The June issue of Dwell magazine featured an article on”Beach Houses We Love.”  I like many of them, love one or two, and don’t like a couple at all.  You can judge for yourself here.

Around a year ago we started marketing our beach homes as an alternative to the typical LBI house.  Where others build to the maximum allowable foot, we imagine a smaller, more sensible scale.  This isn’t a statement on large houses - some people need or want them, and that’s fine - as much as it is a statement on smaller ones.  Many people need and want smaller homes.  The fit their lifestyles better in many ways.  Everything from the amount of time you spend cleaning to the cost of smaller home is less.  At the same time, we feel strongly that there is a market for modern-ish, cool, green houses that look and feel great.  When you look around the Island, you mostly see one of three things: old homes that haven’t been renovated in 50 years, new homes made of vinyl and without any design quality, and very expensive, custom, architect-led homes.  For SquallCo, our goal is to develop comfortably modern homes at reasonable price points and sizes.  They are architect designed, but they aren’t entirely custom nor are they $2m.  They are, in many ways, similar to the sensibilities of the homes commonly covered by Dwell Magazine.  

Here are a few images of one the homes they reported on: 

I like this house.  It is warm.  It is modern.  It feels like a beach house, but not everyones’ beach house.  How about you?  What do you love in a beach house? 

Have photos or ideas?  Post them. I’d love to start a conversation.  

Here are a few basics for me:  real wood, lots of natural light, great and creative lighting, outdoor spaces that make you want to sit there all day or night, a year-round livability, color, crisp but natural lines.  I could go on. 

Over the course of the summer I will post photos of other beach homes I love.  You can do the same.  Reach out to me if you’d like to talk about how to take these ideas and them into reality as either a new home or a renovation.