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The Seaside Institute, Seaside, Fl., founders Robert and Daryl Davis are honored to bestow its prestigious Seaside Prize recognition upon Ellen Dunham-Jones and June Williamson at its 2025 Seaside Prize Weekend.
The celebration will take place the weekend of Feb. 7–9, with various events and symposia. E. F. San Juan, a custom architectural moulding, millwork, and cabinetry manufacturer based in Youngstown, Fl., has committed to an annual sponsorship the weekend as a platinum-level monetary donor and creator of bespoke wooden key enclosures for the prize recipients.
“The custom boxes my father created for the Seaside Prize last year represent a culmination of everything our family has accomplished since he opened E. F. San Juan in 1976,” says the company’s president, Edward San Juan. “Robert and Daryl Davis have created something with Seaside that’s taken on a life of its own, and we’re grateful to have worked in the town from the beginning. Our partnership with architects and builders in the town of Seaside spans four decades, and providing our services for these homes and the magnificent Chapel at Seaside represented a pivotal point for our company. We happily give back through this sponsorship and gesture of creating a mahogany box to encase the coveted Seaside Prize Key.”
This custom-crafted box designed by founder and CEO Ed San Juan symbolizes the quality and dedication shared by E. F. San Juan and the Seaside Institute in their joint commitment to excellence and the art of design. It is a sponsorship to be presented in perpetuity for the Seaside Prize for all future events, first presented in February 2024 to Victor Dover and Joe Kohl, founders of Dover, Kohl & Partners, a renowned Miami-based town planning firm. Thanks to the popularity of the mahogany boxes, Ed San Juan has also worked to create enough of them to present to past Seaside Prize winners as a keepsake and protective case for their bronze key-shaped awards designed by Dhiru Thadani and cast by artisan Manish Waghdhare.
“The work E. F. San Juan has done in the Town of Seaside is a tremendous asset to our community’s beauty, longevity, and legacy,” says Seaside cofounder and visionary Robert Davis. “Their commitment to excellence reflects everything the Seaside Institute stands for. We’re so happy to have them as a sponsor for the Prize Weekend and to present our Seaside Prize recipients with such a special keepsake as the box they’ve created.”
The Seaside Prize recognizes individuals or organizations whose life’s work aligns with the Seaside Institute’s vision of promoting livable communities. The honor is a testament to the tremendous impact June Williamson and Ellen Dunham-Jones have had on the built environment. Their books and teachings inspire architects, planners, urban designers, developers, and community leaders to retrofit aging, underperforming suburban properties to address urgent challenges, disrupt automobile dependence, improve public health, support an aging society, leverage social capital for equity, compete for jobs, and add water and energy resilience. Together, they have worked to bring change to education and communities to “Retrofit Suburbia.”
“Being present in the Chapel at Seaside for our 2024 award ceremony was such a moving experience as E. F. San Juan presented their bespoke Prize Key enclosure to Victor Dover and Joe Kohl,” says Seaside Institute executive director Christy Milliken. “Ed and Edward San Juan have literally built a family legacy in our New Urbanism communities here in South Walton, including Seaside, Alys Beach, and Rosemary Beach. Having them be part of the Seaside Prize just made sense, and it’s been an honor to get to know them and learn about all they have contributed to the architectural integrity of our area.”
The Seaside Institute will formally present the Seaside Prize to Ellen Dunham-Jones and June Williamson at the awards ceremony on February 8, 2025, by Seaside, Florida, founder Robert Davis. The ceremony will be hosted at The Chapel at Seaside, and it promises to be an evening of celebration, reflection, and inspiration.
Register online now for the Seaside Prize 2025 Weekend at SeasideInstitute.org.
The San Juan family’s roots in woodworking can be traced back to the mid-1900s. At that time, Eddie San Juan, father of company founder, Edward F. San Juan, was the family patriarch and a master craftsman whose skill and entrepreneurial spirit formed the basis for E. F. San Juan, Inc. Three generations later, the E. F. San Juan companies have evolved from modest facilities and equipment to a state-of-the-art facility featuring the world’s finest woodworking equipment based in Youngstown, Florida. Coupled with a tremendously skilled and dedicated workforce, the company continues to set the standard for quality architectural millwork in the markets it serves.
The Seaside Prize is an annual award presented by the Seaside Institute to individuals who have made significant contributions to the fields of architecture, urban planning, and community development. The recipients are selected based on their exceptional achievements, commitment to design excellence, and their positive impact on communities around the world.
The Seaside Institute is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the ideas of community, education, and design. Through research, programs, and events, the institute strives to create sustainable, resilient, and livable communities. With its roots in the iconic town of Seaside, Fl., the Seaside Institute serves as a collaborative hub for architects, urban planners, and community leaders.
