable is manifested in his vacation home, located on Jewfish Key, with salvaged heart pine from an Ybor City tobacco factory, reclaimed cedar barn wood, repurposed sails for shower curtains and closet door panels, and aptly-named port and starboard decks. Soy foam insulation affords the option to close off bedrooms while opening doors to the main house. By pocketing away strategically-located sliders, the house essentially becomes an outdoor adventure subjecting its occupants to the meditative effects of gentle breezes, birdsongs and the sound of the sea.

To access the home’s second level, an outdoor wooden staircase makes it an adventure for the Ellis’ daughter and young children of visitors. Eves and angled ceilings resourcefully create bedroom spaces for 10, with inspired play nooks in the two upstairs suites.

“Our getaway is built on a very human scale and allows us to spend our time on the island ‘outdoors,’ even when in the kitchen preparing meals with friends, or lounging indoors,” Ellis says.

Modern Getaway 3 Bedroom on Siesta Key Florida

A Modern Island Vacation Getaway on Siesta Key in Sarasota Florida designed for and built on a small (odd shaped) lot - Two stories elevated above a pool!

Siesta Key Beach Platinum LEED Vacation Home

In a tribute to the past, Iowa ophthalmologists Amir Arbisser and Lisa Brothers Arbisser sought to meld vestiges of a crumbling 1936 beach cottage in which they and their now-adult children had vacationed for years with the towering luxury design they’d envisioned for their own future.
Named “Beach Habah” to celebrate the family’s heritage, the homeowners brought memories of dunes expeditions and clamorous suppers (and an old bunk bed ladder!) into the design of a 3,700 square foot three-level residence that reflected nature and family. Intimate yet open, the new home needed to embrace Lisa and Amir without feeling too expansive and yet open up to accommodate friends, grown children and grandchildren who may come to visit. It would do so with custom elements such as wide pocketing walls to make sliding doors between rooms disappear.

“They are also extremely eco-conscious,” says MGB’s Steve Ellis of the Arbissers. “They were invested in the newest technologies and most sustainable methods for construction, like the use of locally sourced ash for the exterior.” American Clay walls, recycled glass bathroom tiles and CaesarStone—a radon-free quartz product from Israel—help fuse ecology with luxury.

A rooftop garden, photovoltaic solar panels, drought-tolerant native landscape and reclaimed water are complemented by a coveted rooftop SwimEx pool with paddlewheel to recreate a river current.

Designed by architect Ron Sivitz, interior design by Jim Lass, this home achieved LEED Platinum.

NEW - 3 and 4 Bedroom MGB Built Custom Homes In Sarasota Florida

Hibiscus Model in Granada Park Sarasota

Coastal Craftsman Architecture

Coastal-Craftsman 2,400 square feet 3 bedroom, media/family lounge, outdoor great room, open concept living kitchen and dining, 3 1/2 baths.  Photo Credit: Pix360

Hibiscus II Model - Granada Park

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This Contemporary Custom home in the West of Trail Neighborhood of Sarasota designed and built to maximize a Narrow lot.

Fortuna Home

Street Elevation Coastal Craftsman

Coastal-craftsman, 3,300 square feet, open living, kitchen and dining concept, 4 bedrooms, library, outdoor great room, 4 1/2 baths. Winner Parade of Homes, best master suite, best architecture, best kitchen; Emerald Green Certified Rating.  

Photo Credit: Pix360

Buttonwood Model - Granada Park Sarasota

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A representation of Modern and Contemporary homes built or under construction in Sarasota, Florida by MGB Fine Custom Homes.

Modern and Contemporary MGBbuilt Examples from MGB Fine  Custom Homes

Siesta Key Santa Fe

In a bow to its graceful surroundings on Siesta Key’s Heron Lagoon, the new owners of a 1953 non-descript ranch house with low ceilings, an awkward floor plan and lots of little rooms commissioned MGB Built for a whole-house remodel plus 1,700-square foot addition. A 1,200 square foot guest house/garage was also added to the program.
The homeowners coveted the Santa Fe style of architecture for aesthetic purposes, and for its thick walls that provide insulation from harsh temperatures. Earth-toned Saltillo tiles were used throughout the interior as well as in an exterior courtyard and around the pool. An outdoor living environment features a fireplace and covered lounge. Adobe stucco, heavy doors, parapets (low walls that extend above the roofline) and traditional protruding “vigas” (wooden beams) were used, all notable components of the Santa Fe style, with the home’s interior walls a smooth troweled finish.

This project was featured in a “Before & After” article in Sarasota Magazine and in the Junior League Holiday Tour of Homes.

Boca Grande Remodel

Total remodel of a waterfront home in Boca Grande, Florida on Gasparilla Island - Gasparilla Isles

Beach Cabana Renovation - Phase 1

For two discerning, design-minded Hollywood Hills ex-pats and their very young children, creating a main residence and 1,000 square foot guest house at the beach was a rare opportunity. As owners of a Sarasota fine home furnishings boutique, Black Bird Home Gallery, the homeowners wanted a serene, comfortable living space (or two) in which to showcase their high-end chic and eclectic wares for family, friends and guests without overpowering the items.
With a commission to transform an existing 1960s Mark Twitchell (founding member of the Sarasota School of Architecture) home into a family compound, work on the two-bedroom, two-bath guest house lead the charge helmed by family architect Charles Heydt of Pak-Heydt & Associates in Atlanta.

The owners chose a neutral color palette to shift the focus out the solid teak hurricane windows to the beach and sea, while its gentle hues support custom-milled teak interior doors and trim. Montag windows and doors were favored, and nickel fixtures from Rocky Mountain Hardware gild the woodwork.

Key pieces such as an Oly oyster shell mirror, slatted ipe dining table and white marble lotus platters from the homeowners’ gallery provide focal points in the bathroom and dining area, respectively. In time the guest house will be connected to the planned main residence by a screened pavilion, with Italian travertine marble flooring imported from a Vatican-owned quarry.

Designed by Pak-Heydt in Atlanta, Georgia
Interiors by Todd Bienz

Siesta Key Zen Home

A 1978 mold-ridden ranch house beckoned for a sustainable makeover, ending up designated the greenest house in Florida by the Florida Green Building Council (FGBC) in 2009.
Our environmentally-conscious client hired MGB to have the residence entirely gutted and remodeled, except for its foundation and four concrete block walls, helmed by architecture firm Osborn Sharp.

A full second story was added to the new home, which doubled the living space. The main entry was detailed with terraced travertine steps that “float” over a shallow water feature. These lead one gracefully into the home past a stone waterfall—meriting the Zen moniker.

A combination of green building practices—insulated attic; water saving plumbing; Energy Star appliances; zero VOC paints; on demand hot water heater—and passive energy design was used, including five-foot overhangs for shade, resulting in a reduction in energy load. An open floor plan with accordion door systems flanking both sides of the great room facilitates walls being open to as much as 20-foot spans for optimal cross-ventilation. Part of the passive design was to create a “heat chimney” with the stairwell. When the windows at the top are open, cool exterior air can be drawn into the home allowing warmer air to rise up and escape to the outdoors.

Because the owner favored serene Asian influences, the home’s clean aesthetic reflects the same by the use of intricate dark wooden screens, polished travertine flooring, Zen garden-type flora and deep overhangs reminiscent of the work of Frank Lloyd Wright. A caged exterior space supports use of the pool and pool space year round, as the home is located on a salt-water inlet with insects a seasonal issue.

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Design Build in a small boutique gared neighborhood of about 21 homes with shared pool and cabana on deep footers and stem walls to accomodate engineering for drainage.

2 Story Cluster Housing

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