Belle Meade Island II, MIAMI
TOGU: Design vision & Interior design
MODE Architects: Architect of Record
6,500 SF /AC, 604 m2 / house

Two houses on one lot, built side by side on the edge of Little River, in the Belle Meade neighborhood of North Miami. The challenge was to make two separate residences feel like a single composition, without losing the autonomy of each.

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The answer is the courtyard. A shared tropical garden, pool, jacuzzi, and dock sit between the two houses and face the river. The houses themselves frame this garden on two sides, creating an outdoor room that feels enclosed without being walled. The planting is dense enough to give each house visual privacy from the other. The dock opens directly onto the river, with access to Biscayne Bay within minutes.

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Each house is 6,500 square feet across two stories plus garage. The plans are functional and direct: double-height entry volumes in concrete and stone, an open ground floor with living, dining, and a long kitchen island, guest and staff rooms on the same level. Upstairs, four bedrooms including a master suite that faces the quiet of the courtyard and the river beyond.

 

The roofs are the signature element. Butterfly-winged and cantilevered deep over the facades, they protect the glass from rain and direct sun, and give the two houses their shared identity from the street. The lines are sharp and the volumes bold, but the courtyard softens everything. You sit by the pool and the houses disappear behind the palms.