Building the Samana Residence, Start to Finish
From an empty Coconut Grove lot to a finished 3,227 square foot home: how the Samana Residence went up, phase by phase, built and finished start to finish by the same family behind every Luxom home.
Luxom Studio · LUXOM Developments
· 6 min read · Last reviewed
Key takeaways
- The clip compresses an empty Coconut Grove lot into a finished 3,227 square foot home in seconds. The real sequence ran across site work, structure, systems and finishes, coordinated by the same team from day one.
- Samana is a single storey pavilion, so its structural shell answers to Miami-Dade's wind and flood code the same way a two storey house does, just without a second floor to hide the coordination in.
- The stone and wood palette, light travertine, white oak, brushed brass and Calacatta marble, was locked in design, months before a single tile went on a wall.
- The pool sits in a continuous travertine plinth that wraps three sides of the house, built on the same schedule as the rest of the home, not added after the fact. Its own build diary covers that phase in full.
- One family designing, building and finishing every wall is what let thirteen separate spaces, from the foyer to the fire pit lounge, read as one finished home in the reveal instead of a house assembled from separate contracts.
From the build
The clip we posted of 70 Samana Dr compresses an empty Coconut Grove lot into a finished home in the time it takes to scroll past it. This is Samana, and every wall and every detail in that clip was built and finished by the same family behind Luxom. Here is what actually happened between the empty lot and the house in that last frame.
Site work and foundation on a Coconut Grove lot come before the house exists on paper
Every Luxom build starts with site work and foundation on a Coconut Grove lot, not the structure, and Samana was no different. At 70 Samana Dr, that meant surveying the lot, confirming setbacks, tree canopy rules and drainage against what a single storey, 3,227 square foot pavilion would actually require, then staking the footprint before an excavator ever showed up. Coconut Grove's tree canopy protections and lot coverage rules run stricter than most Miami neighborhoods, so a footprint that reads simple in a finished photo usually took real negotiation on paper first.
Clearing and grading come next, and it is the shortest phase of the whole sequence relative to how much screen time it gets in a timelapse. A cleared, graded and staked residential lot in Coconut Grove typically comes together in days once permits clear, which is exactly why it reads as the fastest cut in the clip: it is the fastest phase in real life too.
The structural shell and framing against Florida Building Code shape the design first
A single storey home like Samana can look simple next to a two level residence, but its structural shell and framing against Florida Building Code answer to the same wind load and impact standards that any home in a high velocity hurricane zone like Miami-Dade County has to meet. The covered terraces that wrap three sides of the pavilion, the floor to ceiling glass that opens the living spaces to the garden, and the flat roofline that gives Samana its Modern Tropical profile all had to be engineered before the design could be built the way it was drawn.
That means the parts of the house that make it feel open and effortless in a finished photo, the glazing, the deep overhangs, the continuous terrace, are structurally some of the most engineered elements in it. The concrete and steel frame gets reviewed and inspected in stages before finishes go anywhere near it, and that review is a real driver of schedule, not a formality.
Permitting and architectural review in Coconut Grove set the real pace of the schedule
Permitting and architectural review in Coconut Grove is where a project either stays on schedule or loses months, and it happens well before framing shows up in any clip. Every structural, mechanical, electrical and plumbing set for Samana had to clear plan review against Miami-Dade's wind load, flood elevation and impact glazing requirements before a permit was issued, and each major phase after that, foundation, structural shell, rough in, was inspected again before the next one could start. That review cycle is not a footnote. On a single storey house with this much glass and this much outdoor program, it is one of the biggest levers on how long the whole sequence actually takes.
Interior finishes: travertine, white oak, Calacatta marble, brushed brass get decided months before installation
Samana's interior finishes: travertine, white oak, Calacatta marble, brushed brass, alongside matte plaster on the walls, were chosen during design, not on site during finishing. Calacatta marble anchors the kitchen island and the bathrooms while the warm timber softens the open living volumes. It is a calm, tightly held palette on purpose: fewer materials, chosen with more intention, read as quieter luxury than a house trying to show off every finish it can afford.
That sequencing matters because specialty stone and imported millwork carry lead times measured in weeks, sometimes months, and those lead times are frequently what stretches a project's calendar, not the framing or concrete work most people picture when they think about construction taking time. Ordering Calacatta marble the week it is needed is how a finish schedule slips. Ordering it during design, with the rest of the palette already locked, is how it does not.
Outdoor living: pool deck, gazebo, fire pit lounge went up on the same schedule, not after
Samana's outdoor living: pool deck, gazebo, fire pit lounge and outdoor kitchen, set into a continuous travertine plinth that wraps three sides of the house, was never a separate project dropped in once the house was done. It ran on the same permit set and the same site logistics as the interior, which is what let the whole ground floor open into the yard as one continuous space in the finished house rather than a home with a patio added on later. The pool phase alone, from excavation through the first fill, is its own build diary: see how the Samana pool went from excavation to a finished turquoise pool for that sequence in full.
Pull quote
Every wall and every detail at Samana was built and finished by the same family. Nothing was handed off in between.
Thirteen spaces come together floor by floor, then all at once in the reveal
Samana's program spans thirteen spaces on one level: a foyer, family room, kitchen, living and dining rooms, a primary suite and three additional bedrooms, all opening onto covered terraces that wrap the pavilion on three sides. Each of those spaces was framed, wired, plumbed and finished on the same overall schedule, so nothing in the house was waiting on anything else by the time the finishes went in.
That is the part a timelapse cannot really show: not the individual phases, which are visible enough in the footage, but the coordination that keeps a foyer, a primary suite, a gazebo and a pool deck all finishing in the same window instead of trickling in one room at a time over months. This is why one family handling design, build and finish changes the outcome on a project like this: the empty lot to finished home cut works as a clip because the build behind it was run as one project by one family, not a dozen separate contracts sharing an address.
If you want the fuller version of this sequence, our guide to building a custom luxury home in Miami, start to finish walks the general phases Samana followed, and how the Ingraham Residence went up, start to finish shows the same empty lot to finished home format applied to a different Coconut Grove home. To see Samana alongside Luxom's other Coconut Grove work, visit Coconut Grove's four Luxom residences, watch the full timelapse on Instagram, or reach out through contact to talk through what a build like this looks like on your own lot.
Pull quote
Every wall and every detail at Samana was built and finished by the same family. Nothing was handed off in between.
Filed under
Questions about luxury home construction Coconut Grove Miami
01How long does it take to build a custom luxury home in Miami from an empty lot to move-in?
A custom home at this scale in Coconut Grove typically runs well over a year from land to move in once design, engineering, permitting and construction are counted together, a range our guide to building a custom luxury home in Miami, start to finish breaks down phase by phase. Samana followed that same order: design and engineering first, then permitting against Miami-Dade's code, then the structural build, then the finishes that took it from a shell to the home in the timelapse. It was completed in 2022.
02What makes building in Coconut Grove different from other Miami neighborhoods?
Coconut Grove carries tree canopy and lot coverage protections that are stricter than most Miami neighborhoods, so a footprint that looks simple in a finished photo usually took real negotiation on paper first. Add Florida's Building Code wind load and flood elevation requirements for high velocity hurricane zones in Miami-Dade County, and a Coconut Grove lot demands more upfront engineering than the same square footage almost anywhere else in the region.
03What are the main phases of building a home like Samana from an empty lot?
The sequence stays consistent even when the design changes. Site survey, clearing and grading come first, followed by foundation and the structural shell, reviewed against Miami-Dade's code before framing continues. Plumbing, electrical and mechanical rough in follow while the walls are still open, then the stone, wood and plaster finishes go on last, along with the pool and outdoor rooms. Each phase has to pass inspection before the next one starts, which is what actually paces a build, not the framing most people picture when they think about construction taking time.
04Does having one family design, build and finish a home change the outcome versus hiring separate firms?
Yes, mainly in coordination. When the same team designs the layout, builds the structure and installs the finishes, decisions like where a plumbing line runs or which stone ships first get made once, by people who already know the rest of the plan. At Samana that meant the pool, the gazebo, the fire pit lounge and the interior finishes were never separate contracts waiting on each other. They were on the same schedule from the first drawing, which is why the reveal in the clip reads as one finished home instead of rooms bolted on over time.
05What is actually inside the Samana Residence?
Samana is a 4 bedroom, 4.5 bathroom, 3,227 square foot single storey pavilion at 70 Samana Dr in Coconut Grove, organized across thirteen spaces: a foyer, family room, kitchen, living and dining rooms, a primary suite and three additional bedrooms, all opening onto covered terraces that wrap three sides of the house. Outside, a gazebo with its own outdoor kitchen, a fire pit lounge and a pool set into a continuous travertine plinth complete the program. See the full floor plan and gallery on the Samana Residential project page.
06What materials define the Samana Residence?
The palette is light travertine, white oak, brushed brass and matte plaster, a calm material story tuned to Miami's light rather than a house full of competing finishes. Calacatta marble anchors the kitchen island and the bathrooms, while the warm timber softens the open living volumes. None of those choices were made on site. They were locked during design, because imported stone and specialty millwork carry lead times that move a finish schedule more than the framing does.
07Can you actually watch the Samana build, not just read about it?
Yes. The full empty lot to finished home sequence is posted as a timelapse on Instagram, and this article walks the phases the clip compresses into seconds. For the backyard and pool side of the same build, see how the Samana pool went from excavation to a finished turquoise pool, or reach out through contact to talk through what a build like this looks like on your own lot.
Explore the portfolio
Projects to see
Talk to the studio
If this belongs in your home, our studio will draw the plan.
Initial conversation, 30 minutes. We listen to the brief and respond with a scoped proposal within five working days. You can also read the services page for typical timelines and fees.
Written by Luxom Studio · LUXOM Developments
The design and development studio behind LUXOM residences in Coconut Grove, Miami
Keep reading
From the journal
Development · Aug 1, 2026 · 6 min
Building the Backyard Pool at Samana, Start to Finish
From excavation to a brim full turquoise pool: how the backyard at our Samana Residence in Coconut Grove came together, phase by phase, on the same schedule as the rest of the build.
Development · Aug 1, 2026 · 6 min
Building the Ingraham Residence, Start to Finish
From an empty Coconut Grove lot to a finished 8,197 square foot home: how the Ingraham Residence went up, phase by phase, the same way every Luxom home does, start to finish.
Development · Jul 23, 2026 · 4 min
Building a custom luxury home in Miami, start to finish
What it takes to build a custom luxury home in Miami, from land and design through permitting and finish. The real sequence, the local constraints, and where a builder earns their keep.