This project closed in late 2025. The home is a 1990s Mediterranean Revival on the Sarasota Intracoastal — direct water exposure on three sides, mature canopy on the fourth. The original roof was concrete tile installed by the developer, weathered down hard from twenty-five years of salt and sun. We were retained to bring the home back to the architectural specification it should have had originally.
We are not publishing the address. The owner asked us not to.
The specification
- Field tile: Ludowici Spanish S in a custom blend (three colors, fired-through)
- Hip and ridge: copper, hand-formed on site
- Flashings: copper, mitered at every transition
- Underlayment: Polyglass Polystick TU Plus, fully adhered over entire deck
- Deck attachment: re-nailed to 8d ring-shank at 4"/6" on the entire roof
- Fasteners: 316 stainless screws throughout
Approximate roof area: 6,200 square feet. Hip-and-gable geometry with two turrets, four dormers, and a courtyard return. Tile count: roughly 6,400 pieces.
The custom color blend
The home is part of a neighborhood with a strong architectural review process. The original developer-grade concrete tile had been a uniform medium-terra-cotta — visually flat and inconsistent with the surrounding homes that had been re-roofed in clay over the years. The architect and owner wanted a tile that read as varied, hand-fired, and quietly distinctive against the canopy.
We worked with Ludowici on a three-color blend: their standard terra cotta, plus a custom warm ochre, plus a deeper salmon-red. The blend was specified at roughly 60/25/15 — predominantly the standard color, with the accents distributed across the field rather than concentrated.
The custom color extended the lead time by approximately four months over a standard color. We placed the order at contract and used the lead time to complete tear-off, deck repair, re-nailing, and underlayment.
The structural review
The original framing was specified for concrete tile, which is comparable in weight to clay tile — so no dead-load issue. But the home had received a second-story addition in 2007 that was not part of the original framing analysis. A structural engineer reviewed the framing and verified that the upgrade did not require any reinforcement. Sealed drawing in the closeout package.
The salt-air detailing
Three sides of the home see direct salt-air exposure. Every fastener on the roof is 316 stainless. Every flashing is copper. The gutter system is copper, matched to the upstream flashings. The ridge cap fasteners are concealed; the visible roofline is copper end-caps and decorative ridge.
What took the most craft
The compound hip on the southwest turret. Six tile courses converged at a five-degree turn off the primary hip line, and the copper flashing had to drape the cone without faceting. The lead installer spent two days on that one detail. From the water, it reads as a single continuous curve.
Timeline
- Discovery and specification: 6 weeks
- Tile order to delivery: 22 weeks
- Tear-off, deck repair, re-nailing, underlayment: 5 weeks (during tile lead time)
- Field installation: 9 weeks
- Closeout and final inspection: 2 weeks
Total: approximately 18 months from first conversation to handover.
What we are most proud of
The home is now indistinguishable from a 1920s estate that has aged in place for a century. From the water, from the road, from the courtyard. That is the standard for this work.
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