Between the terrace and the seawall.

Nobody buys inside this gate for the interior. They buy for the lake at the back of the lot, the Intracoastal frontage, or the short walk across A1A to the Beach Club. So the yard is where the money goes: a covered terrace and summer kitchen behind a house on Cayuga Road, a pool deck and fire feature facing Lake Seneca, a rebuilt dock and lift on the waterway side. Underground utilities and mature canopy make these Sea Ranch Lakes yards look effortless, which is precisely why work in them has to be planned rather than improvised.

Exterior projects answer to more desks than interior ones. Structures, paving and utilities are permitted through the Village office. The code keeps pools and patios at least five feet off the rear lot line, holds any fence or hedge within 15 feet of the mean water line to three feet, requires 30 percent of the lot to remain pervious, and permits no accessory buildings at all. Docks and piers on the Intracoastal side require plans approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; on the interior lakes, docks, piers and boathouses are not permitted. Broward County has its own say on seawall and marine work.

We build outdoors to indoor standards, because salt air audits everything. Gas, water and electrical for a summer kitchen get permitted and inspected instead of run under a paver. Pergola and trellis footings are engineered for High-Velocity Hurricane Zone wind loads. Metals are specified for coastal exposure, stone is sealed, and the terrace is pitched to send a South Florida downpour away from the house. Driveways meet the private street cleanly and drain to the swale. Fixed written scope, daily supervision, and a job site the neighbors never have to notice.