Alys Beach Architecture- A beautiful planned community in Florida with many great lessons.

Alys Beach Architecture- Designed and inspired by historic colonial architecture of the tropics, this town is an example of how cities and towns should be designed and built. There are unifying design ideals and beautiful construction methods that are captivating and magical.
For a great book on New Urbanism and defense to sprawl check out this book. It is from my Amazon Assoc. account. I get a small commission but no extra cost to you. Suburban Nation. it is a great read: amzn.to/3Fh0jOM
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Brent Hull
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[@amcdavid7]

I love this place so much! I wish we could return to this more community and family-oriented city layout. With the current housing shortage, I wonder if something similar can be done these days using rustic, local materials as you mentioned in the video with the budget of an average American household in mind.

[@BrentHull]

I totally agree! Thanks for sharing.

[@ronhayes4329]

sure wish you had at least a Hour to show us more thanks for the time you did take

[@BrentHull]

Good to know. Working on some longer format videos. Be sure to check out the Building and Brews talks (see my playlists). They are about an hour long talk on various topics. Thanks.

[@Fedgery007]

Been there. Alys beach is insane.

[@BrentHull]

Word!

[@stevemiller7949]

Canonical design is the best. There are rules and the best designers follow them.🙂

[@BrentHull]

Thanks for watching!

[@carianin5293]

I love Alys Beach. Thanks so much for sharing.

[@BrentHull]

Thanks for watching!

[@crossroadschronicles4647]

Thanks Brent

[@BrentHull]

Of course!

[@user990077]

You're obviously working hard to create great content. The videography is very well done. So this is a helpful content, not criticism. You do great the first two minutes. Then after 2:00 to the end of the video you use the word "right" 25 times. No big deal. But to the listener it can be a slight distraction.

[@BrentHull]

Thanks for the feedback. Your not the first to say that. 😬 I'm working on it. Thanks.

[@achillesbuchanan2095]

Fascinating. And so well opened up through the video. Thank you, as always. (It makes me smile that Brent takes his vacation in an architecturally accurate environment!)

[@BrentHull]

Glad you enjoyed it! Always!! 😆

[@UldisTrapencieris]

Such a beauty!! Thanks Brent.

[@BrentHull]

Glad you enjoyed it. Go visit sometime. It's worth it.

[@mikedruce1701]

Nice video! I love Rosemary beach. Been seeing this development go up for a while!

[@BrentHull]

It's so good! Thanks for watching.

[@carmencolon3520]

Very interesting, I hardly visit Florida but will keep this place in mind just to look. Thanks for your time.

[@BrentHull]

Any time!

[@aaaaaaaaaa697]

I have never spent any time there. It’s quite sad to note because I live in Panama City Florida. Literally just down the road. Thanks for sharing.

[@BrentHull]

It'll be a great mini-road trip. Enjoy it and let me know what you think.

[@rogerhodges7656]

As the video started and, before you said the words, I was thinking; "This reminds me of Bermuda." LOL

[@BrentHull]

Nice!! You've got a good eye. Thanks.

[@debragillen255]

Spain , Italy , Mediterranean influences for sure . Just stunning.

[@arvidjohansson3120]

If Alys Beach became the standard layout for development I belive urban sprawl would become less of a issue. This looks like higher density than your average neighborhood.

[@BrentHull]

Agreed, this new urbanism concept is how Traditional Neighborhood Developments started. Check out the book Suburban Nation in my description. It's worthwhile. Thanks for watching.

[@stevemiller7949]

Places like this show what is possible. I will concede that it would be more complete with schools (and more people) and "affordable" housing mixed in, etc. But the things that are done there are way better than 99% of America. We don't need more drive-through windows, but we're gonna get em. Maybe drive through funeral homes? Americans love their cars and everything their cars have spawned. You can bet Rosemary has no intention of allowing drive-thrus. That takes the kind of values most developers don't have.🙂🙂

[@BrentHull]

Agreed. Thanks.

[@theofarmmanager267]

Again, very interesting. For once, there are no connections to the UK. Our buildings are not about keeping the sun and heat at bay; they are about keeping warm and stop getting flooded. Great for a visit but I don’t know that I would want to live there.

[@BrentHull]

Thanks for sharing. I think Poundbury is a UK development with New Urban ideals. It's very well thought of, I'd love to hear your feedback. THanks,

[@theofarmmanager267]

@@BrentHull Ah, Poundbury. I’ve not been there and so cannot make detailed comments based on a personal experience. From what I have read it seems that Poundbury is a good commercial success with houses costing about a third more than “equivalent” in Dorchester. I read that the stone used for facades etc is reconstituted and that behind that, it is the normal block construction; also that much of the “metalwork” is painted fibreglass. It does not use local materials and the architecture (an area of Georgian; an area of Victorian and soon, an area of Arts and Crafts) is not the Dorset vernacular. Does that bother me? Not really. The cost of using real stone, for instance, would have substantially increased the costs of the houses. There are houses being rented out to local people at peppercorn rents; there is (I hope) sustainable small scale workshops employing locals. From the photographs that I have seen, it does look a little twee but I would have to visit myself to see how the place felt. Are the economies really detracting from the overall feel? Do those artificially winding streets feel authentic? Is the mix of styles a happy one or does it jar? I cannot say that I am a fan of the views of Prince Charles (the land on which Poundbury is built is owned by his Duchy of Cornwall) on architecture. I don’t think that every old building is wonderful or that every new building is a carbuncle ( his phrase); I do appreciate that he has led this experiment in architecture. I hope that, when I go, I find that Poundbury does not feel like a pastiche of an old English country town and that it blends, and not jars, with the genuine old English country town of Dorchester.

[@ragetoca]

DPZ Andres and Liz Duany, if you know, you know.

[@BrentHull]

True!

[@kennixox262]

My native Florida. I'd be deathly afraid to even visit the state these days.

[@BrentHull]

OK

[@robertbamford8266]

“Planned community.” Not usually enticing to me, but in Alys Beach people paid attention and the houses reflect that attention. Leaves me wondering if the interiors (workmanship, materials, layout) continue the colonial style.

[@BrentHull]

For the most part yes, there are a lot of indoor/outdoor spaces. A lot of courtyards. So the attempt continues but with obvious kitchens and baths that are contemporary. Thanks for the question.

[@tonyktso]

Your team produces such well crafted informative videos, it's a shame the view counts are typically low. (I know someone who can offer some tips on how to multiply that by a big order of magnitude simply by engaging the proper levers of digital marketing.) Seaside, Rosemary, Alys Beach, besides DPZ the world renowned planner, boast of competent architects making thoughtfully designed and gorgeously detailed dwellings, which means patrons of architecture with the funds, time and taste to hire talented designers. That was the original criticism of Seaside concerning the success of young Andre & Liz, rich people's vacation paradise, it will never work in the real world (as though all the vacation hot spots for the rich have such beautifully composed houses nestled in a walkable, immensely enjoyable vibrant community). Kentlands, where I bought my first and only house, in Gaithersburg, MD just outside DC was the industry norm suburban residential development (with several mixed-use commercial strip shopping malls on its north edge lining a highway) that proved the critics WRONG. Unfortunately, except a handful of owner commissioned, architect designed houses, 99% of the units were commissioned by the builders for sale to the public at large at market price, though the few simple sheets of the Kentlands' Code laid down very strict form-based rules concerning massing, materials and other critical house features to ensure no house detracts from the "urbanism" by doing what is "normal" in suburbia. What we have is ever so slightly better architecture (as the commercial builders were not permitted to use their standard designs used elsewhere but they used the same designers😖) compared to what's been built in the DC suburb, but the urban planning and pedestrian-centric design worked. So Kentlands is a good early example to show that the New Urbanist were right in changing the planning standards harkening back to the traditional ways of neighborhood development, which was always a big struggle & requires the AHJ to be willing to move away from the status quo and a conscientious developer not just interested to make the most profit in the shortest possible time frame. And how the run-of-the-mill house design built with architectural elements readily available at Home Depot robs a well planned settlement of its architectural soul.

[@BrentHull]

Thanks for your comments. I visited Kentlands 10 or 15 years ago. It is refreshing. Thanks so much.

[@mikecorbett4987]

Hey Brent. Just came across this. Really enjoyed it, as I do most of your videos. I love your message. Two things: It seems a shame that in order for a place to use new urbanism principles, it has to be planned. I'm interested in finding out how to incorporate these principles into our actual public places that aren't planned communities. Is anybody doing that? I really don't want to live in a planned community. I like living in a regular neighborhood but I would really like to incorporate some new urbanism into it. Curious how to get that done. Also: Seems to me that one of the big appeals of new urbanism is that the scale attracts people instead of cars. Yet there are no people in your video (except you). I realize the focus is architecture but the place seems very sterile without people. Seeing how people use the architecture and neighborhood design, how it helps attract them and fosters interaction would really improve the appeal of the place.

[@BrentHull]

Hi Mike, thanks for watching and commenting. 1. In my research and study of building over the last 150 years in America is that almost every neighborhood is planned. Every street laid out and zoned. Many of these neighborhoods are planned poorly but there is a plan. But to introduce New Urban principles is hard. How do you promote walkability in a city made for driving. Read the book Suburban Nation. That is the place to start. 2. Just the way we filmed. There were plenty of people. but your point is noted. Thx

[@Fedgery007]

Interesting observation. I was there in February of 2022 and it was a ghost town. I saw a handful of people there in an afternoon and that was it. It did seem strange.