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Camphomes is rethinking development from the ground up. The design-build studio, founded in 2020, crafts precision-made homes with quality materials that complement their exact location, manufactured off-site for places traditional construction can’t reach — mountains, islands, and remote terrain that’s difficult to access or build on. Each residence is designed for its climate and surroundings, honed for an indoor-outdoor lifestyle, and often finished throughout in teak, a material chosen for both its timeless aesthetic and its low-maintenance durability. The wood carries through walls, ceilings, and built-ins alike, imbuing every space with a quiet, biophilic calm. Design and build are managed start to finish by a single team that controls everything from first sketch to final joint. Camphomes’ debut project was just unveiled on Bainbridge Island’s Rolling Bay, with more homes already underway in Costa Rica, Montana, and along Australia’s Sunshine Coast. Exclusively represented by Mark Middleton, Managing Partner at The Agency Bainbridge Island and Port Townsend, Camphomes’ 4,191-square-foot residence at 10147 NE Roberts Road is built in conversation with the landscape that surrounds it. “Every wall, cabinet, and light fixture was designed as one unified composition from the very first sketch,” Middleton says. “That’s what sets this home apart. Nothing was an afterthought. It was conceived whole, then built to that vision by the best craftsmen in the trade.” Wrapped in teak wood, the home’s interiors reveal post-and-beam framing overhead and hand-crafted millwork throughout. It’s the kind of detail that only comes from treating architecture and interior as a single discipline, not two separate phases. Asked what buyers notice first, Middleton points to the home’s thoughtful layout and how it brings the outdoors in. “Most homes are a single box with rooms carved out of it. This one takes the box apart. Spaces for living, sleeping, gathering are each their own element, connected with architectural glass, so the surrounding nature isn’t something you look at through a window; it’s something you move through on your way to breakfast. That’s real indoor-outdoor living. And buyers feel it here in the first minute.” That feeling comes from focus. Camphomes completes only a handful of residences a year, none of them repeated. This approach is in deliberate contrast to typical high-production build firms, which typically lock in a window size, floor plan, or material because it’s efficient to repeat, not because it’s actually best for every room or eventual location. The home at 10147 NE Roberts Road was built for exactly where it is. “Every dimension was made for this site and this light,” Middleton says. “You can’t see that on a spec sheet, but you feel it after about ninety seconds of walking around.” “Camphomes is changing the ethos,” adds Mauricio Umansky, a partner of Camphomes. “Each deliberate detail creates a deeper connection to the land and surroundings, and to the heart of what makes a home—a place to gather, connect, and feel grounded.” Opting for unity over uniformity is equally evident in the home’s details. Every wall, cabinet, and light fixture was designed as one holistic composition, “folded into the architecture with no visible seam between.” It’s a level of integration Middleton says is literally built to last. “Most new construction here, even at the high end, is still 2x4s and drywall, and that product rarely looks relevant for more than a decade,” Middleton explains. “This home is built to stay architecturally relevant for a hundred years or more. Over that same century, a conventional house might be torn down and rebuilt three times.” He’s candid about the economics, too. Middleton says achieving this quality through a conventional builder-and-architect team would run “$1,200 to $1,500 a square foot,” plus another “$500,000 to $600,000 minimum in architectural fees.” Even then, he says, “it likely still wouldn’t be as cohesive” as what Camphomes delivered. “This first home on Bainbridge is one-of-a-kind. It would be hard to replicate it at twice the price, all things considered.” So what does it actually take to guide a home’s entire journey, from concept to final walk-through, with no handoffs along the way? We spoke with Camphomes founder Chris Marlett and architect Matthew Falkiner to understand the philosophy behind their debut build, and what’s to come. You’re scaling from four homes a year toward forty by 2028. What do you want to carry forward into every home, regardless of location? Marlett: Everything we build is post-and-beam modern, and that’s a conviction, not a preference. It’s the only truly enduring, authentic architecture in this country — the great post-and-beam homes of the 1950s are still standing, still look right, and will keep standing, while nearly everything else has proven transient or trendy. That’s the constant. So is the team: concept through install, same people, every geography. Falkiner: And within that language there’s enormous room to respond to site and climate. On Bainbridge we’re warming the outdoor spaces and pulling light in. On a Hawaiian beach we’re doing the opposite — keeping rooms light, airy, and cool. That alone drives different design choices and different finishes, sometimes very different homes. What never gets compromised is the biophilic core: we envelope people in natural wood rather than manufactured materials like drywall. That’s the thing that lowers your blood pressure and holds you in a calm space, and it travels to every geography we build in. With backgrounds in furniture-making and hospitality design, what did those crafts teach you about how a home should feel to live in, day to day, season to season? Marlett: Furniture doesn’t forgive imprecision. A drawer that’s a millimeter off — you feel it every day, whether or not you can name it. Housing tolerates that kind of failure as a matter of course. We never adopted tolerance. We kept building to furniture standards and happened to end up building houses. Falkiner: Hospitality taught me to design for a full day, not a square-footage number. A great hotel suite performs at seven in the morning and again at nine at night. We design for how a home holds up across a season — where the winter sun lands, how a room feels when it’s raining and you’re staying in — not just how it photographs. You keep design, engineering, fabrication, and craft entirely in-house. What does that closeness make possible that a more divided process couldn’t? Marlett: A design decision and a fabrication constraint get resolved in the same room, the same day — instead of getting flattened by change orders between firms that were never really talking to each other. That’s where most new construction loses its intention: one approved substitution at a time. Falkiner: Total cohesion. Every wall, cabinet, and light fixture is resolved as a single design, because the people shaping the architecture and the people building the interiors are the same team. Most homes are a box that gets fitted out afterward. Ours never pass through that stage — and that unity is what people feel and can’t quite name. What’s a detail people are most surprised by when they walk through one of your homes for the first time? Marlett: How quiet the homes are. A mass timber envelope outperforms most site-built construction, and it’s usually the first thing a guest notices. You watch people lower their voices without meaning to. Falkiner: That nothing reads as applied. People ask what was original to the design and what was added afterward, and the honest answer is always the same: nothing was added afterward. It was all resolved together, from the beginning. To learn more, visit Camphomes.com. And for an inside look at 10147 NE Roberts Road, their debut build, visit TheAgencyBainbridgeIsland.com. Photos by Andrew Pogue and Caleb Melvin The post Camphomes Debuts Its First Precision-Made Residence on Bainbridge Island appeared first on The Agency Journal.

More than $1B in new development is bringing fresh attention to Steamboat Springs, a close-knit mountain town beloved for its authentic natural beauty, world-class year-round recreation, and everyday livability. The Agency’s Chris Paoli, Managing Partner of The Agency Steamboat Springs, shares what’s driving demand now, how current limited inventory is shaping the market, and what buyers should understand about this pivotal moment. What’s driving buyer interest in Steamboat Springs right now, and how has that changed over the past few years? Buyers are driven by the lifestyle. It’s a year-round recreation playground set in an authentic small mountain town. With 12,000 full-time residents, world-class skiing, biking, fishing, hiking, and more, it’s a lifestyle most people dream about. With a large population of young families, another big driver is being near grandchildren. While we are not technically a blue zone, a regular comment is how people age differently here than in most areas of the country. Our lifestyle is active and for many, health-focused. With over $1 billion in new development underway, how is that growth shaping local property values and buyer expectations? Most of the development is at our resort base, where multiple properties are zoned for high-density development. The reality of Steamboat is it’s a great place to live. With brands like Auberge and Discovery Land Company bringing more awareness to town, it’s inevitable more people will want to call it home and own real estate here. Most of town is out of developable land, so we will see more competition for our existing home inventory. Who’s buying in Steamboat right now — and what are they typically looking for? Our typical buyer is a family with school-age children or about-to-retire individuals looking for a fun place to draw older children back to visit. Compared to other vacation towns, Steamboat is one of the easiest to live in. Recreation is very convenient; we have great schools, a board-certified hospital (UC Health), grocery stores, 3 golf courses, an amazing tennis and pickleball facility, along with a thriving arts community. How does Steamboat’s character and lifestyle set it apart from other U.S. mountain resort markets buyers might be considering? We are first an authentic town with families that live and work locally. The energy from young children moving about town, riding bikes to school, playing soccer or skiing at Howelsen Hill adds an energy rarely found in an expensive resort community. On top of all of the everyday amenities mentioned above, and you have a special place to call home. Are there any regions or neighborhoods seeing increased buyer interest today? What’s appealing about them? Steamboat has a diverse real estate market. Unlike most, the majority of options are within 10 miles of downtown and the resort. Of course, the most in-demand locations are downtown and the base area where all of the new development is concentrated. As you step away from these core locations, the options become driven by personal interests. For example, if you are a fisherman looking for a family playground, Marabou Ranch on the west side of downtown is the easy choice. If you are a golfer with friends at Catamount, you might pick the south side of downtown where there are 3 golf courses within a 5-mile distance. A big positive for various communities is a ski area base club. Both Alpine Mountain Ranch and Marabou Ranch have luxury clubs at the ski resort. What do you think someone considering a purchase in Steamboat should know before they start looking? Steamboat lives very differently than many places in the country or world. Our world-class recreation starts close to our town center vs outside the core area. For example, you can access 50 miles of mountain bike and hiking trails from downtown without driving a car. National forest access is 10 minutes from downtown. I would think about your favorite activities and learn about how I can position myself to conveniently access them. Unlike areas where I grew up on the East Coast, where it was all about your backyard, Steamboat is like one big backyard. Where do you see the market heading over the next few years? And what makes now a pivotal moment to buy or invest? In my opinion, Steamboat was lagging the rest of the country in market strength pre-pandemic. The post-COVID bump we saw just got us to where we should have been price-wise. Our market is a tough one to make money on spec construction, which will cap our new inventory growth outside of the ultra-luxury properties. We will see continued demand for existing homes, especially well done ones, and the start of a teardown-and-redevelopment cycle, which will define our future. When houses become land value, the market takes on a new perspective, price-wise. Ready to see what’s available in Steamboat Springs? Connect with Chris Paoli and The Agency Steamboat Springs to find the home that fits your vision. The post Mountain Marvel: Why Steamboat Springs’ Real Estate Market is Gaining Momentum appeared first on The Agency Journal.

With its extraordinary coastline, unspoiled landscapes and charming Italian character, Sardinia has a lot of appeal. And global buyers are following their bliss, seeking homes across the island—not simply as seasonal escapes, but as long-term investments, family retreats and bases for experiencing Italy and Europe. Salvatore Baldinu, Managing Partner of The Agency Sardinia, shares what’s driving demand, which areas are attracting attention and what international buyers should know before purchasing. What’s driving international buyer interest in Sardinia right now? Where are buyers coming from and what about Sardinia appeals to them? International interest in Sardinia has grown significantly in recent years because the island brings together, in one destination, everything today’s buyers are looking for: natural beauty, privacy, safety, authenticity, quality of life and long-term investment value. Demand comes primarily from Germany, Switzerland, France, the United Kingdom and Northern Europe, while interest from North American buyers is also growing rapidly, supported by seasonal direct flights between New York JFK and Olbia. What truly sets Sardinia apart is the opportunity to experience an authentic Italian lifestyle within an extraordinary natural setting of iconic beaches, crystal-clear waters and largely unspoiled landscapes. This is complemented by exceptional food and wine, charming villages and human-scale towns, as well as world-renowned destinations such as the Costa Smeralda, with its marinas, yachting, golf and internationally recognized luxury lifestyle. For this reason, buyers are no longer simply looking for a holiday home, but for a Mediterranean pied-à-terre where they can spend quality time with their families and establish a base for Italy and Europe. They want a property they can personally enjoy that, when not in use, can also generate rental income and maintain or increase its value over time. A beach on Budelli Island in northern Sardinia What do you think international buyers should know before purchasing property on the island? The Sardinian real estate market is very diverse, and understanding the local nuances is essential. Each area has its own character, from exclusive coastal destinations to charming inland villages, and the right choice depends on the buyer’s lifestyle goals, investment objectives, and expectations. International buyers should also understand the importance of working with local experts who know the legal, technical, and administrative aspects of purchasing property in Italy. Due diligence is key—verifying documentation, planning regulations, renovation possibilities, and local restrictions ensures a smooth and secure transaction. Having an experienced advisor on the ground makes all the difference, especially in a market where many of the best opportunities are not always publicly available. Which areas or enclaves in Sardinia are seeing the strongest demand, and why? The most sought-after areas continue to be concentrated along Sardinia’s northeastern coast, from the Costa Smeralda to the coastal stretches immediately to its north and south. These locations are internationally recognized for their extraordinary natural beauty, islands and archipelagos, prestigious properties, lifestyle centered around yachting and golf, and exclusive atmosphere. Alongside the traditional demand for waterfront properties, interest in homes located further inland is also increasing, driven by the greater privacy and more peaceful lifestyle they offer. These properties often include productive land, such as vineyards, olive groves and cork oak groves, and are located near authentic villages with distinctive Sardinian charm. We are also seeing growing international interest in certain areas of southern Sardinia, appreciated for their more authentic lifestyle and exceptional combination of sea and nature. The common thread for buyers in their search for privacy continues to be a desire for exceptional locations. But they are placing increasing value on space, a close connection with nature, and ties to the island’s traditions and local excellence. How do Sardinia’s real estate and lifestyle offerings compare to other Mediterranean luxury markets? Compared with other Mediterranean luxury markets, Sardinia offers something increasingly rare— authenticity combined with exclusivity. Many destinations have become highly developed and internationalized, gradually losing part of their original identity. Sardinia, by contrast, retains a strong and distinctive character, expressed through its unspoiled landscapes, traditional villages, local craftsmanship, exceptional food and wine, and deep connection with nature. This identity is also reflected in its real estate offering, which represents a form of luxury that feels authentic rather than standardized. Local materials such as granite, natural stone and Orosei marble are combined with an unmistakable architectural style designed to blend harmoniously into the island’s extraordinary landscape. Tell us what accessibility is like—how do residents get to other parts of Italy or other destinations in Europe? Despite being an island, Sardinia is well connected to mainland Italy and the rest of Europe. The main airports in Olbia, Cagliari and Alghero offer regular connections to major Italian cities and numerous international destinations, particularly during the summer season. For connections with the United States, the new seasonal direct service between New York JFK and Olbia is especially significant. It operates from late spring through early fall, with four weekly flights in each direction. Ferry services also connect Sardinia with several ports on mainland Italy, providing an additional option for those travelling with their own vehicle or staying on the island for longer periods. What sets Sardinia apart as a long-term real estate investment destination compared to other coastal destinations? Sardinia stands out for its ability to combine the appeal of a unique lifestyle with a real estate supply that is likely to remain limited over time, thanks to the strong protection of its territory. The availability of buildable coastal land is limited, large parts of the island are protected natural areas, and strict planning regulations help preserve its landscape and exclusivity. For investors, this structural scarcity represents an opportunity in a market where quality properties in the most prestigious locations are naturally limited. Beyond the financial considerations, Sardinia also offers something that an increasing number of buyers value— a place to enjoy and pass on to future generations, whether as a family retreat, a second home or a potential destination for future relocation. What does day-to-day life look like for homeowners in Sardinia? Life in Sardinia is centered around enjoying simple, meaningful moments, shaped by a more natural rhythm and a deeply human dimension. A typical day might begin with a coffee in the town square, continue by the sea, out on a boat or exploring the island’s interior, and end around the table with family and friends. The mild climate and strong connection with nature make it possible to enjoy the outdoors throughout much of the year. Food and wine play a central role in everyday life—think fresh seafood, handmade pasta, traditional cheeses, olive oil, renowned wines and seasonal local produce. Food is not simply about exceptional quality; it is an essential part of sharing time and creating moments of conviviality. Sardinia also has a millennia-old identity, expressed through its traditions, local festivals, craftsmanship and strong sense of community. Its safety, tranquillity and more relaxed pace of life allow people to rediscover the value of time and personal relationships. This is why many international homeowners see Sardinia not simply as a holiday destination, but as a place to which they feel genuinely connected. Are you allured? Connect with Salvatore Baldinu and The Agency Sardinia for the local insight and on-the-ground expertise needed to find a home that supports your lifestyle and long-term goals. The post The Italian Island On Everyone’s Itinerary: A Closer Look at Sardinia appeared first on The Agency Journal.

To introduce and amplify her latest commercial listing, GVO Cycle, Jamie Bederak, Director of Commercial Division for The Agency South Florida, got creative. The newly built-out boutique fitness and recovery destination at 3000 N Federal Highway, is a fully realized wellness environment, encompassing nearly 3,000 square feet along one of Fort Lauderdale’s most visible commercial corridors. The space itself was designed to be multimodal, with open fitness areas and a roughly 900-square-foot studio flexible enough for heated Pilates, yoga, reformer Pilates, dance, and other boutique formats. A recovery zone boasts two infrared saunas and two cold plunges, while a dedicated cycling room, “The Tunnel,” delivers immersive lighting for rhythm-based rides. A separate mat Pilates studio, premium lockers and showers, and a polished reception area complete the space. Adding to the 3000 N Federal Highway‘s cache — its sale encompasses both the space and the fully operating GVO Cycle business, giving the buyer control of the asset and the brand infrastructure already in place. All furniture, fixtures, and equipment from last year’s ground-up build-out are also included. Because of the property’s unique niche, Bederak, knew she wanted to present brokers with a different touring experience. Instead of a conventional broker’s open, Bederak hosted a “Fitness Broker’s Open,” which comprised a workout, a recovery session, and an opportunity to create content around the space. The result created foot traffic, inspired conversation, and sparked the sharing of imagery and video across guests’ social platforms long after they left. “One person can market a property, but when you bring an entire ecosystem of people into it, everyone leaves with their own story to tell. That kind of collaboration creates reach traditional marketing can’t replicate.” Jamie Bederak The event was a success, and for Bederak, demonstrated the power of collaboration. “One person can market a property, but when you bring an entire ecosystem of people into it, everyone leaves with their own perspective, and their own story to tell to their own network,” she explains. “Suddenly the property isn’t being seen through one set of eyes. That kind of collaboration creates reach and momentum that traditional marketing simply cannot replicate.” “Commercial real estate has been marketed largely the same way for decades, and I’m determined to help break that mold,” Bederak says. “I believe exceptional properties deserve exceptional marketing. That means cinematic videography, storytelling, creative events and finding ways to actually bring people into a property so they can understand the opportunity for themselves.” Collaboration is at the very root of this listing’s origin story. The property itself was brought to Bederak’s attention through an Agency colleague connection. Its owner was a client of residential agent Daniel VanBronkhorst, who recognized a commercial opportunity when the owner mentioned he might sell, and made a call to Bederak. An exclusive listing agreement was signed within a few days, and was quickly followed by the property shoot and the “Fitness Broker’s Open” event. “Without Daniel making that connection,” Bederak says, “None of this would have happened. That demonstrates what is possible when residential and commercial agents truly collaborate.” That same instinct carried into the “Fitness Broker’s Open” event, with agents from across The Agency’s South Florida network turning out to engage with and amplify the listing, putting it in front of dozens of networks at once. “Every property has a story, and my job is to figure out the most powerful way to tell it,” says Bederak. “You have to walk through the doors. You have to experience it. And once you do, you understand exactly why there’s nothing else quite like it.” 3000 N Federal Highway is listed by Jamie Bederak. For more information or to schedule a private tour, contact Jamie or The Agency South Florida team. The post Marketing Spotlight: How The Agency’s Jamie Bederak Turned a Fort Lauderdale Fitness Studio Into an Immersive Experience appeared first on The Agency Journal.