Wednesday, May 30, 2007

The owners of this Florida Keys Green home won the 2005 Sustainable Florida WCI Green Building Award for their efforts to build a home with limited impact in one of the world’s most environmentally sensitive areas. Neighborhood Description Coral Coast is a small gated community on the Gulf side of the island of Key Largo near Mile Marker 97. It consists of 15 residential properties of one acre each. The entire area is considered a high quality hardwood hammock with many tropical hardwood trees such as lignum vitae, ironwood, soldierwood, buttonwood and mahogany as well as gumbo limbo, mangrove and many other protected species. Coral Coast and the surrounding areas are also part of a migrating bird flyway. All of the properties are required to keep 80% of the area as a natural preserve. It is not unusual to see hawks, osprey, herons and other wading birds including roseate spoonbills. Manatee and Atlantic bottlenose dolphin are regular visitors. The clear bay waters are home to soft corals, seagrasses and a huge assortment of tropical fish. An ideal way to observe them is by kayak. Just one hour south of Miami sits Key Largo, home to North America's only living coral reef and John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. Snorkeling and diving the reef off the Keys is an unforgettable experience