From Fort Myers’ San Carlos Bay, this rear elevation is a showstopper: Mirror-image stairs frame a glass-walled pool that sparkles aqua. Done in bright white quartz, the stairs make up the lone diagonals on the back of this contemporary cubist house, their 45-degree angles cutting through the clean horizontal lines and vertical glass panels defining the facade.
The space, which was completed in 2019, required a superteam working in lockstep to execute the complex engineering. Richard Guzman of R.G. Designs, Inc. took point with Aidan Weir of Calusa Construction and Architectural Land Design’s Christian Andrea on landscaping. “When I first met the client, he was living on a 100-plus-foot yacht with impeccable European style and quality,” Richard says. “We approached this home with an eye toward the craftsmanship that goes into a yacht.”
Designed as distinct zones at different elevations, the back decks flaunt the glittering bay in the daytime and the distant Fort Myers Beach skyline at night. The dramatic symmetrical stairs serve as form and function: Their outward-sweeping design and glass railings maintain open sightlines from every level, whether you’re lounging by the second-level infinity pool, on the lower decks, or looking from the front door straight through the home’s interior to the bay. “It’s hard to achieve a minimalist look—everything has to be super tight,” Aidan adds.
Through its layered design, the structure achieves a delicate balance between grandeur and intimacy. The strong horizontal lines of the balconies play against vertical glass panels, while symmetrical elements create balance throughout.
The decking is all done in Esthec, a wood-look boat material that’s waterproof and heat-resistant. Every detail was driven by the desire for seamlessness, including the invisible pool drainage system hidden beneath the decking. “It’s an engineering masterpiece,” Richard says.
Photography by Matt Steeves
san carlos bay home nautical design pool deck top
Photography by Matt Steeves
san carlos bay home nautical design pool deck bottom
Photography by Matt Steeves
san carlos bay home nautical design pool deck
Photography by Matt Steeves
san carlos bay home nautical design outside view
To keep the design clean and cohesive, Gloria Black, who at the time was the lead designer with Freestyle Interiors, worked with the manufacturer to ensure all the decking came from the same dye lot and matched the black walnut accents in the interiors. The faux wood surface also plays off the brown accent panels on the home’s facade.
FEMA’s velocity zone requirements and Lee County’s height restrictions presented another engineering. The pool now sits on a second-floor perch, where its infinity edge and contrasting blue-and-green tile create a striking focal point. “You step into the pool, and the water cascades onto beach pebbles,” Aidan says. An integrated spa and gentle steps lead into the water, and a single pane of 4-inch-thick acrylic at the outer edge offers an unobstructed view of the bay. “We were so afraid of damaging it,” Aidan says of installing the glass. “We had to crane it over the house to get it in there.” A pair of pedestals frame the infinity pool’s edge, topped by two Grand Effects fire bowls, which visually link the deck to the sunset.
Entertainment nooks define the home’s back facade. On the third floor, a sunny balcony juts out from a guest suite, with lounge chairs and a tall, planter-dotted wall to provide privacy from neighbors. On the second level, covered spaces on either side of the pool offer outdoor living amenities, with hidden roll-down shutters and screens for weather- and bug-proofing. The ceilings have an angled plank pattern, made of stained cypress, which continues through the interior spaces, connecting outdoors to in. On one side, there’s the kitchen and bar area, with a Wolf outdoor grill, Sub-Zero outdoor refrigerator drawers with custom panels and a pool bathroom cleverly concealed behind a paneled touch-latch door. On the other side of the pool, the alfresco living area includes a 100-inch television flanked by an installation designed to evoke a wood pile and a linear fireplace with a live-edge hearth. Low-profile accent chairs paired with a Holly Hunt sofa create a relaxing spot without blocking views from the primary suite inside.
Strategic landscaping softens the angular architecture while maintaining privacy. Palm trees frame the structure at both corners of the pool deck. Down below, the geometric pattern of stepping stones frames a sunbathing area, while low-lying plants add natural warmth without compromising the home’s openness to water views.
The final connection point from home to sea, the dock offers its own ship-shape cleverness. No Profile Boat Lifts engineered the lift’s hydraulics to sit under the dock, connected to machinery inside the home, obscuring chains, cables and pump systems. “It’s a totally clean line; it looks like a flat deck until the boat drives in,” Richard says. “If I had to use one word to describe this home, it was concealment—everything had to be hidden.”