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A two-storey modern house at dusk, its glazed rooms lit warm beneath a deep white roof plate

New build · Boca Raton, FL

Casa Palma

FIG. 01 — East elevation at dusk26.3683° N · 80.1289° W
A-110 — Project dataAll projects

Facts

A family house on a quiet Boca Raton street, built around a pool court that the whole ground floor opens onto.

Casa Palma project data
LocationBoca Raton, Florida
TypeNew build
ScopeResidence, pool court, guest pavilion, landscape
ArchitectThe client’s architect (independent practice)
InteriorsAurelia, with the client
Living area7,400 sq ft
Duration26 months, drawings to keys
PhasesSix; mock-ups in phase three
StatusComplete
The brief

What was asked

A house that would stay cool without feeling closed. The family wanted rooms that opened completely to the garden, a roof deep enough to keep the summer sun off the glass, and nothing that would need repainting every second year.

The architect’s drawings set out a heavy white roof plate floating over glass, and travertine running from the front door to the far edge of the pool. Our job was to make that roof as thin as it was drawn and the stone as continuous as it was drawn.

A pale living space with a curved sofa, plaster walls and a softly lit kitchen
FIG. 02 — Living room toward the kitchen · 21:9
A sweeping stair wrapped in smooth warm-white polished plaster
FIG. 03 — Stair core, Stucco Lustro · 2:3
A crisp white roof edge meeting a vertical timber panel against a pale sky
FIG. 04 — Roof plate and timber return · 16:9
A bright symmetrical sitting room with a linear fireplace and pale oak floor
FIG. 05 — Family room, rift white oak · 16:9
The approach

How it was built

We spent the first four months on drawings and three on samples. The roof plate is a steel frame with a concealed gutter, detailed so the fascia reads at eight inches rather than the twenty a standard build would need. The travertine was selected at the quarry in one lot, numbered, and laid in sequence so the veining runs unbroken from hall to coping.

Inside, the walls are Marmorino in three burnished coats, and the stair is wrapped in Stucco Lustro without a single joint. The bronze window frames were patinated before installation so they’ll age evenly. Everything that could be sampled full size was: a wall of plaster, a corner of the roof, three metres of floor.

A-301 — Materials usedMaterials library

Four materials, chosen early.

  • Close texture of layered travertine with pale and rust-toned bandsTravertino ClassicoS-01 · Honed, unfilledFloors, pool coping, bath walls
  • Curved white plaster ceiling surfaces meeting in soft shadowMarmorinoP-01 · Burnished, three coatsCeilings, curved walls
  • Stacked lengths of pale oak showing straight end grainRift White OakT-01 · Rift-sawn, natural oilFloors, stair treads, joinery
  • A curved balustrade of closely spaced bronze-toned rods under a timber soffitArchitectural BronzeM-01 · Hand-patinated, waxedBalustrades, door pulls, window frames
A-201 — PlanNot to scale · illustrative

The plan

The main house wraps the pool court on two sides. A guest pavilion closes the third, and the fourth is left open to the evening light.

Casa Palma, ground floor planA stylised plan: the main house wraps an open pool court on two sides, with a guest pavilion across the court and the entry on the west. 01 ENTRY02 LIVING03 KITCHEN04 DINING 05 STUDY06 PRINCIPAL07 POOL COURT08 GUEST09 BATH 84′ – 0″ N 020 FT
  • 01Entry
  • 02Living
  • 03Kitchen
  • 04Dining
  • 05Study
  • 06Principal suite
  • 07Pool court
  • 08–09Guest pavilion
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