The Neugebauer House is situated in the exclusive neighborhood of Fort Charles Drive in Naples, Florida. This house was built on a wedge-shaped plot of land with breathtaking views of the palm trees and water that dominate the surroundings, overlooking Doubloon Bay. Construction was finished in 1998 after it was designed in 1995. Richard Meier’s Neo-Corbusian design principles add a magnificent touch to this piece of old architecture that we now treasure.
Borrowing a lot from Le Corbusier’s forms and shapes, Richard Meier and Partners went ahead to design what has now been termed by many as an architectural classic. The plain geometry, light, color and emphasis on the principles of design helped the architects to come up with a building whose every aspect interacts and integrates well with one another.
Since it is completely unusual, the Neugebauer house exudes individuality both at the time it was built and even now. Still, it seems that the location for this building’s design and construction could not have been better. The longest axis of the structure extends over the entire width of the wedge-shaped site with a view of the waterfront.
The open area in front of the building acts as a courtyard, and with a cylindrical two-car garage designed and built in this area, 25 palm trees have been planted and arranged to form a square-like orchard to screen the garage and provide better views to people passing by in front of the house. The garage features Spanish limestone finish all around its façade.
The horizontal façade immediately following the courtyard was covered in limestone slabs, which were strengthened by a sturdy concrete frame and masonry structure to hide the water underneath. Rectangular windows set into the façade’s top provide light from above, concealing a passageway that runs the entire length of the home.
The architects designed the house to have linearly organized functions beginning from the entrance, to the service, which is the long corridor, to the living space, followed by the sun terrace and a rectangular lap pool marking the end of that development. Following the linear formation of the whole development, all the major spaces, including the living spaces and the sleeping areas, have been accorded interesting views of the lap pool and even further to the bay yonder.
The butterfly-shaped roof, which cantilevers deeper into space and is supported by steel frames underneath, covers the living areas, including the kitchen and bathrooms. The roof is the feature of this house that most clearly reflects the architect’s vision—a bold yet secure design that manages to be as intriguing as it can be. The Neugebauer house’s inverted roof was a brilliant solution for the architect to satisfy the local design code’s requirement that roofs be pitched while also highlighting the house’s orientation toward the water.
The façade overlooking the pool is designed from a special type of glass with the capability to act as a sun shading element for the immediate spaces. The curtain walls are hurricane resistant and made from thick laminated glass to protect the house and its occupants in case a hurricane hits Doubloon Bay.
Project Information
Architects: Richard Meier & Partners Architects LLP
Design: Richard Meier and Thomas Phifer
Client: Klaus and Ursula Neugebauer
Location: Naples, Florida
Completion: 1998
Floor Area: 700 sq.m. (including garage)
Photography: Richard Meier & Partners Architects LLP
