October/November 2016   |   67  

A Beautiful Touch

story by

 

Liesel Schmidt  

|  

photos by

 

Tim Kramer

B

ehind the clean, minimal lines tracing out the façade of the 
home that Teddy and Christy Phillips own in Rosemary 
Beach, there lies an architectural jewel so stunning that it 
seems to defy logic. It’s quite the deception, as its gated 

entryway seems almost stolid, an expanse of light stucco standing in 
sentinel’s watch while it offers no hint of the beauty beyond its austere 
veneer. 

In an area so fl ooded with so beachy-looking bungalows and painted 

pastel cottages, the Cape Dutch style home could be considered 
somewhat an oddity. It is massive to be sure, claiming just under 5,500 
square-feet in its three stories. It’s a treasure trove; a collection of rooms 
so gorgeously designed that they each demand attention. No space is 
simply serviceable, no detail too fi ne to address. Every fi nishing and 
fi xture is chosen with careful consideration, each color selected with 
focused vision. 

And while the sheer magnitude of its spaces could so easily skew to 

cavernousness, the Phillips home is welcoming and warm, shimmering 
in its glamorousness at the same time as it unrepentantly brandishes 
rustic charm. The line it walks is a fi ne one; too far one way, and its 
design would seem inauthentic. But in its blend of textures, colors, and 
materials, the two ends of the spectrum come together with effortless 
ease; and so the dull white bones of longhorn skulls seem oddly at home 
under the glittering light of chandeliers.    

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9/27/16   2:02 PM