T.S. Eliot wrote that April is the cruelest month … but T.S. Eliot forgot what it was like to live in New England during a late March snowstorm.  March 21st was the official first day of spring, but those of you up north would never know it.

There really is no reason to spend another winter shivering in the sub-zero weather, scraping snow off your windshield, and dealing with all the wind chills and potholes, Next winter you can laugh at the threatening weather from your own sunny Abacoa® home in Jupiter, Florida.

Here you can get reacquainted with your old friend – THE SUN.  Or you can enjoy all the green areas, lakes, parks and pristine beaches, take advantage of the glorious shopping on Worth Avenue, or simply revel in the laid-back living and Mediterranean-style architecture that makes Jupiter one of the very best places to live and love life.

And what a perfect time to buy!  The Wall Street Journal just cited the Palm Beach area – including “over the moat” in Jupiter – as one of the 10 best places for a second home. Median prices have plunged 11 percent from their peak. It doesn’t get better than this!

Why not give yourself a break during the long hard winters?  When Bob Marley wrote about three little birds pitched by his doorstep, he sure wasn’t shivering through a Nor’easter in Boston or a blustery blizzard in Chicago.  Jupiter and Palm Beach Gardens are the kind of places where “everything’s gonna be all right” … especially with home prices near their all-time low.

Maybe you’ll fly north for the summer too. After all, it has a lot to offer. Just remember that when fall turns to winter, there’s a better way of life. The little birds fly south to their second homes. Why shouldn’t you?

If you’re shopping for a home in an upscale neighborhood like Valencia at Abacoa (Jupiter, FL), you’ll find a number of sophisticated architectural details are part of the package. You don’t have to know their names to appreciate their charm … but it doesn’t hurt. So here are a couple of terms it pays to be familiar with…because you’ll be probably be paying for them!

Porte-cochere … a protective porch

If you drive up to a house and find yourself parked under an overhang or archway in front of the garage, you are passing through the porte-cochere. This French term translates as coach gate or carriage porch. It is always a porch at a main or secondary entrance to a building, through which a car can pass, so the occupants can get out under cover, protected from the weather, before the car pulls into the garage. While it is not to be confused with a carport, it can function as one, providing additional parking under cover.

Coffered ceiling… added dimensionality

In architecture a coffer is a panel in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling. The stone coffers of the ancient Greek and Romans are the earliest surviving examples, but a seventh-century BCE Etruscan chamber tomb reproduces a ceiling with beams and cross-beams lying on them, with flat panels. Old idea…great look!

Cupola …tower of light

This is a small, dome-like structure on top of the roof, like a crown. The word comes from Italian, indicating a vault that resembles an upside down cup. Cupolas in more modern houses can appear in the center of the house above a large staircase, where they add elegance, light and air.

Butler’s pantry … charming convenience

The traditional location for a butler’s pantry is in a short hallway between the kitchen and the dining room. Its purpose is to allow easy access to glassware and silver … and to provide a surface to set out appetizers, drinks, or dessert. Butler’s pantries, or china pantries, were built in English or American homes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Delightfully convenient, they are making a big comeback.

In a neighborhood known for remarkable homes, 120 Santiago Drive just naturally stands out. Built in 2004, this 3-bedroom plus den, 3000-plus square foot home is an artist’s palette of natural textures and tones. 

That’s because the owner personally flew to Indonesia to hand-select every piece of carved wood trim, every solid wood door, every wood inlay. Different shades of mahogany and teak are juxtaposed against marble, tile, granite, and river rock throughout. Why, the his-and-hers master bath alone is a visual marvel … complete with Jacuzzi tub and walk-in shower.

Now, factor in a huge master suite and an office/den on the first floor, a vast kitchen (complete with butler’s pantry and gas stove) that opens onto a truly great room, which opens onto a very private pool and a maintenance-free yard… and you begin to understand.

No detail here has been overlooked. The pool even has a swim current for laps. And the two bedrooms and bath upstairs are delightfully designed to feel more like an airy loft than a second story.

The unique personality of this home …  its mixture of seductive textures, space and light … makes it one-of-a-kind and not to be missed.  At $695,000 it’s sure to disappear quickly. So make it a point to see it before it’s sold!

Every once in a great while you walk into a house that feels, well, quite perfect. You could move in without changing nary a thing. Even the wallpaper is charming, delightful, completely unexpected.  That’s 148 Santiago Drive, in Valencia at Abacoa.

It sits unobtrusively on a very quiet street.  The playground and community pool are near by … but you’d never know it. On paper this home appears quite mundane… one story, 2800+ square feet, 3 bedrooms with an office/den, and three full baths. But, surprise! You leave ordinary at the door.

Inside the foyer is a formal living room to the left, with plenty of room for a baby grand. To the right, a spacious office and a full guest bath complete with a huge shower, of all things.

Pad quietly down the hall a bit and you come to a formal dining room with a double tray ceiling with subtly painted clouds and a trompe-l’oeil window scene on the wall.

Go a few feet further and find yourself in a vast open country kitchen with a family room that looks out on a brick lanai with a perfectly private lap pool and Jacuzzi waterfall.

Just beyond are two very ample bedrooms separated by a large Jack & Jill bath.  And then there’s the magnificent master suite with two large walk-in closets and double bath complete with a steam/shower.

And everywhere, every detail is tastefully, artfully attended to by a decorator who clearly knew her stuff. So much so that the overarching feeling is quiet sophistication, and serenity…now.  Seinfeld aside, that’s no joke! Not at $699,000 in a neighborhood surrounded by million dollar homes.

In Valencia at Abacoa … a Jupiter, FL neighborhood usually known for style, luxury and sophistication …  it’s rather unexpected to come across a house that actually feels like family.

One with all the trappings its million-dollar price tag implies. Yet, something priceless as well.

A feeling of family.

126 Segovia is as large as the life it affords.

Large as a grand foyer. A 30-foot cupola amid a huge square staircase. A vast family room with windows so high, they fill it with light. An immense private yard that can hold a brick lanai, gated swimming pool with fountain, and grass playground … backed up to a natural preserve. A chandelier large enough to dominate and define a formal dining room.  A master suite the size of an apartment … complete with foyer, two large walk-in closets, an enormous shower and soaking Jacuzzi tub, and doors that open onto the pool.

Designed with thoughtful details…

An artful use of shadow-boxing and wainscoting, warm bamboo floors, built-ins in every closet, a double porte cochere to keep off the rain drops, an extended garage with built-ins and tool table, a double stove (convection/microwave) with warming drawer, an extra wide fridge, an oversize laundry room, a bench step in the pool to keep little ones safe, even a hot and cold outdoor shower… these are the details that make this estate house so deliciously comfortable.

And one thing more.

A feeling of solidity, stability, warmth that seems built into its very foundation. A sense that this will always be home to happy little voices and busy little feet, dinner parties and birthday parties. A house built for years of growing up and together.

A home in search of a family.

In an area as upscale as Abacoa in Jupiter, FL., you’d expect child’s play to encompass something a bit more sophisticated. And indeed it does. No, I’m not talking about a swimming pool or home theater. I’m talking about real theater run by real thespians.

Craig Wich Studio for the Performing Arts

This nonprofit studio offers truly professional dance, voice, theatre and film acting classes for ages four on up. Tucked away in nearby Tequesta, it is quite literally a cradle of talent … nurturing students who share a true desire to learn, grow and perform. And are they ever in good hands!

Craig Wich, the Artistic Director, has taught and directed opera, musical theater and dramatic arts in hundreds of venues across the country… including the Boston Conservatory, The Boston Lyric Opera, and, more locally, the Maltz Theater. His School Director, Judy Gelman, and Acting Coach, Marc Durso, have taught students who have gone on to perform on Broadway, in touring companies, regional theatre, film, TV, and commercials.

All kids act out. But some would rather just act!

For those budding talents, this is an extraordinary opportunity. There is instruction in musical theater, choreography, you name it. And lest their parents get bored waiting in the wings, there are also acting classes and workshops for adults.

You’d expect to find this level of creative education in New York or LA. But to find it in Jupiter, FL is rather like finding the proverbial pearl in the oyster.

Performing arts are just one example.

There is, in fact, a wealth of artistic, educational and recreational opportunities for children, in the Jupiter area … where play is the thing. But don’t take my word for it. Check it out and see for yourself!

You can handle Mike and Bob … two true artists at staging a home for sale. 

Now, for those of you who aren’t familiar with the concept, staging a home involves moving furniture, re-hanging pictures, bringing in additional pieces, creating an environment that shows a home for sale to real advantage.

 It’s the kind of magic that makes a buyer fall in love and generates that instant purchase impulse. It can involve changing the energy in a house. Redecorating. Reorienting. And it requires real art, true talent, and very little tact.

That’s where Mike and Bob shine!  They’re so determined to get your house sold, they’ll tell you the unvarnished truth about what needs fixing and why.

That level of honesty and talent is why I’ve made their service an option for all my clients. I know all too well that it’s not enough to be a good Real Estate Broker. I have to go the extra mile, offer that extra service that can make or break a sale. So I do. I use Mike and Bob as part of my team.

Their staging won’t upstage my efforts or your interests. On the contrary… it’s a value-added option that can make all the difference for all of us!

   Before & After

Whoever said your home is your castle must surely have had this home in mind. With features reminiscent of a castle in Segovia, Spain … this 4400 square foot estate home at 155 Segovia Way is truly a world apart. And every bit that private.

Built with pride by Issa Homes … it’s set on one of the few truly oversized lots, and seems to tower above the rest in style and scale. And a tower it has … that stately curved section that distinguishes any true castle. Also a charming gated courtyard, a delightful front view of lake and fountain, a tropical landscape barrier enclosing a large green yard and perfect pool.

Inside, one large room flows into another casually, seamlessly, flawlessly. The rounded castle foyer with the domed ceiling leads the way… to a marvelous office with a built-in library, a large formal dining room with an intricate ceiling, a huge breakfast area that’s anything but a nook, a wide open family room/kitchen with an island large enough to warrant a name.

So it goes. Through 5 bedrooms and baths … including a separate guest suite over the garage. A sound system Abbey Road would covet …piped within and without, controllable from anywhere. And if all of that isn’t regal enough …well then step into the Butler’s pantry. Grab a bottle of wine from the enormous collection chilling in the cooler. And let’s discuss the royal pleasures of this home over a dry chardonnay.

Most people define a treasure as a small, undiscovered jewel that surprises and delights. The 3-story Jupiter Townhome I just saw at 4119 Parkside fits that description to a T. Built in the classic style of a metropolitan East Coast townhouse, this one combines traditional design with Florida creature comforts.

Enter on the level of a spacious den, with a half bath and easy access to the enclosed 2-car garage.

Step up a flight to a great room with a great open kitchen (complete with corian counters, oak floors, tumbled marble tiles) open onto the living room. Just out of sight … a separate dining room, laundry closet, and half bath.

Step up again to the 3^rd floor with its huge master suite with a high recessed ceiling, stunning fan, and light pouring in the skylight window.  Two more bedrooms and two full baths complete the picture.

In all, 2200 square feet of well designed, private space tucked away on a quiet street next to a community park, in close proximity to the Antigua Clubhouse and pool.

At $245,000 this little gem is perfect for two … or as a vacation retreat, which is what it’s current owners had in mind. Lucky for you, they rarely appeared.  So, though delightfully furnished, it has barely been used. Kind of like finding a small, low-mileage, BMW convertible at a ridiculous used car price!