Stairway to Heaven

Alex Gorlin designed this house as his own private residence at Seaside. By far the most modern of his designs there, it was meant as a critique on the architecture style that had become the norm at Seaside, but also as a reinforcement of the Seaside Code. Although it conforms to the building code – height restrictions, a required balcony and first floor commercial space – the style is strikingly modern. Built on a corner lot looking onto Ruskin Place, the design takes advantage of these views with a double-height living space, enclosed on two sides by glass walls. Not only does this create a view out for the homeowner, but also a view inward for the pedestrian, looking in on an open spiral stair which leads to the living area above. The staircase continues up to a rooftop deck, from which a smaller circular staircase accesses a lookout spire or crow’s nest from which one can view the Gulf of Mexico.

Alexander Gorlin is an architect, author, critic and principal of Alexander Gorlin Architects based in New York. His work spans the spectrum from high end residential, to affordable, housing for the homeless, master planning and religious buildings. Graduate of Cooper Union and Yale, he is the recipient of the Rome Prize in Architecture where he spent a year at the American Academy in Rome.