GULFSHORE LIFE MAGAZINE
Naples Florida
February 2003

Model of the Month - Vernazza Model

Builder: Harwick Homes, Naples Florida

Interior Designer: Collins & DuPont

Sure most Southwest Florida homes play up the great outdoors with expanded lanais that host extensive outdoor kitchens and bars, fireplaces, even alfresco living and dining rooms. But how many have these private pockets of outdoor pleasure off virtually every room.

Outdoor retreats come into play within most of the 12,242 total square feet of Harwick Homes’ Vernazza, a four-bedroom, four-and-one-half bath beauty in Naples’ Estuary at Grey Oaks. The home’s veranda rambles some 1,895 square feet along the rear façade, providing both intimate retreats and more public places off the master suite, study, parlor, breakfast nook, leisure room, kitchen and first-floor guest suite. Sliding glass pocketing doors make it possible to open most of the back wall to the veranda – an effect that achieves high drama in the kitchen, leisure room and nook, where four walls of moveable glass disappear, opening the area to the outdoor kitchen and bar, living room and fireplace.

Gazers can also take in the great outdoors with lofty views from the second floor, including the oh-so-private study balcony (the only way to get there is up a spiral staircase), a wraparound balcony shared by the Vernazza’s second master suite and guest sitting area, and a private balcony from a second guest room. More down-to-earth views are also emphasized from mitered windows in the master shower out to a garden setting and a porch next to the grand entry. Even the walk to the garage (one of two) is scenic, with picture windows showcasing an atrium garden to one side and a water feature on the other. Mundane tasks are made pleasant with a view – four windows in the laundry room overlook the atrium, and a window above the cooktop looks onto the outdoor courtyard and a wall fountain.

Of course, there’s plenty to see inside. Attention to detail is a hallmark of the Harwick Homes/Collins & DuPont Interior Design team, which has won numerous regional and national awards for their Southwest Florida homes. The Vernazza, their latest collaboration, offers special treats for the eye, such as stained glass accenting cabinetry in the master suite and wet bar, dramatic ceiling treatments throughout, and artistic tile applications (an intricate mosaic floor medallion near the dining room, carved marble risers on the staircase, and a tiled niche atop the staircase arranged in a four-panel pattern called verde musico antico). The $6.3 – million home also has a butler’s pantry with wine cellar, formal dining room and parlor within 7,250 square feet under air. Elegant galleries (there’s no such ting as a simple hallway in this home) provide long views accented with arches, lighted niches, wrought ironwork and columns.

Interior views are also emphasized, thanks to several two-story rooms and balconies above. An interior L-shaped balcony overlooks the study, a corridor by the elevator offers a view down to the dining room, and the guest sitting area looks through three windows to the veranda below and from a Juliette-type balcony to the foyer and parlor, Vernazza’s second floor occupies 2,191 square feet under air.

The master suite has his-and-her walk-in closets and water closets, dual vanities and a spectacular semi-circular shower providing the backdrop for the tub. The second-floor
master has zero-corner sliding pocket doors opening onto the balcony, and the bath boasts a large walk-in closet, dual vanities, a private water closet and separate shower and tub.