Before this building was known as the August, it was known informally as the Flatiron, a reference to its unusual but memorable shape. The most famous Flatiron building is the one in New York between Fifth Avenue and Broadway at Madison Park- similar in length to the August, though narrower. But many cities had buildings known as Flatirons for their similar shapes. Most every city has sites between converging streets like Alys Beach’s South Somerset Street and Castle Harbor. And these buildings are almost always thought of fondly or proudly. So the August may be first known and recognized for its shape.

It is in a little precinct near the beach club and the Gulf front plaza. There is no other modern neighborhood like this in Florida, an urban setting of different building sizes, near an extraordinary beach and further distinguished by the unusual views where streets come to the Gulf from the back of the town. The building’s most memorable aspect may be its narrow end with a large round porch, but the convex Juan Bermudez Crescent produces aspects just as nice and just as memorable that face the rest of the town. Somerset Street, starting on the north side of Alys Beach near the pine woods, is or will be one of the most beautiful streets in Florida. South Somerset descends from 30-A and then rises again at the plaza to provide a great path to the water.

But for those who will live here there are other reasons this building is singular and attractive. It is on a small block and surrounded on all sides by streets. There are no common property lines between the August and adjacent buildings, and so there are no buildings close by to diminish views or privacy. Owing to the shape of the building, most residences are corner units with two street exposures and an extraordinary amount of exterior walls bringing in lots of daylight. It is hard to take the measure of this building because everything is a little over scaled. Windows that don’t seem that tall from the street turn out to be nearly floor to ceiling and in many rooms, almost fill an outside wall. And once you are inside, there will be little sense of adjacent residences but there will be every sense of the bigger setting.