February 2018   |   49  

story by

 

Liesel Schmidt

  |  

photos by

 

Tim Kramer

W

hite might be the 

predominant color claiming 

the rooms of the two-story 

Klein/Alexander home in 

Watersound, but it elicits no impression 

of clinical starkness, no feeling of chilly 

sterility. Rather, it works in perfect 

compliment to the coastal colors that fl ow 

in, serving as a foreground much like sugar 

white sands of a shoreline that is lapped 

with lazy waves of jewel-toned waters. 

These hues echo those of the beaches mere 

minutes away from this charming house 

nestled within a cozy enclave where the 

hustle of city life seems far away, and that 

feeling of calm is one of the very reasons 

that made two sisters-in-law and their 

families fall in love with the location and 

begin construction back in 2013. “It’s just 

three blocks off the water—close enough to 

walk or bike—so we can catch a breeze off 

the ocean, and the sweet little community 

offers an amazing feeling of quaintness 

and safety,” says stay-at-home mother of 

four Andrea, whose husband Dusty works 

alongside his sister at their family’s software 

business. “It really is such a beautiful place 

fi lled with lovely people—it’s heaven.”

And with heavenly hues of blue trimmed 

out in white, the Craftsman-style beach 

cottage offers plenty of space in its more 

than 3700 square feet. Uniting its multiple 

rooms is that feeling of coastal chic, 

complimented with rustic elements like 

walls clad in white painted shiplap and 

reclaimed hand-scraped pine hardwood 

fl ooring that run throughout, their grey-

stained surfaces putting one in mind of 

driftwood scattered along the shore. So 

much of this home is an homage to the 

beach, so much of it designed to offer 

a feeling of escape and retreat from the 

everyday. 

Its four bedrooms are designed with 

space aplenty, certainly a must in this 

The Family Retreat

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1/27/18   12:30 PM