Snell Isle · St. Petersburg
Snell Isle houses, designed for the water they sit beside.
Perry Snell’s island on Coffee Pot Bayou has 1920s Mediterranean Revival villas, mid-century waterfront homes and new houses rebuilt higher. We design all three, in full, before anything is bought.
Three kinds of house on one island.
Snell Isle opened in 1925, dredged from mangrove flats on Coffee Pot Bayou. Its oldest houses are Mediterranean Revival, with arched openings, plaster and tile. Then came mid-century waterfront homes, and now new houses built higher after the 2024 storms.
Each asks for something different. A 1920s villa wants its proportions kept and its kitchen and baths brought up to how people live now. A mid-century house wants light and a clear plan. A new elevated house wants interiors that feel settled from the first day.
Plaster and stone · Material study
In St. Petersburg the line is 49%, not 50%.
Parts of Snell Isle are mapped in a high-risk flood zone, block by block. In a flood zone, the cost of the work is measured against the market value of the structure, land excluded. The City of St. Petersburg measures the cost of the work against 49% of that value, using the Property Appraiser’s figure or a recent independent appraisal. Cross it, and the whole house has to meet current flood code, which can mean elevating it.
So we check the flood zone and the structure value for your address before the scope is drawn. Then the design plans exactly the work the house is allowed, and every repair is permitted. After the 2024 storms the city requires permits even for drywall, floors and cabinets.
Finishes chosen for the bay, not only for the photograph.
On a ground floor near the bayou we specify finishes that tolerate water: stone and porcelain floors, cabinetry raised on legs or plinths, outlets and equipment placed with the flood elevation in mind. The rooms still read as calm and warm. The difference is that they recover.
The work
Drawn first. Then built.
Primary bath · Completed
Kitchen · Design
Living room · Furnishings
Primary bath · Render
Detail
One core service, two ways to begin.
Full-Service Interior Design is our core service, for projects that need a developed design and the studio alongside you. Design Day and the Design Consultation are for decisions and direction. It all starts with a twenty-minute introductory call.
Is Snell Isle a historic district?
Not as a whole. The City of St. Petersburg does not list Snell Isle as a local historic district, so interior work needs building permits but no historic review. Individual landmarks exist, such as the Woman’s Club on Snell Isle Boulevard, listed on the National Register in 1994.
Is my house in a flood zone?
It depends on the block. Snell Isle mixes high-risk and moderate-risk flood zones. We look up the zone for your parcel on the FEMA map before anything is designed.
What is the 49% rule?
In St. Petersburg, if the cost of the work reaches 49% of the structure’s market value, the whole house must be brought up to current flood code. We design the scope with your number in hand.
Where do we start?
With a twenty-minute introductory call to understand the project. From there we recommend Full-Service Interior Design, a Design Day or a Design Consultation, whichever fits.