William Wietsma’s love of architecture means his work is his hobby. The Ocean Ridge resident grew up in South Florida, went to school in Los Angeles, then started his career in Pasadena where he spent years honing his craft designing custom hillside homes. But he ultimately chose to return to his roots. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
Architect William Wietsma, a self-described “water person,” does like fishing and boating, often going to Chub Cay in the Bahamas and to the Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo.
But these aren’t his favorite hobbies. “My work is my hobby, but I do relax on the water,” he said.
Wietsma, 72, of Ocean Ridge, and his business partner, William Lippolis, specialize in designing and building waterfront homes, and since work is his favorite hobby, he enjoys talking about it.
He’s fond of Bermuda or Anglo-Caribbean style. “It fits in really nicely here,” he says. “It’s simple but still has some character.”
And as for materials, he enjoys working with wallaba, a wood that comes from South America used for roofing shingles. “The wood doesn’t rot. It holds up really well and it just looks beautiful.”
“We’re not trendy people. We don’t do trends,” he said.
In Wietsma’s early days in the field, Roland Coate Jr. was an influential figure, he said.
“He was very successful. He retired from architecture in his 50s and became a painter. He approached architecture as art, and I appreciated that. He was my teacher and I worked for him.
“We did a project, Cabo Bello, in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, a series of homes tied together on a point overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It won awards and was published all over the world. It was a great project, and it helped my career.”
Among his recent construction projects he’s enthusiastic about the Cornelia T. Bailey Cultural Arts Center in Boynton Beach. And favorite historic property? “The Gulf Stream Golf Club. It’s the most iconic building in our area,” he said.
His company did six years of renovations on it, beginning in 2007. “We basically renovated that building from top to bottom. We were pretty proud of the work we did.
“It hadn’t been changed since 1924, and building standards were a lot different then. The design of that building is actually pretty nice considering how old it is. The issue really was just the fact that the building was old and needed to be fixed structurally.”
Over the years, he’s completed many projects, and among his favorites is his own home on a canal off the Intracoastal Waterway. He built it for clients in 2002 and bought it back from them in 2021. “Of course, we remodeled it. I don’t think we’ll ever leave.”
— Christine Davis
Q. Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
A. I grew up in Lighthouse Point and spent my childhood on the water traveling with my parents throughout the Bahamas and fishing with my father off the coast of Florida. Life on the water has been a passion for my entire life.
Q. What professions have you worked in? What professional accomplishments are you most proud of?
A. After I finished high school, I moved to California to study architecture at Southern California Institute of Architecture (in Los Angeles). I studied under some great architects, including Ray Kappe, Frank Gehry, Roland Coate Jr. and Thom Mayne.
After graduating, I worked for Skidmore Owings and Merrill, Charles Eames, and Richard Martin before taking my architectural licensing exam.
Upon receiving my license, I started my own practice in Pasadena, California, designing custom hillside homes and developing townhouse projects. After 15 years building my career in Southern California, I decided it was time to come home to South Florida. I opened my own architecture and construction practice, and that grew into a partnership with William Lippolis, forming Wietsma & Lippolis Construction LLC. We are a design-build firm that specializes in the design and construction of new custom waterfront homes.
Our most recent accomplishment that I am most proud of is the new Cornelia T. Bailey Cultural Arts Center at South Florida PBS, which we built earlier this year. As part of this project, we also built two immersive 3D visual studios within the PBS complex offering visitors a truly one-of-a-kind experience. We take great pride in having played a key role in bringing this vision to life.
Q. What advice do you have for a young person selecting a career today?
A. Above everything, find something that satisfies your passion. Think outside of conventional processes to achieve your goal. Be flexible in adjusting your goals over time. And work hard, be persistent, and never give up.
Q. How did you choose to make your home in Ocean Ridge?
A. In 2002, I designed and built this home on Sabal Island for a wonderful client. My wife, Caroline, and I always loved the property. When the owner decided to sell more than 20 years later, we jumped at the chance to buy it back.
Q. What is your favorite part about living in Ocean Ridge?
A. Ocean Ridge feels quiet and charming compared to other barrier island communities. The houses are not oversized, and the neighborhoods generally feel like Old Florida. It is an easy place to call home with its central proximity between Palm Beach and Boca Raton, and we love living on the water with the inlet only a few minutes away.
Q. What book are you reading now?
A. The Gulf: The Making of An American Sea, by Jack E. Davis. It’s a history of the Gulf of Mexico beginning in prehistoric times up to the present.
Q. What music do you listen to when you need inspiration? When you want to relax?
A. That’s a big room to fill. As I’m writing this, I’m listening to Astor Piazzolla, but I love American jazz, Brazilian samba, traditional Cuban, electro-tango. Most anything with a Latin base helps me wind down.
Q. Do you have a favorite quote that inspires your decisions?
A. You cannot inspect quality into a product or service. It must be built into it. From Out of the Crisis, by W. Edwards Deming.
Q. Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions?
A. I have had the privilege of working with and for a remarkable range of accomplished individuals including talented architects, CEOs of major corporations, and incredible philanthropists. I listened closely to each of them, always looking to glean inspiration from them, their experience and perspective.
Q. If your life story were made into a movie, who would you want to play you?
A. Gary Oldman.
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