A Milestone Moment

A BOHEME Design Celebrates 15 Years

By Jordan Staggs | Photography courtesy of A BOHEME Design

Born during a tumultuous time as the 2008 recession ravaged the economy, a Gulf Coast-based architectural firm stands out from the crowd with a sophisticated eye and a modern yet versatile style to fit any client’s needs. The founding principals of A BOHEME Design, Darrell Russell and Jonathan Hampel, excel at creating homes by the coast that are not your typical “coastal” style. Their impressive portfolio boasts Miami Beach mansions, bayfront family retreats, gorgeous luxury homes on the Gulf of Mexico, and, most recently, the firm’s new office space in Inlet Beach, Florida.

Russell, who worked in a larger firm based in Memphis, spent a lot of time in the early 2000s around the coastal area along Scenic Highway 30-A in Northwest Florida, as one of the firm’s primary clients was The St. Joe Company. He decided to open an office in Rosemary Beach in 2003 to accommodate time spent with that developer and other clients in the region. At the time of the recession, Russell’s firm unfortunately had to close offices around the Southeast and lay off around 150 people, he says. “Jonathan was the last employee I had in Rosemary Beach,” Russell recalls, “and I remember I was going to have to close that office and lay him off—I had been spending a lot of time already in Orlando at our Celebration office. It was the summer of 2009 when we really started to feel the effects of the recession more in this area. I was told I had to drop our clients here, close the Rosemary office by July 31, and go work in Orlando.”

Like many beautiful things born out of adversity, A BOHEME Design came to fruition.

Because the Orlando market was not thriving as well as 30-A, Russell decided to split from his old firm, and he and Hampel formed A BOHEME. “I was terrified,” Russell admits. “It was the worst time to start a business—not to mention an architecture business because the industry was hit hard. But we did. We worked hard, cut our corporate billing rates real fast, lots of people prayed, and we made it.”

Branching out with a smaller boutique firm presented new opportunities for Russell and Hampel to be more creative, lean into their passions, and work with clients looking for a luxury custom residence different from others in the area.

“In a larger firm, it’s very much the business of architecture; it’s practice, but the bottom line really matters. You have to follow a formula to try to reach a minimum profit,” Russell explains. “To me, the practice of architecture is about synergy, passion, and time. You need the option of spending the time to get it right, especially with a residential project, which is what we focus on. In the former firm, we did all kinds of huge projects—my architectural seal is on most Town Center buildings in WaterColor, for example. With A BOHEME, we have the option to spend the time it takes to get the project outcome to be what we want for our clients.”

The New Urbanism communities in Northwest Florida, including Alys Beach, Seaside, WaterColor, and Rosemary Beach, to name a few, have drawn affluent second-home owners to the Gulf Coast since Seaside began in the early 1980s. Today, as A BOHEME celebrates fifteen years in business, most of their works in progress are in the pristine Gulf-front community of Alys Beach. Still, the past decade-and-a-half has seen the firm complete projects across Florida and beyond, including in Miami and Anguilla.

“We are busy in Alys Beach right now,” Hampel expounds. “It’s a fun community to work in because of the details you get to design on these homes. The codes and the lots can make things more difficult, but the incredible details are what make these homes stand out and make them so luxurious. It’s the carving of all the concrete work. A column never just gets poured straight in Alys; it’s got chamfered edges and base details—there’s a lot of that.”

Although the planned communities around 30-A have strict architectural codes and often present limited space for designers to work with, Hampel says that even when working within the confines of what a community and a client expect, homes here still offer opportunities to get creative. “You’re also trying to subtly reinvent something in the details with each project in Alys Beach, Rosemary, or WaterColor.” Hampel is also one of the town planners for Carillon Beach, a nearby New Urbanism community on the Gulf in Panama City Beach’s west end. He says that being intricately involved with the growth of that community off and on since around 2007 has shown him that the area’s potential is still being realized. Although many homes might start to look the same in these neighborhoods, he says the design and build quality are increasing exponentially year after year. “It’s all about letting the community grow and mature in a responsible way, and hopefully, the product going in gets better as you go. Whether in Rosemary, Alys, Carillon, or any of those, if you look at the original houses versus now, today’s houses are going to be bigger. It’s the same thing you see on any Gulf-front lot—everyone’s first question is, ‘How many square feet can I fit on it?’ Many people look at homes here from a real estate standpoint. I think our job as architects is to explain to them that yes, square footage is important, but you can also look at why one house might get more square footage of usable space than another, and that’s where good design comes in.”

One example of good design in action is A BOHEME’s latest project, which is near and dear to its founding partners’ hearts: the firm’s new office in Inlet Beach, Florida.

The office’s eclectic mix of modern and traditional is a perfect example of A BOHEME’s design philosophy and versatility. Just as they love working with homeowners to create residences that are uniquely aesthetic and functional for the occupants’ ideal lifestyle, the office shows off that bohemian creative spirit with a modern sensibility.

“We’ve hit that fifteen-year mark, and it’s refreshing to start with something new in a new space,” says Hampel. “It keeps our energy new and fresh as we move into a new home.” The office itself is a little larger than the firm’s previous spot at 30Avenue, and the team completely retrofitted it for their needs with two offices, a kitchen, a conference room, a main working room, and a lofted area perfect for design samples and storage. The entryway is located in the building’s breezeway, and Hampel had the idea of creating an entry facade to emulate an old European storefront. Unique wave-like wall paneling accentuates the lobby and invites visitors inside, where antique timber beams frame the space and hold the storage area aloft, creating a mix of wood details and textures that again juxtapose contemporary and bohemian styles.

“We came in here, and I kept thinking we needed more square footage,” Russell says. “Jonathan had the idea of putting a mezzanine in, and then he mentioned seeing some engineering offices that were timber-framed with contemporary interiors. That’s what started this notion of how to make the space work—it really started with the idea of installing the mezzanine for storage. Honestly, timber framing would never have crossed my mind, nor would the mezzanine. But it evolved from there, with a supplier in Ohio called Triple B helping us source the beautiful old timber you see framing the office now, alongside the Spinneybeck white oak ‘pleat’ wall in the entryway.”

He continues, “I really liked the idea of this yin and yang of old and new white oak in juxtaposition. That evolved when I saw another image where a designer used black accents with white oak, so we went with that accent color for a more contemporary contrast in materials. All the timbers are structural and really do support the mezzanine and other parts of the office—they’re not just decoration.”

In addition to principals Russell and Hampel, the A BOHEME team comprises about ten full-time employees in the Inlet Beach office and one remote employee. After working with the bigger company and personally managing around thirty-five team members, Russell says around a dozen is the optimal size for a boutique firm. “I said when I came to the beach that if the office ever needed more than twelve people, it wasn’t for me,” he shares. “And at this point in my life, I just want to do creative work. There are a lot of challenges in this profession that we’ve never had before, dealing with the volatility of construction costs and the difficulty with finding and keeping good labor forces. Those things can take a lot of the enjoyment out of the job, so we need more of the creative side to offset that.”

Like many beautiful things born out of adversity, A BOHEME Design came to fruition.

Looking back on the past fifteen years in business and the legacy they are building, Russell and Hampel agree they want to continue doing great work for clients along the Florida coast and do what they can to leave a mark on great design around the 30-A area in particular. Creating an architectural firm with a solid reputation and brand recognition has been a crucial part of their growth, and having the new office reflect that brand was part of their mission when outfitting it. Working within the community and helping its growth in a responsible manner is also important, especially as Walton County expands with more development between Santa Rosa Beach and DeFuniak Springs.

“It sounds a little cliché, but we want to leave the place better than we found it and leave a good mark on the community,” Hampel explains. “Working with the community is important—I’m on the county DRB, for example. I want to help guide development on Highway 98 in any way possible, and it’s good to have design professionals on that board. That work isn’t always creative or fun when we’re often dealing with monument signage, colors, materials, and that sort of thing. But when someone drives down 98, I’d like them to experience a nicely developed community and notice that our strip of beach differs from the surrounding areas.”

Russell’s philosophy on great design and the legacy he wants to leave is all about helping people live their best lives in the homes A BOHEME creates for them. “My passion is helping people enjoy living in their space. We do the best we can to solve their design problems by finding out what they like and don’t like and helping them enjoy their lives a little more, thanks to the architectural experience they get to have every day. I have come to terms with the fact it may all get bulldozed someday. That’s OK because it was designed for an individual or individuals. If we helped the people we designed it for, that’s what matters.”

Real estate changes hands, of course—especially in a busy market like the Northwest Florida Gulf Coast. The A BOHEME team sometimes gets pulled back in by new owners when they purchase a home that the firm designed but want to make changes. “We joke sometimes that everybody we do anything for sells it and makes a lot of money,” Russell laughs. “But it’s really fun when somebody buys something we designed for someone else and loves it even more than the first person did. That feels good.”

Hampel agrees, adding, “You never want to see one of your projects torn down, of course, but that seems to be how the market goes sometimes. This area treats anything built more than ten years ago as old. But I’ve never seen one of our houses torn down, so I guess that’s a good sign. I’ve never seen one even go through a major renovation, which is also nice. I think it at least tells us that even if an owner is doing cosmetic work, the space was laid out well.”

Some current projects A BOHEME is excited about include a new residence on Scenic Highway 30-A for a client who wanted a colorful, whimsical vacation home and another client whose residence was designed around a decade ago but never realized until now. “They never built it for a lot of reasons, and now, ten years later, they’re ready,” Russell shares. “It’s really interesting because ten years of life have gone by, and that house isn’t exactly what they need anymore, so we’re redesigning it to meet their needs now. They kept their land, and the house is similar, but we’re making ten years’ worth of life changes. A decade ago, their grandkids didn’t exist—things like that. They know now how they want to live in this house.”

One example of good design in action is A BOHEME’s latest project, which is near and dear to its founding partners’ hearts: the firm’s new office in Inlet Beach, Florida.

Jonathan adds that this case is unique but exciting to work on, as the clients have also learned a lot about what they want in a house from building one in Texas in the meantime. But it all comes down to working with them to meet their current lifestyle and needs. “They learned what works for them and how they want to use their space, and we get to take that and create something they will hopefully love for years and that their kids and grandkids will love too.”

Whether designing a Tuscan-style villa on the Gulf, an expansive retreat on the bay, or an artistic oasis in Miami, the A BOHEME Design team has helped people live the optimal life they want in their homes for fifteen years and looks forward to many more projects in Northwest Florida and beyond.

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Visit ABOHEME.com to learn more or book a consultation, and follow them on Instagram @abohemedesign to see more projects.