The tall pink condos along Barefoot Beach were built in the early 1990s. Many of the floorplans are dated, yet the views and beach location are so desirable, Tommy Houchin, of Houchin Construction, and Kelli Sultan, of KVS Interior Design, teamed up to create a new model in this older building.
“It’s not just a remodel. That condo was taken to the studs,” says Bill Leach, a broker with Barry DeNicola Realty. “That is what is happening in those condos right now.”
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Stephen Hayford
This condo in Barefoot Beach Club was gutted and totally rebuilt. Originally it had closed off rooms. Now it is more open and better showcases the views of the beach and the Gulf of Mexico.
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Stephen Hayford
Barefoot Beach Club condo, Bonita Springs.
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Stephen Hayford
The totally remodeled kitchen has a picture window over the sink with views of the back bays.
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Stephen Hayford
Barefoot Beach Club condo, Bonita Springs.
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Stephen Hayford
Barefoot Beach Club condo, Bonita Springs.
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Stephen Hayford
The master bedroom and bathroom both have Gulf views. The bed was arranged so it faces the sliding glass doors and people can see the views and watch the sunset from the kind-size bed.
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Stephen Hayford
Barn doors lead to the master bathroom. Even the bathroom has views of the Gulf.
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Stephen Hayford
A foyer leads to two guest rooms. Both are decorated with tropical scenes such as this one with flamingo paintings.
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Stephen Hayford
The outdoor terrace has views of the beach and Gulf.
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Stephen Hayford
The outdoor terrace has views of the beach and Gulf.
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Stephen Hayford
Barefoot Beach Club condo, Bonita Springs.
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Stephen Hayford
Barefoot Beach Club condo, Bonita Springs.
This is the second condo Tommy has recreated in the Barefoot Beach Club.
“It is an interesting community,” he says. “People really want new stuff, and they want the more open layout. It started a couple years ago, and we just renovated and sold them. It has taken off. The way people live is different now. Everything is not so formal and cut off anymore. We do totally gut everything, but you are confined with the plumbing locations.”
This particular condo was boxed off into many separate rooms, Bill says. There was a pass-through window between the kitchen and family room. There was a hallway and laundry room near the entrance.
“This group really comes in and redesigns and modernizes the Barefoot condos, which are what they deserve for the location and the neighborhood,” he says. “They need a newer, fresher feel than the old vacation-type condo.”
Kelli and Tommy say there were a lot of challenges to modernize this condo, but they were successful in creating a new look, not only with the layout, but with the interior design.
“The original did not take advantage of the views,” Kelli explains. “It was being creative to come up with a new layout to get a good view of the south side and the west side.”
Now everything is open. Right after the entry is a huge open space with a large bar with a sink and wine cooler. That flows into the kitchen and family room.
The bright white kitchen has a large island with seating and storage space.
A window above the sink showcases views of the back bay. Huge windows that stretch to the floor fill one side of the room.
Just past the kitchen is a round glass table that seats six. The living room is just beyond and has sliding doors to the terrace. All the furniture is light in color. There are beige chairs by the table, an off-white couch, a pale blue chair and round white table.
The only dark color is the cabinet below the large flat-panel television and the gold-tone wallpaper behind it. Gold is a color that is splashed throughout the home.
Over the dining room table and over the coffee table are long rods of brushed brass that form a sculpture but also provide light.
“Fifteen years ago, it was a polished brass,” Kelli says. “Now with the new mixing of metals you are seeing a lot of the brass and metal materials. It has definitely been reintroduced.”
From the living room, you can see the Gulf of Mexico on one side and the back bays on the other. Sliding glass doors lead to a terrace that overlooks the beach and Gulf.
The master suite also has sliding glass doors on two sides that lead to the lanai.
From the king-size bed, adorned in white bedding with gold and gray accent pillows, residents can admire the beach view and watch the sunset. The dresser is a rubbed goldish color and sits below a flat-panel television. To keep the gold color, there are polished geo rocks trimmed in gold on thin gold stands.
White barn doors with a gold track lead to the master bathroom. The shower was created to offer both privacy and Gulf views. Most of the windows are wavy glass, but six square panels are regular flat glass to offer views of the beach and Gulf.
Stephen Hayford
The Barefoot Beach Club condos were built in the 1990s. Now developers are remodeling some of them to give them a more modern look.
When the designers took the laundry room out of the front of the home, they repositioned it just beyond the walk-in closet in the master suite. The concept was to have the laundry near the closet for convenience.
The entire home was also redesigned to have a strong coastal look. A foyer leads to two guest rooms. One is a suite with a king-size bed. Prints of turtles, crabs and an armadillo decorate the wall. The second bedroom has views of the back bay. The sheets on the queen-size bed are decorated with brightly colored fish. Prints on the wall feature a manatee, the beach and water. The bathroom has a door leading to the bedroom and another door from the foyer.
This end unit has three bedrooms and three bathrooms and spans 2,003 square feet under air and a total of 2,368 square feet. It is priced at $2.595 million. Furnishings are negotiable.
Tommy says the model is so popular that other residents in the building are looking at it.
“They approach us all the time,” he says. “We have been doing this for others. Another person came down from the penthouse and is interested. There is still a lot of demand. The problem is they sell too quickly.”