Creating their forever home was a labor of love for Wendy Whittington and Fred Duffy.
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The couple, on the cusp of retiring from medical careers in Dallas, spent several years designing the Strathmere home they moved into this summer. It’s a showcase of their passions: family, books, travel, and wine.
“We wanted to recreate an old beach house with the feel of the shore we knew from growing up,” said Whittington. She grew up in nearby Dennis Township and Duffy visited Long Beach Island in his youth.
“We have a big family and wanted a place that was welcoming,” Whittington said, “a gathering place.”
So they razed and rebuilt the house they had bought a decade earlier. They had purchased the rundown two-bedroom ranch as a rental property, with a plan to replace it later.
“We had an affinity for coming back to the beach and Strathmere worked for both of us,” said Whittington. “It felt like coming home.”
But the house was too small for their large blended family. Together they have eight children, four of whom now have spouses.
Working with Halliday Architects and Oliver Custom Home Builders, they spent about four years designing and almost two years building the new house. The roughly 4,000-square-foot home has two main floors. The second floor, where the couple spend most of their time, includes a spacious kitchen and den, primary bedroom and sitting area, Duffy’s office, and a secret wine cave.
The first floor is where their kids hang out. It has three bedrooms, a second kitchen, and Whittington’s study.
“The kids are welcome upstairs, but they aren’t encouraged to come up,” joked Duffy. “That’s our sanctuary.”
Despite the boundary, “everybody always ends up in the kitchen anyway,” Whittington said. So “we wanted a kitchen big enough to allow for that.”
Whittington and Duffy both enjoy cooking. Their main kitchen was designed with functionality in mind, and includes a large quartz island, Thermador appliances with a five-burner gas stove, double ovens, a pot filler, a copper sink, and lots of storage space.
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The open concept layout allows guests to mingle in the sitting area, a cozy room with a fireplace, comfortable couches and a stunning view of the ocean. Large walnut bookcases are filled with books, evidence of their passion for reading. Hidden behind one of the bookcases is the temperature controlled wine grotto.
The pair often eat at the bistro table in the corner. When the house is full of guests, they eat in the dining room at an oak table they bought from Land and Sea Furniture in Ocean View. Custom made by Amish woodworkers, it seats 14.
The extensive use of wood throughout the home is one of its most striking features. Rich mahogany defines the exterior trim and extends to the ceiling of the couple’s primary bedroom. Inside, walnut takes center stage, featured in the flooring, trim, and distinctive banisters.
The home is filled with treasures from their travels, as well as finds from stores in Philadelphia, antique shops in Cape May, and Etsy. The door knocker, which dates back to the 18th century, was found on a trip to Barcelona and the fish-shaped outdoor shower handles came from Uruguay. They discovered several hammered steel pieces of art in Haiti.
At Architectural Antiques Exchange in Philadelphia, they found the Belgian cabinet they converted into the powder room vanity, the stained glass for the transoms in the kitchen, and the stained glass door for Whittington’s study.
“Everything is personal and has a story,” said Duffy.
The light fixtures are among their favorite accents. They aimed for period-appropriate pieces with a whimsical flair. For example, the dining room lights are original milk glass and the second-floor living room chandelier is brass. The two matching stairwell lights are vintage Venetian mouth-blown Murano caged glass bubble lanterns.
Whimsical wallpaper brings fun and funky beach designs into the home, featuring fish, octopus, crabs, and seagulls.
The home boasts several outdoor spaces, including a grassy backyard. From the large roof deck, Duffy and Whittington can take in both sunrises and sunsets, and the cozy front porch is where they read and relax. The primary bedroom and a guest bedroom also have walk out decks.
“We enjoy sitting on the deck, looking at the stars, listening to the ocean, and having a bottle of wine,” said Whittington. “That’s blissful.”
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