HOMES OF THE TREASURE COAST
BY GREG GARDNER | PHOTOS BY ROB DOWNEY
After the mean season of hurricanes 11 years ago,
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Frank and Linda Todd decided to build a home
that would stand the test of time.
Nestled on a lake and preserve at the Medalist
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Golf Club in Hobe Sound, the almost
7,000-square-foot home is a study in flow, energy efficiency
and beefy hurricane-proof strength. It is poured concrete
and steel block with 2-by-4 walls and insulation all the way
around inside the house. Rated to withstand 200 mph winds,
the roof is composite fiber, which looks attractively like slate.
“I wanted the house to have a sense of robustness,” says
Frank as he points out how when you enter the foyer you immediately
see very thick, high walls with arches over the entrances
to the study, master bathroom, kitchen, hallway and
dining room. Looking straight ahead, the house flows under
a seemingly suspended landing on the second floor through
the living room and out to a vanishing edge saltwater pool
with the lake behind it.
Most striking in the foyer are the ornate, shiny nickel
ship maidenheads facing each other about 10 feet apart.
Also called keels, the twin sister Spanish galleons Tolosa
Twin sister Spanish maidenheads face each other, guarding the foyer as the
staircase winds upward.
The upstairs sundeck
provides privacy and wide
vistas as multiple rain jets
add to the atmosphere of
a vanishing edge pool