Funky Fish Houses

 Experience the luxury and laid-back ambiance of coastal living in Southwest Florida's most unique cottage community, The Funky Fish Houses of Cape Harbour.  It is Cape Harbour's newest residential neighborhood, and when completed, will incorporate 20 or so single family one-of-a-kind waterfront Key West style beach cottages.

Right now, a select number of home sites are available for purchase at very affordable prices.  These unique cottage beach homes will be individually designed by homeowners themselves, working with a professional team of designated builders to create a neighborhood reflecting the classic and colorful building styles of Key West itself.

Cottages will be perched on the water's edge along the seawall within the area of The Marina.  Boundaries of the properties will actually extend approximately 25-feet over the water, allowing for an extended outdoor deck and/or boat slip.

These colorful cottages are certain to command your attention, not only for their fun and funky character, but also for all the reasons you want to live in Southwest Florida.  Come relax, enjoy the breathtaking beauty of the area and experience daily life in a fashionable cottage community.

It was Realmark's President Will Stout's longtime association with the artist and home designer that began the two talking of such a concept and ultimately resulted in Turner and his company, Steven B. Turner Designs, creating the overall design plan. 

There was no question of Turner's participation. After all, Stout was more than pleased with Turner's success at designing his Cape Harbour residential and commercial development project.

Turner oversaw the architectural design phase of construction for Stout's fish house on Lot 19, and the three-story cottage of another excited client on another lot along the marina waterway.

The personality of the client factored into Turner's resulting design plan. He strove for the ideals of space, form, functionality and timelessness in his renderings, and he completed his work with creative brush strokes of soft, muted colors derived from nature's bounty.

It was Stout who brought his attention to the tiny boathouses that populated the lakes and shores of North Carolina. "It was a combination of those and the houses I saw around the Key West area (which served as the impetus for the cottage concept here)," he said.

"We encompassed the boat house ideas with the Key West ideas we had and threw around the idea of calling them Funky Fish Houses,'' Turner remarked. "We talked about actually building some of these homes. Looking at those little houses (in Key West), all jammed in next to each other with their ornate gates and architectural styles, they're so unique. 

It's almost as if Hemingway himself would have envisioned something like this along the water's edge, something he would have done. Inspired by the old homes of Key West, Turner uses the same images reshuffled to accommodate a new generation of homeowners.

His new space was complimented by lots of windows, balconies, observations decks, cupola rooms, walkways with ornate entry gates and first floor living levels with decks that extend, in some cases, up to 25 feet over the water.

One design features a three-story with amenities such as a 14-foot high garage, enough space to accommodate two cars and perhaps a motorcycle; a third floor master suite with a morning kitchen and bypass door, which opens into a master sitting room with full bath, a room which could double as another bedroom; a cantilevered balcony off the master suite extends 18 feet across the back of the cottage; and a unique spiral staircase accesses an observation deck at roof level to take in the spectacular sunsets and coastal views.

There is something divine about nature and the Key West lifestyle, one that he works hard at capturing in his final cottage renderings. "This (design) is so unique the way it butts up to the water with its scalloped trim and ornate gates. It reminds me of taking 'old town' Key West and updating it and sticking it on the water's edge,'' Turner said.

Turner's Funky Fish House cottage community portfolio contains the typical elevation designs for the two-, three- and four-story cottages, front and waterside, along with the concept of the village units and overall roadway plan and building footprints for all 19 fish house building sites.

As for Turner, his work to enhance the image of Cape Harbour, and to design, draw and contribute to the individualistic nature of the community remain as a fitting tribute the artist/designer, skateboard champion and visionary that was Steve Turner. 

Sadly, Steven Bradford Turner, 66, of Fort Myers, passed away suddenly in his home on March 10th, 2023. He lived an incredible life as a father, artist, residential and commercial designer, skateboarder, and surfer. His family and friends know he is surfing the big wave in the sky, his trademark laugh echoing as he entertains all the angels and his beloved parents.