For Carina Radonich and Ariel Tomat, the couple that builds together stays together.
Carina Radonich and Ariel Tomat at work in the lobby of Ocean House in Miami Beach’s exclusive South of Fifth enclave.
If working together puts an otherwise solid relationship to the test, Ariel Tomat and Carina Radonich of Finish My Condo, a luxury general contractor company, could teach the course on how to make it successful. The husband-andwife team, who celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary in September, create model residences at some of South Florida’s most desirable addresses, including Paramount Bay, Acqualina, Canyon Ranch, and the St. Regis, as well as custom-build the homes of local celebrities.
Currently, Radonich and Tomat are finishing a 4,000-square-foot model loft at Ocean House. The multimillion- dollar redesign in the exclusive South of Fifth enclave will mix stainless steel and exotic woods for a fresh, contemporary vibe and include furnishings by Brazilian design company Artefacto. “The people coming to Miami have money and don’t need to show it,” Radonich says. “They’re looking for something minimal, beautiful, and smart. Elegance in the truest sense of the word.”
Radonich, a vivacious personality who spent more than 10 years working for the nation’s leading real estate brokerages, including Fort Lauderdale’s Galleria Collection of Fine Homes, taps into her extensive network at the onset of each project. Then, if clients can dream it, Tomat, a former industrial engineer, “can build it from the ground up”—from the classic to the ultramodern, such as the floating white onyx floors with underlying LED lights that they recently created for one client on North Bay Road. Says Radonich, “If a problem presents itself, it is only because a solution already exists.”
Married for two decades, the couple have only been in business together since 2007; however, they make sure to keep home and office life very much separate. “We leave work talk for the office,” says Tomat. “When we [cross] the threshold of our home, it becomes our sanctuary.”
Family—including the couple’s two children, ages 9 and 11, continues to fuel their work with Finish My Condo. “When you see clients who are so thrilled that they’re literally moved to tears, you realize you’re the architect of the most important moment of their life,” says Radonich. “Home is where the best moments are shared.”