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mark_schnell

Documenting great design, beautiful landscapes, and interesting places... as well as a few places that I designed

Our excursions from Tulum were a lot of fun: swimm

Our excursions from Tulum were a lot of fun: swimming and exploring two cenotes (eroded limestone craters filled with water), snorkeling off of Cozumel (I only managed to photograph the ferry), lunch at Mezcalito’s in Cozumel, and the ruins of the ancient Mayan pyramids of Coba. The video shows the “Mayan limousines” of Coba in action. Great tours of all (except the bar) through @noma.dan. We loved tour guides Ernesto and Tania. #cenotes #cozumel #mezcalitos #coba #mayanruins #feliz50/60

Our dinner in a “nest” at the Azulik resort’

Our dinner in a “nest” at the Azulik resort’s Kin Toh restaurant in Tulum was truly magical. #kintoh #kintohtulum #tulum #mexico #feliz50/60

It was difficult to leave beautiful Tulum, Mexico

It was difficult to leave beautiful Tulum, Mexico this morning, but we enjoyed a fun and memorable birthday celebration in honor of @seagrovedoc and @seagrove2701. Here are some photos of our hotel for the week: the Papaya Playa Project. Great place! (More Tulum photos to follow) #tulum #mexico #papayaplayaproject #feliz50/60

I’m really looking forward to seeing the new boo

I’m really looking forward to seeing the new book, Reflections on Seaside, by @dathadani. I contributed an essay, along with many more by a group of talented folks. It will be available by mid-April in bookstores of all kinds. #reflectionsonseaside #dhiruthadani #schnellurbandesign

The many winter moods of the Gulf of Mexico, as se

The many winter moods of the Gulf of Mexico, as seen over four days at a family 1953 Gulf-front house called Stone’s Throw... When @paigeschnell went to Colorado on a girls’ ski trip, I headed for a different beach locale to work this week. It was mostly productive, but I always wish I had more time to enjoy this view. #stonesthrow #workingsabbatical

I’m surprised about the number of people at Bud

I’m surprised about the number of people at Bud and Alley’s tonight. But with this view, is it really that surprising? #budandalleys #seaside #seasidefl #nevergetsold #illbebacktomorrow

Have I mentioned that it never gets old? Happy Fri

Have I mentioned that it never gets old? Happy Friday, everyone! #budandalleys #seaside #seasidefl #seasideflorida #sunset

Heading home after a long, but really enjoyable an

Heading home after a long, but really enjoyable and positive trip. The icing on the cake was seeing this ad in the Corpus Christi airport. This is the second time the big shopping mall in Corpus Christi has done a photo shoot at Cinnamon Shore. The last one was on the dune crossover, and this one is at the Lake Colby Pavilion.

This is, of course, really gratifying for me to see. Apparently they think a place that I designed is so photogenic that they use it for their ads.

As I sometimes tell my clients, let’s create a place so beautiful that people want to use it for photo shoots. It’s a worthwhile goal, but it’s really great when it actually happens! (Twice!)

(Owners of the La Palmera Mall: If you are reading this, please contact me. I’ll make your place so attractive that you’ll even shoot your next ad in your own facility!)

Cheers to everyone who endeavors to create great places!

#cinnamonshore #portaransas #mustangisland #texas #corpuschristi #lapalmeramall #schnellurandesign.

I really love how these small cottages I designed

I really love how these small cottages I designed for Cinnamon Shore North turned out. There are seven total cottages, ranging from 750 to 975 square feet. Three are one bedroom units, and four are two bedroom units.

These sold quickly and have been a big hit. They were a lot of fun to design, too. Sometimes designing a small cottage can be more interesting than designing a giant Gulf-front home.

The cottages are arranged around a small plaza with a fountain in the center. The plaza and fountain are on a main axis that runs through the town center to Lake Colby (and its pavilion). I wanted to set up a second water-to-water (fountain-to-lake) pathway to complement the perpendicular path (Market St and Grand Blvd) that runs between the bay and the Gulf of Mexico.

#cinnamonshore #portaransas #mustangisland #texas #schnellurbandesign

Mixed-use building in Palmilla Beach... I’m happ

Mixed-use building in Palmilla Beach... I’m happy to see this one complete, and I’ll be even happier when the next building (across the street) is built. When I designed some changes for the master plan back in 2013, I added a roundabout at this three-way intersection. Now the “walls” of the civic space are a step closer to complete. (Design: Schnell Urban Design, Architect of Record: MPA Architects) #palmillabeach #portaransas #mustangisland #texas #schnellurbandesign

A Cinnamon Shore Saturday night. (Not crazy crowde

A Cinnamon Shore Saturday night. (Not crazy crowded, but a lot of people for October!) #cinnamonshore #portaransas #texas #schnellurbandesign

I was sad to fly out of Colorado on Thursday, but

I was sad to fly out of Colorado on Thursday, but my final week was memorable for the emerging fall colors. They are not quite peaking yet, but it was still beautiful. And these photos don’t really do it justice. The locations: Marble (2), Crystal River Ranch, Redstone, and Aspen (2). (Now I’m in Texas checking out my work projects, so more posts are on the way...) #colorado

Seagrove to Redstone road trip, 08-29-20: After 2,

Seagrove to Redstone road trip, 08-29-20: After 2,360 miles and over seven days of traveling, I’ve arrived at our house along the Crystal River near Redstone, CO. The trip was ostensibly to deliver our Toyota Sequoia to the Redstone house, but I decided to make it more than a straight drive. I love a good road trip, and I can’t wait to depart on another adventure when I get the chance. (But, for now, I really need to get back to work! Somewhere my clients are nodding “yes.”) Thank you for following along! #redstone #colorado #roadtrip

Seagrove to Redstone road trip, 08-29-20: Good mor

Seagrove to Redstone road trip, 08-29-20: Good morning from rainy Aspen! My morning walk was a little too wet, so I guess I’ll do some work. (I don’t even want to think about my e-mail inbox after a week away.) Once I pick up @paigeschnell and @30abeach_nana at the airport, I’ll only have 41 miles left in this road trip. It’s been a great one! #aspen

Seagrove to Redstone road trip, 08-28-20: I was ho

Seagrove to Redstone road trip, 08-28-20: I was hoping to stay at the Surf Hotel or Surf Chateau in the South Main area of Buena Vista, CO, but to my surprise, there was no vacancy tonight. I stayed there in June and really enjoyed it. Today I dropped in for a quick stop before heading over Independence Pass. I really like what they are doing with this community. Congrats to Kenny Craft for all of the excellent architecture. #southmain #southmainbuenavista #surfhotel #surfchateau

Seagrove to Redstone road trip, 08-28-20: I made a

Seagrove to Redstone road trip, 08-28-20: I made a quick stop at Great Sand Dunes National Park, located in the San Luis Valley of southern Colorado. This is another old favorite. In my early 20s, some friends and I tried sledding down the dunes (the tallest dune is something like 900 feet above the valley floor). Someone even recommended that we apply Lemon Pledge to the sled to improve performance. I don’t recall that the sleds worked very well, and I still don’t know what was supposedly so magical about the lemon scented version, but it was fun to try. Today, several people were using some kind of sand board - like a snowboard, but much smaller. I wasn’t that ambitious today, and I discovered that climbing dunes was much easier in my 20s! ... By the way, be sure to zoom in (as much as one can on Instagram). The people on the dunes look very small. #greatsanddunesnationalpark #greatsanddunes

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