Becker Morgan Group designed a waterfront home to blend naturally with its bethany beach surroundings—with a touch of cape cod charm
Written by Kristen Hampshire | Photography by Stacy Zarin Goldberg
As they pedaled along the Delaware oceanfront, a local couple came to an abrupt halt when they spotted a “For Sale” sign pitched into the dunes of an empty lot. Surely this prime piece of land couldn’t still be available.
Fully believing it was a long shot, they called the number on the sign—and learned that the property was miraculously still on the market.
Timing, they discovered, is everything.
After buying the lot, the new owners hired Chris Pattey, Residential Practice Area Leader at Becker Morgan Group in Salisbury, to design a family beach house for year-round use. The couple had been living nearby, in a more densely populated community, for quite some time. This peacefully private lot, centered in sandy ridges and ocean tides, offered them an opportunity to create a gathering place that would blend with nature and buck the typical stilted house trend. Dewson Construction in Rehoboth Beach expertly managed the build.
“Wrapped in shingles from walls to rooftop, the subtle natural colors and textures blend into the coastal environment,” Pattey says.
A Serene Setting. No pretension, no looming presence or disjointed appearance—these were important priorities for the owners. “They desired a more conventional solution to the typical oversized ‘beach house on stilts,’” Pattey says. The flood zone site requires compliance with a stack of building codes, explaining the more common “propped up” stilt-based construction along this particular strip.
By contrast, the home is nestled into the landscape and “engaged with the dunes to look very natural and inviting,” Pattey describes. The necessary infrastructure exists, but it is concealed.
A garage is tucked on one side, with beachfront living space and a walkout to the sand purposefully capitalizing on the grade level. “The streetside presence disguises this massing and creates a humble pedestrian and site-friendly relationship,” he says.
Sophisticated Simplicity. Created by Katherine Crosby of Jenkins Baer Associates in Baltimore, the interior finishes are decidedly “purist.” White shaker cabinets in the kitchen complement generous trim, with window views serving as ever-changing art. The second-floor guest suite faces the street, but the floor plan includes glass French doors to reveal the ocean view beyond. Living spaces on the main and second floors offer plenty of room for entertaining.
The downstairs wet bar mixes bold blue custom cabinetry with a solid wood top and shelves that “make it look more furniture-esque,” Pattey relates. The backsplash is a wallcovering with a natural geode effect.
When Pattey introduced a primary suites outdoor shower option to the couple, they went for it. “The covered balcony with an outdoor shower gives them east and northeast ocean views protected from the neighbors and elements,” he says.
FAMILY GATHERING
The couple wanted their year round beach house to blend naturally into its surroundings.
Intentionally Inverted Layout. Dunes surround this home, offering an oceanfront naturescape that doubles as art viewed through the interior’s grand walls of glass. Topography also informs the floor plan. While otherwise a Cape Cod-style two-story—allowing for generous headroom bottom and top—the owners opted to locate the dining area, kitchen, primary and guest suites upstairs. “These spaces are getting commanding views,” Pattey relates, acknowledging height restrictions. An elevator offers convenience given the kitchen and master suite location.
The first floor houses a stately foyer and guest bedrooms. “It’s a fusion of a conventional house from the exterior and inverted beach house plan to capture those panoramic views,” Pattey says.
A Porch for Every Angle. With sprawling oceanfront deck space and covered porches on every façade, the aesthetic outcome is inviting. The functional benefit is protected outdoor space for the owners to breathe in salt air no matter which way the wind blows. “We have such diverse weather conditions,” Pattey points out. “You could be having a very unpleasant northeast breeze that is stiff and cold in summer, but you can warm up on the south-facing porches.”
Plus, the sheltered outdoor living spaces offer an ancillary gain, protecting the inside from harsh sunlight and heat without the use of window treatments during the day.
The ground-level ocean deck is finished with durable Ipe hardwood flooring, a dense, tropical hardwood known for its resiliency. “Over time, it will silver-gray out and become a very natural element, much like the home’s extra-thick cedar shingle roof that can handle wind and water conditions,” Pattey says. “In this location, you have to build a house kind of like a boat—to make sure it doesn’t leak.”
Meanwhile, a second-floor sunset balcony on the southwest front rounds out a plan that completely captures every vista. Intentionally, the porch dining table offers a southwest view down the coastline.
Cultivated with Craftsmanship. The home incorporates artistic millwork like cathedral beadboard ceilings and distinctively curvaceous eyebrow windows, creating a slight roofline wave for interest and ushering in more light. Coupled with NuCedar shingles on the exterior, its design combines linear and arched treatments—notably a dramatic half-moon cut-out on the ground-level deck that creates a rounded frame for the views beyond.
Shed dormers add both light and an exterior rise-and-fall effect. “We wanted an understated façade,” says Pattey, “and introduced those gracious curves, such as a swooping roof line over the front door and eyebrow windows, which are very conducive to the East Coast vernacular.”
In keeping with the owners’ desire for an understated beach retreat, Pattey designed the highest point of the roof to slope elegantly on either side, forming an A-line that “grounds” the home.
Ultimately, the home “captures the sensory and visual panorama of its surroundings,” says Pattey