island home
Top: The comfortable screened porch with a fireplace is really a second living room. Above left: At the top of the kitchen cabinets, lighted, glass-fronted shelves showcase the couple’s collectibles. Above right: The attractive dining room table expands to seat ten.
1960s home on it. The house required too much work to make it livable, so Ken and Laurie began planning their dream home. Laurie knew she wanted a comfortable home that would complement their “laid back” lifestyle, and she knew she wanted a horizon-tohorizon view of the marsh. She and Ken sketched out their plans, and Ken loaded them into a CAD program. In April 2016, the couple broke ground. The 3,475-square-foot coastal cottage sits on the back of the lot on a circular driveway. The front door opens into an expansive living room,
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JUNE 2018
dining room, and kitchen area with floor-to-ceiling windows showcasing a 270-degree view of the marsh. “It is an ever-changing art piece,” says Laurie, referring to the view. “We see dolphins and manatees, and have seen a swimming gator pass by.” Ken’s plans for the wall-to-wall windows included motorized shades that operate in pairs to take advantage of the full western sun. Ken and Laurie designed the screened porch at a forty-five degree angle off the living room so that nothing would impede the spectacular view. The porch is really an outdoor living and
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