Pictured: DSDG Architects' Mark Sultana with his hands full of awards at the 2019 Home of the Year Awards Ceremony. Photo by Wyatt Kostygan.

Architects, contractors, interior designers and all of their fans came together at the offices of SRQ magazine last night to celebrate the 15th annual Home of the Year Awards Ceremony, seeing honors bestowed on local builders for local projects. With submitted projects evaluated by a three-judge panel of experts from Tampa, Naples and Miami, awards were given for categories such as Best Sustainable/Green Home, Best Landscape Design, Best Kitchen, Best Remodel and three categories of Best Overall Home, divided by budget. “It’s more than a craft, it’s a calling,” said SRQ Executive Publisher Wes Roberts of the architectural arts on display, “and really defines how people see us, and how we see ourselves.”

The night began with Best Sustainable/Green Home, with DSDG Architects winning the first of many awards of the evening, this time for the Osprey Landing project near SRQ airport. Next came the award for Best Landscape Design, with Michael A. Gilkey, Inc. pulling the Silver Award for its Cherokee Park Family project, but DWY Landscape Architects sweeping the rest of the category, and picking up the Gold and Platinum awards for its Two Palms project and Citrus Avenue project, respectively. The former prompted the judges to declare it as “one of the most sculptural and elegant uses of the Traveler’s Palm.”

As awards were given for specific rooms, Sweet Sparkman Architects made its presence known, with its SeaThru House winning platinum awards for both Best Bathroom and Best Great Room. “The material palette is superb, as well as the execution,” said the judges. DSDG returned to the awards table for Best Kitchen, as the Betonhaus project won over the judges.

The awards field for Best Overall Interior proved crowded, with Barbara Gardner of Collins Interiors winning the Silver Award, Riley Interior Design claiming Gold and Trade Mark Interiors pulling down the Platinum Award for the Hawthorne Residence. Following, Edgewater Contractors and Holly Dennis Interiors won the Platinum Award for Best Remodel on the strength of the Eagle Point Drive project.

At the end of the night, when it came to time to reveal award-winners for the Best Overall Home categories, DSDG Architects proved the big winners, placing in all three categories and winning two. For Best Overall Home Under $1 Million, Solstice Architects took Gold for WhiteHaus, but DSDG carried home the Platinum for Rivetta Retreat. DSDG earned Gold in Best Overall Home Between $1-2 Million, with Sweet Sparkman Architects and the SeaThru House reappearing to claim Platinum. But it was DSDG’s Betonhaus that came out on top in the Best Overall Home Over $2 Million, beating out Murray Homes, who earned a Gold with Modern on Mourning Drive.

“Architecture is part of the community and Sarasota is special in the fact that we have some top architects and contractors that can perform and create one-of-a-kind structures,” says DSDG Principal Architect Mark Sultana. “It’s important for architects as a whole to be able to use our creativity. In other places, that doesn’t happen, and everything looks the same. Here, everything looks different.”

For more information on the 2019 Home of the Year competition, keep an eye out for a special feature in the March issue of SRQ magazine.

Pictured: DSDG Architects' Mark Sultana with his hands full of awards at the 2019 Home of the Year Awards Ceremony. Photo by Wyatt Kostygan.