South Florida real estate traditionally adheres to one of three architectural guises: the Art Deco made famous in Miami, the Spanish-Revival popularized in Palm Beach and the cookie-cutter Contemporary that typifies most of the region’s condo and resort development. And then there’s Windsor — a 416-acre, Atlantic-front community on the banks of the Indian River located about 90 minutes north of Palm Beach.
Home to quietly prominent residents such as tennis legend Ivan Lendl, the Swarovski crystal clan and the founding family of Amway, Windsor might lure a Palm Beach-style clientele — global, wealthy, sophisticated — but it’s worlds away in terms of aesthetics and architectural vision. That vision is rooted in founders Hilary and Galen Weston, the Canadian retailing moguls who established Windsor with an equal emphasis on leisure and lifestyle as well as design and urban planning.
When the Westons first stumbled upon Windsor, which is currently celebrating its 25th anniversary, it was little more than citrus groves and dirt roads serenely (and surprisingly) shielded from the passage of time. While eager to develop the land — initially as a family retreat — the Westons were strident in their resolve to retain its intrinsic purity. To do so Mrs. Weston — Windor’s co-founder and creative director — turned to Andrés Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, the town planners and architecture duo who had pioneered the notion of New Urbanism more than a decade earlier. Made famous by towns such as Seaside, Fla. — the setting of “The Truman Show” — New Urbanism trades suburban sprawl for pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods defined by sensibly (and consistently) planned housing anchored around historic town centers.
In Windsor’s case, Duany and Plater-Zyberk conceived of a community with no more than 350 homes inspired by the types of neo-classical architecture commonly found in Charleston and the British West Indies. Today, 240 of those homes have been completed — designed within a strict set of Duany-defined codes to retain Windsor’s almost village-like feel. The prevailing architecture is low-key and initially deceiving — homes are deep rather than broad, with simple façades that do little to suggest the often grand residences within. And while Windsor homes have no formal size limits, every residential design scheme faces a rigorous approval process to ensure it fits within the overall surroundings.
“Windsor is a place of elegant modesty, rather than pretension,” Duany explains. “There’s a level of density, which means homes achieve their sense of size and privacy via architecture.”
Not that Windsor isn’t … er … fancy. How else to describe a destination shrouded from the surrounding landscape by perfectly planted palms and seagrapes that lead to an entry ringed by an allee of mature oaks. Beyond, Windsor includes a Robert Trent Jones, Jr.-designed golf course; The Clubhouse (adjacent to the golf course) with interior design by Yabu Pushelberg; a formal Beach Club; an equestrian center with polo fields (a favorite of New Urbanism-proponent Prince Charles); and The Gallery at Windsor with an exhibition program in partnership with London’s blue-chip Whitechapel Gallery. Currently, there’s a Jasper Johns show in place.
Meanwhile, at the center of Windsor is a town hall/chapel whose spare, modernist design ecclesiastically embodies Windsor’s overall spirit. Mrs. Weston describes the chapel almost as Windsor’s anchor — a central gathering spot to both debate community issues, as well as celebrate monumental occasions. This is particularly important for a community far younger than the average Florida luxury development. Indeed, Swarovski scion Nadja Swarovski describes Windsor as “very family-oriented and catering to young children … yet truly international with fascinating individuals.”
The Swarovskis — like the DeVos clan, which founded Amway — are typical of many at Windsor in owning numerous properties used across generational lines. As Windsor Real Estate President Elizabeth Hanley explains, “people don’t move from Windsor, they simply trade up to larger homes.”
Windsor currently has 16 homes on the market — spread among the original Main Village near Indian River and the newer oceanfront South Village. Properties range from a six-bedroom, 8,600-square-foot oceanfront estate for $11.5 million to a five-bedroom, 5,200-square-foot cottage for $4.375 million within Windsor’s Main Village. Hanley says Windsor homes have appreciated roughly 30 percent since the the community opened, now mostly comprised of East Coasters, Canadians and Western Europeans.
Twenty-five years after Windsor’s debut, Duany’s distinctive architecture continues to lure deep-pocketed buyers eager to join its under-the-radar exclusivity. “The art of Andrés Duany was to develop Windsor’s design code,” Mrs. Weston reflects. “Because the code was intrinsic to making the village truly unique.”