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Homes

A house with a view - of Florida

This plantation-style mansion that overlooks Lake Keystone was designed to make its owners, and their guests, appreciate all the environment has to offer.

By ELIZABETH BETTENDORF
Published March 25, 2005

ODESSA - From just about anywhere inside Mike and Cathy Carter's plantation-style mansion on Lake Keystone the view is nothing short of startling.

It's all about old Florida: moss-dripping cypress and oaks, lanky shore birds and a vast stretch of lake as far as the eye can see.

"Of course, there's the occasional small gator swimming in the morning," quips Mike, 54, a retired businessman-turned-real-estate investor who grew up water skiing on the 500-acre Lake Keystone as a boy.

In fact, the Carters' house is all about capturing view: The 1,200 square feet of plate-glass windows play up the jewel of a location.

"We can lie in bed in the morning and see osprey, wood ducks, eagles and hawks," Mike says. "We've even seen sea planes landing on the water. It's a great location and we feel like we should totally take advantage of it."

Other than a few well-placed drapery swags - used judiciously in the living room - the Carters opted not to install window treatments on the entire backside of the house.

All windows face the water, always the center of attention.

"A lot of people miss the boat when it comes to designing for view," Mike says. "We spent 18 months planning this house. There were no quick decisions."

The open kitchen features a large island and a double-tiered eating and serving bar (built for buffet-style entertaining). It was designed so that the Carters, who are both passionate cooks, could still soak in the scenery while stirring or sauteing.

"After living here for years, we still appreciate the beauty," muses Cathy, 48. "Even on a busy day, you still notice."

Inside the house, etched glass plays up the feeling of light and openness. A Tarpon Springs artist carved two 9-foot by 5-foot glass panels with images from wildlife photographs the Carters took while on a trip to Kenya.

Lighted shelves and a glass breakfront highlight an extensive collection of pottery, glass and artwork. The couple enjoy prowling art fairs for finds, as well as the Willow Arts Gallery on Gunn Highway in Odessa, where they acquired a number of their treasures.

Other finds were discovered on their extensive travels: a painting of elephants in the living room is the work of an African wildlife artist who sent the painting in a fatigue-green canvas duffel that Mike keeps to show visitors.

A collage of pears and poetry was created by an artist friend of Cathy's who died of cancer. Cathy, who jokingly describes herself as "an art show junkie," has been known to fly to Canada, Montana and Vermont for a good show.

"This is a great house for displaying art," Cathy says. "What's fun is hanging pieces in different rooms around the house, then buying something new and changing everything again."

The couple began collecting art when they were married. Every room in the house reflects their passion, even a wall in the back staircase where they've hung a dramatically framed wedding necklace once worn by a Masai warrior.

The sentimental is incorporated as art: a violin belonging to Cathy's grandmother, a concert cellist, and her turn-of-the-century Beatrix Potter books sit on a cherry-wood antique dresser that Mike restored.

"Everywhere you turn in the house, there's something interesting," says Laura Metzer, owner of Willow Arts.

In fact, says Metzer, the couple's decorating style - laid back, comfortable and art-focused - reflects her own philosophy on how a home should look.

What the Carters have done so well, she says, is surround themselves with art that has personal meaning to them, rather than trying to match their upholstery.

Their home is filled not with "belongings," Metzer notes, "but with things that have an aura about them, things that matter."

The 7,200-square-foot house sits on 7 acres tucked in a corner of Hillsborough County, still an oasis of small horse farms and citrus groves.

With 300 feet of lakefront, it was an easy choice for the couple who wanted to live on the water but not the Gulf of Mexico.

"I did not want to deal with hurricanes," Cathy says of the house built 47 feet above sea level. The back yard features a volleyball pool, deepest in the middle, as well as an outdoor kitchen for entertaining, something the Carters enjoy at least three or four times a week. There's a dock for boats, personal watercraft and a canoe, as well as a six-car garage, with one bay set aside for Mike's prized 50th birthday gift, a C-5 2001 white Corvette.

The couple, who once owned a business that manufactured equipment for semitrailer trucks, were living in the Lake Maureen development in Carrollwood when they purchased the Odessa property in the mid 1990s. The original house, a vintage 1940s weekend getaway for a Tampa family, was too small for the Carters and their two children, Michelle and Mac (now college students), so they decided to tear it down.

They hired Tampa Bay-area builder Bobby Alvarez to design and build their uniquely west-central Florida house, with its columned exterior influenced by farmhouses Mike saw as a child in Georgia.

The traditional interior with its dramatic, curving front staircase focuses completely on view and eye-pleasing comfort.

Mike even studied the property from a rented helicopter in order to figure out how to best place the long, meandering driveway without taking out oak trees.

"The idea was to slow you down as the house came into view. We also had two teens at the time and didn't want it to turn into a drag strip. Basically, we wanted the house to develop in front of you, like an old Southern home."

Says Cathy: "We wanted it to feel comfortable and livable, inside and out."

[Last modified March 24, 2005, 08:15:13]