Up the Stairs to the Master Suite

"Oh, um, we're going upstairs first?" you ask.

Allison laughs as you climb the stairs. "Of course," she says. "This might be where you end up spending most of your time."

At the top of the stairs is a lounge area, with a pool table as its centerpiece, but also several couches and chairs, a few bookshelves, and even a small bar with a few liquor bottles arranged behind it. Large windows look over the pool area; you can now easily see that the pool starts in the courtyard in the middle of this U-shaped house, but then widens; beyond it is a simple wooden fence with a gate leading out to the beach and the Gulf of Mexico.

Allison moves toward a set of double doors as she gestures in the other direction. "That wing," she says, "has three guest bedrooms and a couple bathrooms, but this wing is all yours."

She dramatically throws open the doors and waves for you to step through. You walk into a short hallway, you have to turn right, and you walk into the largest bedroom you've ever seen.

Actually, it's not entirely a bedroom -- there's a small seating area, plus a kitchenette and a dining table, but it's clear that the centerpiece of the room is meant to be the giant bed that's atop a platform a couple of steps high.

You've stopped in your tracks to admire the elegant décor. Allison waits a few moments as you stare, then says, "You might want to turn left, too."

What you discover first is a walk-in closet that must be 15 feet long, wide enough to have items all the way down both side walls -- but it's completely empty. Next to it is a bathroom, mostly done up in marble, that features a shower big enough for a group, and a soaking tub that seems big enough for two shower-size groups. You can already see yourself in the tub, gazing out the adjacent window -- it's on the side of the house, but the curvature of the coastline means you still have a view of the gulf from here.

"What do you think?"Allison's voice breaks you out of your reverie.