Most people who move here from up north arrive with two things: a truck full of furniture chosen for a different house, and a list of neighborhoods someone forwarded them. This is the version I’d give a friend. How each part of Fort Lauderdale actually lives, and what that means for the home you’re about to set up.
Las Olas is the city’s main street. Restaurants, galleries, the Riverwalk along the New River, and boats going by behind the houses on the Isles. People choose it because they want to walk to dinner and still come home to the water. For dinner, I’d start with Louie Bossi Ristorante, Italian right on the boulevard.
Homes range from older condo buildings with good bones to new towers along the river, plus waterfront houses on the Isles. For the home, that usually means planning for people: these places get hosted in, so the living room and the balcony matter as much as the view. More on my Las Olas page.
Just north of Las Olas, Victoria Park is tree-lined streets, single-family homes and newer townhouses, close enough to walk downtown. It feels like a neighborhood, which is the whole point. And for something less expected, Larb Thai Isan is a short drive north: a Thai spot in a strip mall that made the Michelin Guide.
Here the house opens to the outside. The backyard and patio get used most of the year, so they deserve the same thought as the living room. More on my Victoria Park page.
Wilton Drive is the heart of Fort Lauderdale’s gay community: restaurants, bars, and a crowd that actually knows each other. Start the night at Apt 9F, a cocktail bar styled like a New York apartment, which feels about right for half the people who move here. Homes are mostly single-family houses and smaller condo buildings, many updated and some still waiting for it.
People here tend to entertain small and often. Seating that faces each other and a kitchen that holds a few friends matter more than a formal dining room. More on my Wilton Manors page.
High-rise living, with the ocean on one side and the Intracoastal on the other. New towers keep adding residences, and the older buildings along the beach have great views and interiors ready for an update. For a long dinner steps from the sand, Evelyn’s at the Four Seasons does Mediterranean and is recognized by Michelin.
On the beach the biggest design question is light. The sun off the water changes how every color and finish reads, which I wrote about here. More on my Fort Lauderdale Beach page.
The furniture that worked up north usually looks heavy here. Dark wood, wool rugs and thick drapery read differently in brighter light and rooms that open to the outside. Some pieces should come with you. Most shouldn’t.
Everything in the house also has to handle humidity, salt air and strong sun, including what you buy new. And the outdoor space stops being a seasonal extra. It’s a room you’ll use most of the year.
Plenty of people who move here keep a place somewhere else, at least at first. I handle the design while you’re away, with presentations over video, so you can make decisions from wherever you are. More on my second-home page.
When you’re ready, start with a discovery call.
