Hilton Home In Seacrest Beach - Paradise By The Sea

Could be wrong but they were suposed to be building a house for their daughter on the property - or so I was told early on.

Could be wrong but they were suposed to be building a house for their daughter on the property - or so I was told early on.

Actually it is their mentally handicapped son.

I toured it two years ago and they were only half way done with the insulation. The contractor at that time said it had been under construction for 10 YEARS!:shock:

I toured it two years ago and they were only half way done with the insulation. The contractor at that time said it had been under construction for 10 YEARS!:shock:

Here's a picture of his last project.

Actually, i was told by the architect that the house has been under construction for so long due to the large amount of other work that the contractor has...or has had the past decade...

If ever completed, this house should be in a movie...like Frank Lloyd Wright's 'Ennis House' on Blade Runner and House on Haunted Hill.

actually, i was told by the architect that the house has been under construction for so long due to the large amount of other work that the contractor has...or has had the past decade...

I heard the same thing.

Well, since he doesn't like turtles, calls them the little critters, I just hope he never gets the lights on.

Well, since he doesn't like turtles, calls them the little critters, I just hope he never gets the lights on.

J-WS6,
Terrific model. Thanks for sharing the images.

hey no problem, i enjoyed doing it.

I agree that the house to the east is way worse and way more out of place than the Hilton House...also cheap construction, with stucco over wood framing, which is a terrible idea anywhere, but especially on the Gulf. That is why they had it wrapped in tarps for so long as they were repairing all the rot. The nice thing about the Hilton House is that will blend in when Alys Beach is built out. It will no longer have a presence from the road, just from the water. If you ever have a chance, take a look at it from a boat. There is not enough beach to get a good view from there, but it really is spectacular when you can "step back" from it on a boat.

As for the WaterSound Idea House, Stephen Tyler did not buy it, though that would be funny. It was a guy named Bill Taylor, from Birmingham that is President and CEO of Merceded Benz US in Alabama.

I agree. I thought the house to the east looked much better while it was wrapped in tarps...

I've never seen the Watersound Idea House. Anyone care to post a picture?

The WaterSound North Idea House is a modular house built by Haven Homes. It is typical glorified "cracker" style.

Typical Southern Living house. They might have a pic and plans on their site. We went through it, and while it was nice and had some good touches, thought it was overpriced

oh ok, i figured with the name "idea" house i figured it would have been something obscure and interesting like the hilton residence..

I think the "idea" house everyone was previously refferring to is the one that is in WaterSound near the gulf. It is currently for sale.

any significant updates on the house? unfortunately, i'm not going to be able to make it over there this summer...

Thanks to everyone for the photos, scale models, and updates


We've been watching that construction for the 10 years it has been under scrutiny and work, and think it is fabulous for the coast and agree wholeheartedly that the one next door is out of place. What about the one further east still that has what looks to be a bird cage or gazebo on the northen end, the whole thing surrounded by a concrete wall now? We've been telling my now 8-year-old son since he was capable of understanding language that that was a "Super Hero" house, probably belonged to the League of Incredibles or some such. At 8 he has turned into a non-believer but loves to tell others about it.
I'd love to see it from the water and plan doing just that in August.
And we're saving now towards buying it in another ten years for, say around, $750,000 on a short sale. LOL.

Charlie's got about 1,000 employees in this area. He can finish the house at any day and hour he would choose to. As for short sale, have you seen what he paid for those oversized gulf front lots that the home sits on?

I understand Paradise to have more linear feet of Beachfront per residential lot than any other neighborhood in Walton County. Is this is a fact?

Charlie's got about 1,000 employees in this area. He can finish the house at any day and hour he would choose to. As for short sale, have you seen what he paid for those oversized gulf front lots that the home sits on?

I understand Paradise to have more linear feet of Beachfront per residential lot than any other neighborhood in Walton County. Is this is a fact?

I think you may have misunderstood, if by he you mean "Charlie". Or maybe I did .

We were relaxing on the beach last week. I was reading this month's Oxford American Magazine which was devoted to houses and housing. Hal Crowther's The Cult of House Worship is a fantastic read. Here is a snippet I will post without further comment:

On the lovely beach west of Panama City, Florida, part of what was once known as the Redneck Riviera and recently as the Emerald Coast, a fifteen-mile hell of reckless development and architectural psychosis is crowned by a stadium-size beach house (built, I was told, by an heir to one of America's famous fortunes) that looks like an alien spaceship crash-landed on the dunes. If its architect didn't subsequently take his own life, he must have been one of the aliens.

I think you may have misunderstood, if by he you mean "Charlie". Or maybe I did .

The way I understood it Doodle sold those lots to Charles Hilton or an entitiy he owns for about 275 each, which is pretty good for huge gulf front lots abutting Alys. Making Paradise lots oversized and delivering value was an important part of Doodle completing the whole transaction from Paradise to Rosemary. I was lucky enough to have talked to Doodle many times about his trips to New York to visit with LUK's exec's and his negotiations. I bet Mickey Whitaker and Bill Smith could write a pretty amazing and educational book about the sub-dividing and development of all that amazing property.

We were relaxing on the beach last week. I was reading this month's Oxford American Magazine which was devoted to houses and housing. Hal Crowther's The Cult of House Worship is a fantastic read. Here is a snippet I will post without further comment:

On the lovely beach west of Panama City, Florida, part of what was once known as the Redneck Riviera and recently as the Emerald Coast, a fifteen-mile hell of reckless development and architectural psychosis is crowned by a stadium-size beach house (built, I was told, by an heir to one of America's famous fortunes) that looks like an alien spaceship crash-landed on the dunes. If its architect didn't subsequently take his own life, he must have been one of the aliens.

Oxford American, worth every penny. I love the annual Southern music issue.




Sorry, though, I don't share Hal's opinion of the Hilton house architecture. IMHO, the psuedo-Georgian mess next door is the turkey.

There's no good reason why we should all have yet another architectural clone of the styles pioneered by Seaside or Rosemary . Or in a few years, after the style catches on, another Alys clone.

There must not be an architectural review committee for that neighborhood based on the wide variety of architectural styles. It is my understanding that the owners of the house next to the Hilton house just wanted that style of architecture, and they had the right to build what they wanted.

Different strokes for different folks.