On the west side of Ponte Vedra Boulevard, just south of the Sawgrass Country Club, sits an eye-catching contemporary-style home filled with light, art and personality. This house was designed by local architect Mark Macco for the owners, Denise and Jay Levitch.
The Levitches were involved in all the design aspects of the house, starting with the lot. The property is directly across the street from the ocean and bordered on the west by the Guana Preserve.
Great care was taken to incorporate the natural areas into the home design, balancing conservation with construction. The result is a magnificent house with an incredible degree of privacy, ample outdoor living areas and views of nature from every room.
The Levitches were not novices to the home-building process when they started on this project. They designed and built a modern house in their hometown of St. Louis before being transferred to the Jacksonville area.
Jay Levitch is an attorney for Fidelity National Financial, and his position brought him to Jacksonville in 2013. Their first Florida home was the personal residence of architect Mark Macco. The Levitches enjoyed the homebuilding process the first time around, so when they decided to build something larger here in Jacksonville, they naturally reached out to Macco again.
The inspiration for this house was light — the more light the better. The design includes glass walls on the east and west sides, so the interior spaces are bathed in natural light throughout the day. The floor plan is open concept, which lends itself to flexibility in furniture placement. Most importantly, the design included gallery-style walls for the Levitches to display their art collection.
Denise Levitch sees the house as the background for the art pieces. Her taste in art is eclectic and she is drawn to colorful, quirky and unique designs. She has a wide variety of paintings, sculpture and wall hangings from all over the world. The collection is cheerful and many of the pieces prompt a smile. One of her favorite artists is George Rodrigue, a Louisiana painter who’s known for his iconic “blue dog” paintings. These bright, happy paintings speak directly to Denise Levitch and her love of animals.
The home design is also very functional. The first floor is block construction, and the windows are high-end energy efficient, which keeps utility bills down. The polished cement floors give the house a contemporary feel without sacrificing its sense of warmth. The downstairs is open, with the gourmet kitchen overlooking the dining and main living areas.
Jay Levitch loves to cook, and this floor plan allows him to be part of the conversation while creating culinary masterpieces. Walls of sliding doors open to the backyard pool area, allowing easy transition from indoor to outdoor areas.
Upstairs, four large bedrooms are easily accessed by an elevator. Each bedroom has its own unique bathroom and custom closet. The owners’ suite includes a large balcony overlooking the pool and an elegant owners’ bathroom with an enormous walk-in closet.
The outdoor spaces were planned as carefully as the indoor spaces, with large and colorful art on display. The Levitches have two Bernese Mountain dogs who need room to romp. The dogs love the big backyard and also enjoy frolicking at the beach.
The Levitches are ready for their next home building adventure. This home is now on the market for $4,250,000.
