A Venetian
plaster finish
on the master
bedroom’s cove
ceiling allows
for various levels
of illumination.
The unique
design of the
fully remotecontrolled
media room
contributes to
its comfort.
Following his retirement from the Yankees, family became
Soriano’s main focus. Since Tampa is the Yankee’s Spring Training
headquarters, he and his family spent enough time here to fall in
love with the area. Alfanso and his wife Carmen chose Tampa Bay
for the next phase of their lives and to raise their children, so that
they could enjoy a safe, healthy lifestyle, while being surrounded
by palm trees and salt water in a climate reminiscent of his native
Dominican Republic.
In May of 2014, the Sorianos purchased the Avila, Tampa home
of Washington Redskins’ President and General Manager Bruce
Allen. They began to remodel it into their own personal paradise,
transforming the 9,200 square-foot Mediterranean into an elegant
Spanish Contemporary design, while taking advantage of the new
technologies that are available today.
The Sorianos’ re-imagined new home has seven bedrooms,
eight bathrooms, a library and a billiards room, along with a
4,000-bottle wine room that is the size of a small apartment. Their
dramatic, white marble-floored living room features a chandelier
that can be lowered and raised by a winch, plus remote-controlled
curtains that reach the 25-foot-high ceiling. The beamed ceiling
The black marble bath’s raised
shower, custom steel framing and
frescoed ceiling are lit to glow softly.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE 115