Grace Perdido Key’s Newest Waterfront Marvel
Eleanor Beach is a new waterfront development located in Perdido Key, Florida, named for a granddaughter of the developer, Wesley Spruill. Spruill has always loved this particular part of Perdido Key, and he recognized the potential for a development that would be unique and special. He selected Bob Chatham of Bob Chatham Custom Home Design to take his words and ideas and turn them into the overall concept for this unique development. Once the design portion of the project was underway, Spruill and Chatham selected Jerry and Austin Smith of Green Leaf Construction as the builder, and Martin Pitts for the structural engineering component of the project.
The Eleanor Beach development was conceived as six gulf-front homes with a distinct style and aesthetic, each of similar elevation, size, layout, and materials, all designed by Chatham and constructed to Fortified Gold Standards. The lots are fifty feet wide, and each home has the same footprint. The structures are concrete, steel, and wood construction. Concrete pilings, floors, and light deck floor system with parapet walls provide each home with exceptional strength and resilience to weather conditions.
Wesley Spruill realized that he and Chatham had conceived a very special place. Bob Chatham is more than pleased with the team’s work and with his own role in the project. “We have set a new benchmark for the Perdido Key area,” Chatham says, “and everyone who sees Eleanor Beach recognizes this.”
Members of the team that made Eleanor Beach a reality include Jerry Smith and Austin Smith of Green Leaf Construction, a builder with more than two decades of experience in construction management and three decades of experience in senior-level business management.
Jerry Smith is the owner and founder of Green Leaf and oversees the “big picture” operations along with Austin Smith, who is licensed in Alabama as an attorney, a residential home builder, and a real estate agent. He oversees the company’s general operations and represents the company’s legal interests within Alabama.
The structural engineering for the Eleanor Beach project was provided by J. Martin Pitts, PE, LLC. J. Martin Pitts has over forty years of structural engineering experience and works with his son, J. Colin Pitts, PE, a registered professional in Alabama, Texas, Florida, and Tennessee. Cori Pitts serves as a specialist for the company in the IBHS Fortified Program.
About Residential Elevators
Residential Elevators, a custom elevator designer, fabricator, and installer, has installed elevators in several of the homes at Eleanor Beach. Each one is designed for the specific unit and is assembled on-site. The homeowner is able to select style, materials, flooring, and controls.
Robert Verrilli of Residential Elevators, who is the lead on the Eleanor Beach installations, has over twenty years with the company, and has found working in conjunction with Green Leaf Construction on this project has been rewarding and efficient. “We have developed a great rapport with them, and it has made this project very satisfying,” he says. “Residential Elevators looks forward to more projects in this area.”
J. Martin Pitts describes the Eleanor Beach Method of Construction as follows:
Eleanor Beach, with its gulf-front location and the dynamic architecture of the project required special attention to critical areas of the structural framing system.
The buildings are supported by 100-ton 14” x 14” prestressed concrete pilings similar to those used to support interstate highway bridges. Cast-in-place concrete was used to construct the elevated main floor system. Concrete is recognized as one of the most successful building systems ever used, and can be found on projects worldwide.
The ceiling height on the main floor is 12’ and required double studs at 16” on center to provide the required wall stiffness during high wind events the home will be required to withstand.
The homes have floor-to-ceiling and corner-to-corner glass walls that make incredible views of the Gulf of Mexico possible. These large wall openings required structural steel frames utilizing fully welded moment connections to develop lateral stiffness. Large lateral forces will be developed as hurricane forces are applied to the full height of the structure. The frames required heavy members that weighed nearly 100 pounds per foot to keep lateral deflections within acceptable limits.
About Bob Chatham:
Bob Chatham is an award-winning second-generation residential designer who has been designing custom homes for over 35 years. He is a member of the American Institute of Building Design and of the National Association of Home Builders. Chatham lives and works in Fairhope, AL, and designs homes all along the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. His distinctive design style features abundant windows, expansive porches, exposed beams, and decorative roof brackets, complementing the landscape and bringing his signature charm to any number of coastal communities, from Gulf Shores in Alabama all the way to Florida’s Scenic Highway 30A and beyond. Chatham was the first in Alabama to design a certified Green home, which earned a Gold rating for energy efficiency.
Chatham’s impressive creative vision, along with his understanding of wetlands, flood zones, easements, and related lot constraints, has led to his ability to design a unique creation with the ideal balance of practicality and luxury no matter the lot’s location. He has had the creative freedom to design entire residential communities along the Gulf Coast and to design a number of Showcase homes in Mobile and Baldwin Counties in Alabama. Together with his team of talented designers, he is able to create a custom home plan that is above and beyond a mere place to live, but is rather an investment in the future and an enduring piece of art.
Bob Chatham Custom Home Design
78 South Section Street | Fairhope AL 36532
251-928-0988 | designer@bobchatham.com
Wesley L. Spruill. M.D.
wspruill@rockpointrental.com
Jerry A. Smith
Green Leaf Construction, LLC
251-605-9049 | GreenLeafConstruction@Outlook.com
J. Martin Pitts, P.E., LLC
J. Martin Pitts, P.E.
martin@martinpitts.net | 251-591-6634
Force 5 Walls, Inc.
251-213-2423 | 251-213-9255
www.force5walls.com
Residential Elevators
850-906-3054 | www.residentialelevators.com
