Kobi Karp Bayfront Masterpiece on Exclusive Hibiscus Island

The commission fell to Kobi Karp, the Miami-based architect whose portfolio includes some of South Florida's most celebrated contemporary structures. His approach here is immediately legible from the street: a cantilevered upper volume clad in vertical dark slats advances confidently over a glazed ground floor, creating a facade that reads as both sculptural and purposeful. The interplay between solid and void, between opacity and transparency, sets the tone for everything that follows inside.

The interior was curated by AED Planung, a European luxury design firm whose sensibility runs toward precision, restraint, and the quiet confidence of materials chosen for longevity rather than trend. The result is a home that feels neither cold nor showy — instead, it possesses the particular warmth that comes from rooms where every surface has been considered. Stone countertops emerge from dark, full-height cabinetry in the kitchen, where a backlit stone backsplash provides the room's most theatrical gesture. The great room unfolds across an open plan anchored by a stone-clad fireplace wall, flanked by built-in shelving and a glass-enclosed wine display that transforms function into display.

At nearly eight thousand square feet under air — nine thousand one hundred seventy-eight total — the home accommodates six bedroom suites and seven and a half baths without ever feeling sprawling. A private elevator connects each level with quiet efficiency. The primary suite commands its floor with an upholstered headboard set against dark stone panels and integrated accent lighting, while the primary bath offers a freestanding matte black soaking tub positioned before floor-to-ceiling windows that frame the bay like a painting. Walk-in closets finished with glass-front cabinetry and integrated LED lighting bring a boutique-level standard to personal organization.

Beyond the interiors, the home extends its ambitions outdoors with the confidence of a property that understands Miami's relationship with its climate. The ninety-foot bayfront lot is organized around an infinity-edge pool and spa that dissolves visually into Biscayne Bay, a covered dining pavilion with slatted ceilings and recessed lighting, a summer kitchen, and a sunken lounge that creates a distinct social zone without fragmenting the overall composition. A private dock anchors the waterfront edge. Above it all, an extensive rooftop terrace offers what few Miami properties can: unobstructed three-hundred-sixty-degree views spanning the Bay, the Miami skyline, and the Atlantic beyond.

A fully equipped gym, dedicated home cinema, home automation system, separate guest house, and whole-home generator ensure the residence performs as completely as it presents. This is architecture built not to impress visitors on arrival, but to sustain the exacting standards of those who live within it every day.

Hibiscus Island occupies a singular position in the geography of Miami Beach — a man-made island in Biscayne Bay, connected to the MacArthur Causeway and situated between the mainland and South Beach, yet removed from both by the particular alchemy of water and a staffed gatehouse that controls access around the clock. The island is one of several that were developed in the 1920s as part of Miami Beach's early expansion into the bay, and it has retained a residential character and physical intimacy that larger barrier island neighborhoods cannot replicate. With a limited number of homes and no commercial intrusion, Hibiscus Island functions as a genuine enclave — a word the real estate industry overuses but that applies here with literal accuracy.

The island's position on Biscayne Bay is central to its appeal. Residents enjoy direct water access in a setting where the bay's turquoise expanse serves as both backdrop and amenity, with boating, paddleboarding, and fishing available from private docks. The views from the eastern shore of Hibiscus Island take in the Miami Beach skyline to the east and, turning west, the glass towers of downtown Miami and Brickell across the water — a panorama that few residential addresses in South Florida can match.

Despite its sequestered character, Hibiscus Island sits within minutes of the full cultural and culinary infrastructure of Miami Beach and Miami proper. South Beach's Lincoln Road, with its open-air shopping, restaurants, and cultural institutions, is a short drive across the causeway. The Design District — home to flagship boutiques from the world's leading luxury houses, as well as galleries and acclaimed restaurants — is accessible in under fifteen minutes. Wynwood, Miami's internationally recognized street art and gallery district, lies in the same corridor. Brickell's concentration of fine dining, luxury retail, and financial district energy is equally proximate.

For arts and culture, the Pérez Art Museum Miami on Biscayne Bay's Museum Park waterfront is among the finest contemporary art institutions in the American Southeast, and the adjacent Frost Science Museum offers a counterpart destination. The Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach's Collins Park brings a more intimate program of contemporary and modern works to the immediate neighborhood.

Miami International Airport sits approximately twenty minutes from Hibiscus Island, providing direct access to domestic and international routes that connect the city to New York, London, São Paulo, and beyond — a practical consideration for residents whose lives extend across multiple cities. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport provides a secondary option to the north.

The island's school proximity to some of Miami-Dade County's most sought-after private institutions, combined with its guard-gated security, its community of established residents, and its physical beauty, make it a consistent destination for those seeking the highest tier of Miami Beach residential life. To live on Hibiscus Island is to occupy a place that the broader city acknowledges as exceptional — where the bay is not a view from a distance, but a defining condition of daily existence.