INDOOR–OUTDOOR
Like the dining room and master suite, the great room can be opened to the lanai in good weather. A pair of reproduction, American
Arts & Crafts settles furnish the living space.
Steinberg, who is an artist and author of the book Masterful Color, found inspiration in the haciendas she saw while traveling in Mexico. “I love the way they’re built around a courtyard in the middle, and thought that we should build a U-shaped house. That also gets lots of light into the rooms.”
She and Weiner, a retired lawyer, built a 2,870-square-foot house oriented around a central lanai with a swimming pool and garden. The center block of the house rises two storeys, with a guest suite, an exercise room, and Arlene Steinberg’s studio on the upper level. The first floor holds a great room and dining room in the center section; wings accommodate the kitchen and Weiner’s study, along with access to the garage toward the east, and a master suite and elevator in the west wing.
“We wanted a house that would work for people who are getting up in years,” says Steinberg. “So we designed it without too many changes in level, and, even though we don’t use it yet, with an elevator, just in case.”
An elevator is just one of the conveniences easily built into a new house. The new structure could be oriented so light enters the rooms in winter but keeps them shaded in summer. Starting from scratch allowed Steinberg to incorporate her favorite design elements—especially the rose motif she worked into tiles, fabrics, lighting fixtures, and stained glass. She is fond of Arts & Crafts-era stained glass; the custom work here was designed and executed by Sarasota’s Glass Crafters.