LOL. Laugh Out Loud? Oh, heck no. Luxury Outdoor Living.
According to Stephen Quick IV, of Stephen Alexander Homes, the stunning deep water setting of the 2018 Coastal Virginia Magazine Idea House inspired the design of this home and informed every subsequent decision. Currently under construction and located on York Lane in the highly desirable and diverse Bay Colony neighborhood in Virginia Beach, at $2.6 million, this year’s Idea House is the most expensive to date. And with good reason.
Dubbed the York Lane Cottage, this turn-of-the-century Nantucket-inspired home’s 4,300+ square feet—which includes an in-law suite with a private entrance—has been conceived, according to Quick, as if money were no object. Emphasizing open-air entertaining and an outdoor lifestyle, the landscape features a concealed “boat basin” carved into the lot creating a retaining wall and an infinity-like edge for the pool. A covered outdoor kitchen/bar and 30-foot veranda overlook the sail-shaped pool with its built-in seat around the entire perimeter.
Quick describes the home’s interior as “livable, but over-the-top,” in that he imagines eventual homeowners sitting in any space, gazing around and wondering how it’s possible that they reside somewhere so special and conducive to living the good life. The splendid interior sports a widespread use of 7-inch “reclaimed” hardwood planks, an $80,000 cabinet package, deluxe baths, Brizo luxury hardware and a palette of new colors, all with a coastal flare. But the views to the outside, including of the Cavalier Yacht Club, are celebrated. Framing the natural scenes are Ply Gem top-of-the-line architectural series Mira windows, so expansive that, in some cases, they function as glass walls.
For the first time, Stephen Alexander is partnering with True Residential Refrigeration to pull out all the stops. The pantry, an oft-overlooked closet-like space in most homes, is an outgrowth of previous Idea Houses’ blockbuster culinary spaces. At 6 feet by 9 feet, the glass-walled pantry is designed to put all of the “high design,” highly finished and dramatically-expanded refrigeration—an ice maker, a wine pillar and more—on display.
The kitchen, with its 12-foot island featuring new materials, 48-inch Thermador dual-fuel, wi-fi ready range with double ovens and a turbo-charged range hood, will sport refrigeration and freezer capacity twice that of a typical home. Boils, barbecues and beer bashes just got a whole lot cooler.
This extraordinarily efficient and automated home simultaneously embraces 21st century bells and whistles and traditional charm and character signaled by the driftwood-colored shingles on the main house and board and batten siding on the pool house. The vibe of this what’s-old-is-new-again home is that of a 100-year-old house with a modern makeover, which, at every turn, respects the structure’s bones. As it takes shape in the coming months, more details about the York Lane Cottage’s features, seen and unseen, will be revealed in future issues of Coastal Virginia Magazine with the grand reveal coming in our September/October issue.
Coastal Virginia Magazine Idea House Preferred Partners
Ferguson Bath, Kitchen & Lighting Gallery
Visionscapes Land Design & Installation
Greenwich Kitchen Center
Inner Space Systems & Garage Concepts
Cox Communications
Those listed above are preferred partners as of August 14, 2018.
Betsy DiJulio
Betsy DiJulio is a full-time art teacher, artist and curator with side hustles as a freelance writer, including for Coastal Virginia Magazine, and a vegan recipe developer, food stylist and photographer. Learn more on her website thebloomingplatter.com.
