Julia S. Sanford is the founding principal of Starr Sanford Design Associates, a residential development firm based in Amelia Island and Rosemary Beach, FL. Ms. Sanford has been a designer for an extensive range of projects internationally including large-scale hotel, high rise office building, resort, medical facilities, retail and convention centers. Ms. Sanford has provided design and project management for historical renovations, showrooms, libraries, museums and private galleries. She has designed feature Film sets for Twentieth Century Fox, Universal, MGM and Walt Disney Pictures and was NBC's art director for the Today Show and 1996 Centennial Olympic Broadcast.

Starr Sanford Design Associates is directing the design and development of Sky, a 570 acre parcel located in Calhoun County, Florida. Julia Sanford has directed the design development of numerous projects nationally, planning design, implementation, construction, marketing and engineering, including Amelia Park, a DPZ development on Amelia Island, FL, and has directed the design and prototypical planning for Rosemary Beach and Draper Lake for Leucadia Financial Corporation. Ms. Sanford has led design and planning nationally including Alys Beach, East Bay and Edens Landing in Florida, and the Smith Morris District in Charleston, SC. Current projects include Hampstead in Montgomery, Lost Rabbit in Mississippi, South Main in Colorado and Alys Beach for EBSCO, International.

Starr Sanford Design Associates is focused on incorporating vernacular traditions with sustainable design and high performance building technologies. The practice was founded in 1996 with residential projects characterized by an interest in the regional traditions of the South as well as the Colonial architecture of the West Indies. Ms. Sanford was brought to Rosemary Beach and surrounding areas to help foster this interest and to illustrate the intent of various development codes. Homes are distinctive in their attention to historical proportion and detail; the designs are distinguished by their old world techniques of wood joinery, heavy timber framing, and the grace of authentic detail. The architecture recognizes a traditional environmentally sensitive approach to residential design with "outdoor living rooms" enhanced by natural climate control, verandas, balconies, large windows and louvered shutters.

Recent projects represent explorations into more actively sustainable construction through the incorporation of established regional practices. The focus includes traditional vernacular approaches such as building orientation, cross ventilation, deep overhangs and porches, and tall ceilings. Focusing on the practical applications of energy conservation, residential models are being developed following The Council For Sustainable Florida's Awards programs that analyze the cost vs. return of water recovery and storage systems, solar power, appliances with energy star rating, added insulation and exterior living spaces.

Ms. Sanford has a Master of Architecture degree from Georgia Institute of Technology, where she was the recipient of Georgia Tech's prestigious SGF award, the Skidmore Owings and Merrill Portfolio Fellowship and the Governor's Honor for the state of Georgia. She received a Bachelor of Art in Art History from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Master's Thesis study at Harvard University. She has lived and traveled extensively in Europe while studying Italian Renaissance and Classical architecture and has traveled throughout the Caribbean and South America researching West Indian and Caribbean influences on the development of coastal vernacular in the United States. She is fluent in French and Italian and currently resides on Amelia Island, Florida.