A continuous rhythm flows from the motor court to the lake beyond. The approach is deliberately graphic: Striped stone pavers inlaid with turf serve as a runway leading to the house, where broad horizontal lines and deep overhangs sharpen the geometry. A raised, knife-edge water feature sits alongside the entry, its surface spilling cleanly over all sides. Through the black-steel- rimmed glass front door and windows, the infinity-edge pool out back is visible, stretching the view to the water beyond. “We collaborated from early in the design process to integrate the exterior features with the architecture,” says landscape architect Scott Windham of Windham Studio, Inc. in Bonita Springs. “Water, stone, fire and landscape—the elements are interwoven.”
Completed in spring of 2022, the residence was designed for owners transitioning from a Tuscan-style home. They tapped their former builder, Matt Shull, of Gulfshore Homes, to create a contemporary design, centered around the lake setting and the couple’s lifestyle. Miromar Lakes—a community straddling southern Fort Myers and northern Estero, built around boating and beaches—provided the right setting. The precise design by Stofft Cooney Architects provided the framework.
Photography by Venjhamin Reyes
fort myers miromar home follows water exterior aerial
The architects relied on materials with geometric sharpness and durability against the elements: porcelain, glass and wood-look powder-coated aluminum. Shades of brown and black in the windows, doors and cladding pull against the white exterior walls, tracing the edges of the house and picking up the linear pattern of the pavers and pool below.
Scott selected the Cutting Edge Architectural Moldings LLC’s Sinai Pearl, a light, fairly solid natural stone, for the pool deck and hardscape. “It emulates the clean architecture,” he says. The team used color-matched, large-format porcelain tile along the pool’s edge and overflow detail, creating a continuous finish that blends with the surrounding deck. Gray Mexican beach pebbles from Naples’ Superior Stone Distributors reinforce the waterfront tones at the perimeter.
Rather than wrapping the house in greenery, the landscape pulls back from the facade, using low ground cover so the architecture remains unobstructed and crisp. The plantings—a minimalist palette of blue latania palms, vertical Brodie junipers and snake plants—favor sculptural form over color. Canary Island date palms frame the arrival, their fronds catching the afternoon light before it filters to the entry court.
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Photography by Venjhamin Reyes
fort myers miromar home follows water exterior garage
Landscape architect Scott Windham played off Stofft Cooney’s geometric design, with stone-and-turf striped hardscape and sculptural plantings. The greenery is pulled back from the house, so the architecture and sight lines read cleanly.
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Photography by Venjhamin Reyes
fort myers miromar home follows water exterior garage cars
After dark, lighting integrated into the architecture, concealed within plantings and along the pool’s edge, registers across planes of stone and water rather than from any visible fixture. “We want to see the effects of the lighting without seeing the source or hot spots,” Scott says. The exception: a set of Grand Effects Candelere lanterns that seem to float above the entry’s water feature, their gas-fed flames introducing movement and warmth to an otherwise controlled setting.
Out back, the space is optimized for entertaining. “We designed the pool area to include a variety of social functions,” he says. Guests move among the spa, a cocktail nook and a pergola lounge with a textured wet-wall water feature—three distinct areas within a continuous space, each offering a different reason to stay. A club room opens directly onto the patio, making crossing between interior and exterior easy in either direction.
Kim Collins of Collins DuPont Interior Design Group outfitted the outdoor great room with a Dedon sectional, positioned for sunset views and outdoor movie nights on the television mounted in the ceiling. Geometric furniture from Spanish manufacturer Vondom rounds out the seating areas—forms that hold their own against the clean-lined facade. “We used color sparingly to focus more on the linear aspect of the architectural design,” Kim says. The alfresco kitchen and dining area, with a black-and-white patterned vent hood and a table for six, sits adjacent to the pool. Below it, steps descend to a wide emerald lawn at the lake’s edge—the final beat in a sequence that begins upon arrival.
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Photography by Venjhamin Reyes
fort myers miromar home follows water exterior backyard
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Photography by Venjhamin Reyes
fort myers miromar home follows water exterior kitchen