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Four years of work to craft a family compound from two adjacent homes paid off with island-wide recognition on Friday, December 12, 2008.

Julia and David Koch received the 2008 Ballinger Award for the restoration and renovation of a British Colonial-style Mid-town residence dating from 1925. The award was presented during the annual Preservation foundation membership luncheon at The Breakers.

The renovation of a 1925 British Colonial-style residence won its owners, Julia and David Koch, the 2008 Ballinger Award from the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach. “The house was selected because the Kochs took a house and restored it in a way that appears as it should, only better,” said John Mashek, foundation president.

“This project took four years, and was long and complicated,” Julia Koch said upon accepting the award from John Mashek, president of the Preservation foundation. “It is very satisfying for us to receive this public acknowledgment for our effort.”

For the past seven years, the Kochs have owned the adjacent property, El Sarmiento, a Mediterranean revival mansion designed by Addison Mizner, whose previous owners won the Ballinger Award for its restoration in 1991.

They purchased the neighboring British Colonial four years ago, restored it and connected it to El Sarmiento with the assistance of Jupiter architect Thomas M. Kirchhoff.

The second property provides additional space for staff quarters, mechanical equipment for both houses and a place the for the couple’s three young children to play, as well as for the family to gather.

“The house was selected because the Kochs took a house and restored it in a way that appears as it should, only better,” said Mashek, who heads the Ballinger selection committee.

“This is a wonderful story of preservation,” said John Ripley, executive director of the foundation. "The Kochs' efforts are truly deserving of this recognition."