Alys Beach on the Florida Panhandle demands conformity from its homes. There are only three housing types, according to the community's website: villas, compounds and courtyard homes — and they must all be the same Mediterranean bright white.
Yet homes in the master-planned community such as the one at 36 Caliza Lane, which is on the market for $5.75 million, still offer individualized living experiences.
"My favorite memory of the house was having our friends over for sunset cocktail hour on the roof with the fireplace lit,” one of the owners told Homes.com. “Out of nowhere, a double rainbow popped out of the gulf, so clear, just like a postcard!"
Janet Murphy with Scenic Sotheby’s International Realty has the listing.
Alys Beach is named after Alys Stephens, the matriarch of the family, who purchased 158 acres of wilderness in the 1970s after vacationing for decades in neighboring Seagrove Beach, according to Homes.com. Miami-based DPZ CoDesign created the master plan.
Alys Beach is one of three Panhandle vacation communities — alongside Seaside and Rosemary Beach — where the planning firm pioneered the concept of New Urbanism, which focuses on walkable mixed-use spaces. (Seaside was used for the surreally perfect town in “The Truman Show.”)
"Their vision for the neighborhood began development in 2004. In this breezy, unhurried setting with no high-rise hotels, homes are known more by the creative names carved on entryway placards than by their street numbers. The stark white architecture is so stunning that many Alys Beach homes have been featured in Architectural Digest, Vogue, Town & Country magazines, and The Wall Street Journal," according to Homes.com.
The result is a uniform community covered in eclectic flourishes. Each home and building is required to be white masonry, giving the whole area a Mediterranean Revival feel. But individual architects can play with window shapes or add carvings, parapets or other features to create unique living spaces.
"The seamless white design is intentional, to reduce visual chaos, invite calm and echo the quartz-crystal shoreline," according to Homes.com.
Buildings are built too close for yards. The home at 36 Caliza Lane manages 0.05 of an acre of outdoor living space beyond the 3,364-square-foot interior. The three-story house is topped with a rooftop deck featuring a 9-by-27-foot pool.
Offering views of the Gulf, the deck includes three seating areas, plus an outdoor kitchen and a 16-foot fireplace. Rooftop guests can also peer into the uncovered lantern-lit courtyard, which includes a fire table and a 20-foot-tall shell-stone water wall.
This home comes with deeded beach access and an entrance to the Caliza Pool and private Alys Beach Club.
But the home also represents an opportunity.
The metropolitan that includes Alys Beach has seen the median home price rise by 15% since 2021, according to data from Florida Realtors. But the asking price for this home is slightly lower than the $6 million the owners paid in 2022, according to county property appraiser records.
As of June 24, the Homes.com listings in the community ranged from a two-bedroom, two-bath condo for $1.95 million to a five-bedroom, five-and-a-half bath waterfront mansion for $26 million.