Northeast By Southeast

A Client's unusual request inspires Stofft Cooney architects to create a spectacular home where Hamptons shingle style meets florida tropical.

- Shaun Tolson

WITH MORE THAN 50 YEARS OF CUSTOM  HOME DESIGN and planning experience between them, Randall Stofft and John Cooney, partners and principals of Stofft Cooney Architects in Naples, Fla., are well versed in preliminary meetings with prospective clients.

Yet all of their years spent designing coastal homes – including more than three dozen beachfront residences in Florida alone – could not have prepared them for one northeastern family’s vision back in 2012.

There was nothing unusual in the first three requests. “They wanted an understated home, with top-quality materials that would wear well and last,” Cooney recalls, adding that the clients – who spend most of their time in New York City and western Connecticut – wanted a vacation home with a resort-like feel blended into the overall architecture.

“And we don’t want the typical Florida architecture,” the clients told him. “There are enough homes down here that look alike.”

What they wanted, however, was something the architectural firm had never done before: “They wanted Hamptons Shingle style meets Florida tropical,” says Stofft.

“They had numerous photos of home styles in The Hamptons, on Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket,” Cooney adds, “and their specific request was: ‘We want a Hamptons-meets-Naples home.’ ”

Before they could even begin working on a way to meld the two very different architectural styles, Stofft and Cooney first had to convince the clients that they were the right team for the job.

The clients were drawn to the firm for its expertise building oceanfront homes that satisfied Florida’s strict codes for storm surge safety (more on this later), but they had reservations that Floridian architects could effectively incorporate Hamptons-style design elements.