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The house is replete with nautical images, but they never feel overdone or kitschy. Among them are two rope ladders salvaged from a boat that now flank a large custom cabinet in the family room. “I had a hard time committing to them,” says Vanessa, “because I wasn’t sure they were going to work. But as soon as the first one was hung, I said, ‘This is it—this was meant to go here.’” The home’s palette, too, seems almost predetermined: a mix of navy and pure white with touches of sand. In the family room, for instance, a pair of navy sofas covered in a textured slub sit alongside two chairs upholstered in a blue-and-white pinstripe, atop a white-and-navy striped rug. Befitting a contemporary beach house, the cottage is filled with light, thanks to a profusion of windows that let in not just the sun but also the happy hustle-bustle of beach-town life. “We live on a fairly busy street,” says Vanessa, “and there are always a lot of people walking back and forth to the beach and the restaurants. But we enjoy the commotion—it makes you feel like you’re not closed in.” But as contemporary as much of the interior is, the Romonds were determined to include touches that added a more historic feel. Over the breakfast nook, for instance, they wrapped a structural beam in
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