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FROM THE EDITORS OF SRQ MAGAZINE | FALL 2023

COASTAL CONTEMPORARY

HOMES IN PARADISE

AS STUDIO DIRECTOR AT THE SARASOTA OFFICE OF MHK ARCHITECTURE, Stephen Balut likes to blend indoor and outdoor spaces and focus on breathtaking coastal views, while capturing cross breezes in the local masterpiece homes he designs. “A lot of the homes we work on are legacy homes for families, vacation homes and permanent homes where we focus on a casual, communal atmosphere that is both uplifting and celebratory,” says Balut. “It’s all about helping our clients enjoy life to the fullest with the people they love.”

With a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech and a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Texas at Austin, Balut is uniquely qualified to be involved in multiple phases of new home construction. With an engineering degree combined with construction experience and an architectural license, he holds what he refers to as a ‘tri-fold background’ making him well-versed in all aspects of new home development. Balut moved to Sarasota a year ago from Virginia, where he ran his own practice for ten years. He was scooped up by MHK Architecture, a firm founded in Naples by Matthew Kragh in 2009, to lead the charge in bringing the firm’s reputation and experience

to Sarasota. Currently, MHK has ten offices including the beach communities throughout Florida, the low country to the high country of the Carolinas, and stretching out West to the mountains of Denver and Aspen Colorado— and, they’re growing. Last year, the firm expanded from 50 employees to 100. They’ve designed over 3,000 houses total, with over 300 completed last year alone. While the offices are scattered across the country, Balut shares that they operate like a family, with regular Zoom meetings to collaborate, share stories and exchange knowledge. ”I really enjoy the personal side of the business and I’ve become friends with a lot of my clients over the years. I know very well what it takes to

Opposite page: Gulf Shore Drive, Naples. This page, top: Bird Key Home, Sarasota.

Above left and right; Kingfish Road, Naples

“We enjoy what we do. And we really work hard to create these beautiful legacy homes for our clients that will be enjoyed for generations.”

Stephen Balut, MHK Architects

build a business word of mouth and that’s basically what I’ve been asked to do here in Sarasota,” shares Balut. “MHK is a boutique architecture firm; we’re high-end and custom with great experience, efficiency and technical abilities. We focus on solid relationships with our clients, and we build a team that is passionate about what we do. We care about what we do. We enjoy what we do. And we really work hard to create these beautiful legacy homes for our clients that will be enjoyed for generations.”

Currently, Balut and his team are working on nine homes in the area; all on waterfronts. Two on Bird Key, two on Sarasota Bay in Harbor Acres, two on Little Sarasota Bay, one on Saint Armand’s Key, one on Longboat Key and one on Siesta Key. MHK works in a variety of styles so each home is customized to the client’s specific needs,

tastes and desires. Balut went on to share that many of the homes designed by MHK fall into the coastal contemporary style which is a large umbrella that contains a variety of substyles. For example there is the more traditional coastal contemporary style that focuses on symmetry, monumentality, balance and order; there is the cottage style that focuses on breaking the massing down into interesting volumes with unique materials and finely detailed decorative elements, there is the minimal style with a dialogue of volumes, streamlined edges, and a focus on reductive architectural purity.

“The possibilities of architecture are wonderfully immense and no matter the style we seek to find beauty and timelessness for each of our clients” says Balut.

BIRD KEY ABODE

This house on Bird Key is a paradigm of the coastal contemporary work that MHK is well known for. The elegantly detailed home integrates elements of the Old Florida style–metal roofs with narrow and deep overhangs, simulated lap siding, board and batten siding, brackets and corbels. The mass of the house is broken down into perfectly proportioned volumes to create a more intimate human scale with nooks and unique moments. Natural materials such as wood and stone are incorporated as tasteful accents throughout the house. Lighting design and home automation are state-of-the-art and designed to be upgraded for years into the future. Like all MHK legacy homes, this house is designed for stability, security, precision, and beauty.

“Our work is inspired by Florida Cracker homes in the vernacular context, landscape, and climate. It’s about designing homes that provide shade and relief from the harsh sun and celebrating the outdoors while at the same time providing security during intense weather systems. “We design fairly large houses, but we break them up in a way that feels very human-scaled and comfortable. We combine the indoor areas, often about 6,500 SF, with the outdoor area—often about 2,000 SF in a way that feels casually open yet intimate at the same time.”

Ordinarily, from the time a contract is signed to the time that the design process is completed typically takes about nine months. And then, depending on the house, it takes about 18 months to build. Throughout the process, Balut works very closely with the general contractor, landscape architect, engineers, interior designer, tech consultants and the client, of course, is very involved throughout each phase. The most important decisions, he says, are made in the first two phases of design– concept and schematic design.“ These are the two phases that define the quality and integrity of the holistic design and in turn create the future vision for the property. And so these are the most fertile, the most fun and where the most passionate energies are swirling around for us to devise the most beautiful home that we can. Even though we’ve done over 300 houses last year, each project is unique and we approach it with a fresh perspective and eye on how to make it as beautiful as it can be for that specific site and client,” says Balut. “Every single house is a jewel and we treasure the process of making them a reality.” H&D

Director,

This page, top; Bird Key Home, Sarasota. Below: Gulf Shore Drive, Naples.