by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
Bill Lanni doesn’t just want to build houses - he wants to create a home that will accentuate and utilize the beautiful surroundings that make up Anastasia Dunes near St. Augustine.
“We are really trying to bring the outside of this environment to the house,” said Lanni of Lanai Style Homes. “That’s really what this neighborhood is all about.”
Lanai Style Homes is building on 10 lots in a cul-de-sac in Anastasia Dunes.
Lanni said he is going to build 10 spec homes but feels that buyers may come in and dictate what they want inside of them.
“I’m going to go in there and build specs,” he said, “but what happens is that the place sells so well in St. Augustine Beach that they end up being custom homes. I suppose that will happen to me, too. We are just getting started on our first one.”
Lanni is specializing in old Florida architecture.
“They will have beautiful porches, verandahs, metal roofs and open floor plans,” he said. “I have a lot of experience building old Florida style homes in South Florida. It was always a fun project to build. I love to build those houses. The post and beam construction just works for me. It’s such a warm house, an inviting house. You really can’t date them. It’s a classic Florida architectural design and it’s hard to date them.”
Lanni utilizes Roy Williams of Davanti Architecture to design his houses. The architect does the initial design and then he tweaks the design to some of the things that he wants to do.
“The house is a simple house,” he said. “Where they get their livability is from the design of the floor plan and the nice amenities on the inside of the house like chair rail, crown molding and built-in cabinets. It makes it a warm house and a fun place to be.”
Lanni’s first house will be about 2,723 square feet, have three bedrooms and two baths and will be priced in the low $500,000’s.
Lanai Style Homes is a new venture for Lanni. He opened it a year ago, but has owned Lanni Construction for 14 years.
“Lanai Style Homes is the owner of the property and Lanni Construction is going to build the homes,” he said.
One of those tweaks and unique ideas Lanni has is that all of the houses will have a study in close proximity to the front door.
“Everyone is operating a business out of their house these days,” said Lanni. “So, when you do have a client come in, you don’t want to walk them through your whole house to get to your office.”
Also, the houses will have a detached garage in the back with a covered walkway to it and a large front porch, which lends itself to neighbors getting to know each other.
“Since 9/11, people have more of a sense of community,” said Lanni. “Anastasia Dunes is that type of neighborhood. It provides a sense of security to know who your neighbors are.”
Lanni has been in construction for 23 years. He is a second-generation contractor; his father is also a contractor.
“I used to work with him and it didn’t take long for me to realize I wanted to be in construction management as opposed to pounding nails in the field,” he said.
He knew he wanted to go into construction management so he worked construction during the day and attended college at night.
Lanni feels strongly about education and has taken a lot of courses at many different colleges to get as much experience as he could.
“Most of my construction education is from University of Florida and University of North Florida,” he said. “I think education is extremely important. I still go to school. I’m required with my license to take 14 hours continuing education every two years. Quite honestly, I think that is the least we should do.”
Lanni has a certified general contractors license, so he is unlimited in what he can build.
After college, he proceeded to get out in the field and work in all carpentry trade fields to get the hands on experience he needed to one day open his own company.
“Once I finally worked through a couple different construction companies, I realized I could do this on my own,” said Lanni.
He opened Lanni Construction in 1991. “I built everything from doghouses to high rises in South and Southwest Florida,” said Lanni.
Lanni moved to St. Augustine in 1993 from Naples because he wanted to find a nice place to raise his children.
When he moved here, he focused on single-family homes and some commercial buildings in Putnam County.
“Lanni Construction has done exactly whatever the market was driving at that particular time,” he said. “There were some times when it was heavy into remodeling and other times when they were doing single-family custom homes. When custom homes waned off and commercial picked up, I did commercial buildings.”
The past 10 years, Lanni was the supervisor of general maintenance for the City of St. Augustine.
“We did construction for the City of St. Augustine,” he said. “We replaced curbs and sidewalks. If the city needed some remodeling done, my carpenters and painters did that.”
He retired a year ago to put his full effort into Lanai Style Homes.
“This needs my total dedication to build these custom homes,” he said. “I achieved my 10-year goal to get locked into the retirement. I love the City; it was a fantastic place to work.”
After his project in Anastasia Dunes, Lanni said he would like to purchase more land and do a development with 50-100 lots. He has looked in Duval County, Nassau and Flagler counties as possible locations.
Anastasia Dunes, which is being developed by McGarvey Residential Communities, consists of 138 home sites dotted among 20 acres of conservation areas with easy access to the beach.
Residents will live on home sites in excess of 10,000 square feet, separated only by the majestic oaks, natural dunes, sea oats and wetlands that make up 90 percent of the property.
“I like building projects,” said Lanni. “I like seeing people enjoying something you created. That’s probably what I like most about the whole construction industry, is being able to take something and create something then build it for people to enjoy.”
Lanni has been married to Susan for 20 years. They have two children, Billy, 16, and Morganne, 12.
When he is not working, he enjoys offshore fishing, sailboat racing and bicycling.