DATE: Sunday, September 28, 1997            TAG: 9709270085

SECTION: HOME                    PAGE: G1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY CHRIS KIDDER, SPECIAL TO HOME & GARDEN 

                                            LENGTH:  239 lines

CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION: ***************************************************************** The Outer Banks Home Builders Association 1997 Parade of Homes runs from Oct. 9 through Oct. 12 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. A story in Sunday's Home & Garden section had the wrong dates. Correction published in The Virginian-Pilot, Tuesday, September 30, 1997, page A2. ***************************************************************** OUTER BANKS ON PARADE SEE SOME OF THE BEST IN BEACH ARCHITECTURE AT THE 1997 PARADE OF HOMES.

THE HOUSE IS called Dolphina. It sizzles with the hottest classical styling now influencing beach architecture, and it's one of 15 new homes open Thursday through next Sunday for the Outer Banks Home Builders Association 1997 Parade of Homes.

At first glance, its cool facade of cedar shingles and wraparound porches seem typical for the Outer Banks oceanfront. A cobblestone walkway, transom windows and architectural porch columns only hint that the house might transcend the beach vernacular.

Walk inside and the beach, lying just beyond the terraced swimming pool and spa, becomes an enhancement not the raison d'etre. Dolphina would stand alone, with or without the Atlantic Ocean at the foot of its dune-top gazebo. It is bellwether design that draws on deep, architectural roots: The house melds shingle-style with the Roman-Greco villa, marrying casual to classic in ways that provide both formal structure and uncommon comfort.

Dolphina's walls and windows are trimmed with wide, rounded and channeled natural oak moldings. The wood is repeated in the muntins of the great room window whose scale and view are worthy of an Old World cathedral. Carved stone lions flank a granite fireplace. A hardwood floor of thin-slatted Chinese bamboo echoes the oak tones of the woodwork.

Tuscan columns, arches, tray ceiling with a painted border and a chair rail of hand-painted tile delineate the dining area of the great room.

A few steps away, a light stone floor marks the window-filled, open kitchen that features commercial-grade brushed stainless steel appliances and a wedge-shaped, bilevel island. The oversize floor tiles are inset with a small diamond design in multihued browns and the entire floor is banded with tiles of warm cayenne.

Custom maple cabinets glazed to a warm putty color antiqued with deep brown along panel edges and the rope-motif crown moldings. Marble pulls in cayenne echo the floor tiles. Pearly ebony-brown granite tops and dark porcelain sinks reflect light and add drama.

The focal point of the kitchen is the massive stucco-covered hood over the cooktop. Stone lion's head brackets under the hood canopy and spotted leopard upholstery on breakfast bar seats reinforce a classic design theme found throughout the house.

A tile mosaic reminiscent of those found in the grand homes of Pompeii graces the floor of the main entry, while limestone, marble and other earthy textures and colors, along with wrought iron interior railings, wrap the interior in a warmth inspired by the Italian seaside.

Dolphina, built by Bob DeGabrielle & Associates, is the current model home for Pine Island, an oceanfront vacation resort community between Duck and Corolla, and is not for sale. The $650,000 price tag for a comparable house makes it one of the more expensive homes in the Parade.

Even so, for sheer flash, Dolphina is outranked by the former Pine Island model, Ambrosia, listed at $1.9 million including lot and furnishings. It also is open for the Parade of Homes.

Its 7,200 square feet of living space are packed with special effects and luxurious conveniences but the design, evolving toward the classic style of Dolphina, is less coherent and more beachy.

Classic styling with origins closer to home was on the minds of Portsmouth's Will and Claire Moody when they hired Allen Huddleston to build their oceanfront Southern Shores house. The Moodys traveled to Cape Cod and Nantucket researching turn-of-the-century New England shingle style architecture. While the traditional old Nags Head house is a simplified version of the New England style, Claire wanted to see for herself what had been lost in the transition.

Claire's discoveries - which include skirts of shingled roof around the bottom of the decks, copper gutters and flashings, two-story window bays and crown moldings finishing exterior walls - are being shared in this year's Parade of Homes.

The Moodys' most prominent departure from Nags Head style is the eyebrow window. This sexy little window is more closely tied to Queen Anne style but was frequently incorporated into shingle-style homes in northern seaside resorts. Probably an Outer Banks first, it is centered in the top roof over a line of oversized, transom-style windows that light the two-story entry hall.

The west-facing transom gives the second-floor great room a view of the Southern Shores night skyline. An identical transom of windows on the east side floods the room with morning light while windows below offer ocean views.

Using transom blocks of square windows to open upper walls rather than the popular half-round was part of Claire's plan to make the house timeless in the classic sense.

``We didn't want the house to look like it was built in the '90s,'' she says. ``We're looking forward to retirement 20 or 30 years down the road.''

Claire, who consulted with Huddleston's designer but did her own interior decorating, spent three years planning her weekend home and choosing its finishes, fixtures and furnishings.

Inside, the result is soothing and chic; not beachy, yet freshly aquatic. Cool, watery blues play off sun-drenched yellows on a backdrop of soft whites. The understated nautical theme is reinforced by the porthole window that lights a walk-in pantry off the kitchen - and the subtly mixed-color, multi-surfaced cathedral ceiling of the great room, more reminiscent of billowing ship's sails than a church roof.

The great room is furnished with a mix of antique and contemporary pieces, chosen as much for comfort and utility as for effect. Patterned cottons on overstuffed chairs and upholstered stools add bright notes of color, a stone-faced fireplace adds texture, but nothing competes with the views for which the room was built. In this house with its window walls and generous porches and decks, views are everything.

Although the house shares some formal design elements with DeGabrielle's Dolphina (most notably, the oversized and classically styled trim moldings and inlaid tile ``rugs``), the Southern Shores house offers a more casual division of space.

The banded oak floors of the Moodys' great room give way to French Quarter cobblestone in the kitchen, but the blues and ochers of the tile make it less a line to cross than a transitional continuation of its surroundings. Crown moldings on the white maple custom cabinets and corbels supporting the breakfast bar have matching carved-grape motifs; counter tops are blue pearl granite.

The master bedroom suite shares the top floor and its panoramic views with the great room. A guest suite, game room and children's bedrooms are on the first floor.

An elevator - a convenience in a vacation home, a near-necessity in the second home with a reversed floor plan - services the ground floor garage. ``It's great,'' says Claire. ``It's one of the best investments we made.''

Most of the homes in this year's parade were built for vacation living and feature reversed plans with bedrooms and the main entry hall on first floors, living areas on top floors. One house on the tour is a single story, ranch-style home. It and two others were designed for year-round living.

Starco Realty & Construction's 2,300 square-foot, year-round home on Roanoke Island includes a first-floor home office and half-bath. The formal two-story entry hall opens into a great room whose creamy walls are accented with bright white chair moldings. The room features a fireplace topped with built-in shelves opposite the kitchen and dining area.

Custom kitchen cabinets in white with oak trim are accented with robins' egg blue pulls. Matching pale blue counter tops are also trimmed in oak.

Large windows and a French door balanced with a matching fixed sash opens onto a backyard deck and gives the room plenty of light.

Upstairs, two bedrooms, a laundry room and a large bonus room over the double garage are separated from the master suite by an open hall overlooking the first-floor entry. The master suite has his-and-her walk-in closets and double doors leading to a large, ceramic-tiled bath with a whirlpool tub.

Whether designed for year-round or seasonal use, every house in the 1997 Parade of Homes provides a close-up look at the construction and design trends defining the Outer Banks market today. In addition to the three houses profiled in this article, twelve others offer creative ideas for building a dream home.

Visiting all 15 homes is an education about the wide variety of property available on the Outer Banks. Several of the homes are oceanfront, three overlook golf courses, some are in heavily wooded neighborhoods, others sit among treeless dunes, two are located miles from the hustle of the beach on historic Roanoke Island.

Not that long ago, Outer Banks homes, no matter where their location, were simple in both their design and execution: A beach box with a view and access to the water were enough to satisfy almost any homeowner.

Today, that's not enough. The demand for amenities and sophisticated style is growing at a pace that suggests Outer Banks home buyers - and vacationers - have discovered that living well is life's best revenge.

If so, then this year's Parade of Homes with its central-vacuum systems, top-dollar kitchens, trellis-covered hot tubs, indoor gyms and other luxuries has all the sparks to light a dream-home fire. ILLUSTRATION: DREW C. WILSON COLOR PHOTOS/The Virginian-Pilot

The 4,000-square-foot home of Will and Claire Moody...

Dolphina, a 4,517-square-foot model built by Bob DeGabrielle &

Associates...

The dining room and great room of Dolphina...

DREW WILSON PHOTOS/The Virginian-Pilot

This year-round home being built in Manteo by Starco Realty &

Construction includes a first-floor home office.

A marlin wind vane and a birdhouse top Will and Claire Moody's

house.

Graphics

WANT TO GO?

[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]

HOMES ON PARADE

COROLLA

853 Corolla Drive. 2,650 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2

half-baths with ground-floor playroom, private pool and hot tub.

About $215,000* by BC Custom Builders.

865 Lighthouse Drive. 3,800 square feet, 6 bedrooms, 5 1/2

baths, exercise room, steam shower, private pool and hot tub.

$750,000 by Stormont & Co.

795 Crown Point Circle. 3,100 square feet, 6 bedrooms, 4 baths, 2

half-baths, outdoor hot tub, indoor Jacuzzi, fireplace, game room.

$349,500 by Christi Realty & Construction.

587 Golfview Trail. 2,060 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 3 baths,

fireplace, private pool. $435,000 by Dixon & Meekins.

135 Salt House Road. 4,517 square feet. 6 bedrooms 5 1/2 baths,

bamboo wood flooring, extensive use of stone inside and out, pool

and spa. About $650,000* by Bob DeGabrielle & Associates.

199 Hicks Bay Lane. 7,200 square feet, 6 bedrooms, 5 baths, 2

half-baths, 2 kitchens, fireplaces, recreation, exercise and hot tub

rooms, pool and spa. $1.95 million by Bob DeGabrielle & Associates.

DUCK

115 Sea Hawk Drive East. 2,050 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 3 baths,

fireplace and Jacuzzi in a contemporary reverse floor plan with

special trim features. About $155,000* by Carolina Beach Builders.

SOUTHERN SHORES

191 Wax Myrtle Trail. 3,400 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 4 baths,

3-car garage with workshop, fireplace. $395,000 by Sandmark

Construction.

1 Ninth Ave. 4,000 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths, stone

fireplace, elevator, eyebrow window and other unusual windows,

banded oak and Italian tile floors. About $480,000* by Allen

Huddleston Builders.

KITTY HAWK

5317 N. Virginia Dare Trail. 1,948 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 3

baths, 2 half-baths, handicap-friendly design, 9-foot ceilings,

salvaged pine wainscoting. About $161,420* by Carl Worsley Co.

4287 Worthington Lane. 2,000 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths,

entertainment center with wet bar, trellis-covered hot tub. About

$160,000* by Oyster Bay Realty & Construction.

NAGS HEAD

4700 Virginia Dare Trail. 2,850 square feet, 7 bedrooms, 5 baths

in a contemporary reverse floor plan. About $170,000* by Carolina

Beach Builders.

5306 Chippers Court. 2,196 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2

half-baths in a split-level design featuring a ground floor

``bonus'' room and enclosed garage. $310,000 by Beach Realty &

Construction.

MANTEO

27 Dora Drive. 1,350 square feet, 2 bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths,

traditional design with front porch and picket fence. $119,800 by

Winstead & Son Contractors.

102 Creefs Ridge Road. 2,300 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2

baths, fireplace, home office, ``bonus'' room over garage. About

$135,000* by Starco Realty & Construction.

This house is not for sale, but to build a comparable structure

on another lot would cost approximately this amount, excluding cost

of the land.

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