While Florida may seem very far away to many of us here on the Washington coast, a beach town called Seaside in Florida was one of the primary inspirations for Seabrook, WA!

Casey Roloff, Town Founder of Seabrook, explains, “I fell in love with Seaside and I am excited to build a town here in Washington with many of the same elements that sets Seaside apart from other development.” Although the architecture may differ between the two towns, both Seaside and Seabrook share quite a few similarities:

• Seaside’s town plan was created using 80 acres and Seabrook’s plan was made using 88 acres.
• Both beach towns are located on previously overlooked stretches of coastline.
• Seabrook and Seaside were designed to ensure a resident’s primary needs are located within a 5-minute walk of the town center.
• The retail center of each town was designed to be the heart of the community.
• A variety of pedestrian and bicycle friendly routes were created to encourage walking and bicycling as the primary modes of transportation.
• Charming regional towns like Seaside, OR, Cannon Beach, OR, and Carmel, CA,  influenced home design codes and architectural guidelines in each town.
• Small cottages, large family beach houses, and homes of every size and shape exist to provide something for everyone.
• Seaside and Seabrook have held property values better than any other town on their respective coastlines.
• Both Seaside’s and Seabrook’s Town Founders live in the towns they worked to create.

Like Seabrook, “It was never about selling real estate,” says Robert Davis, Seaside’s Town Founder. “It was more about selling an idea of how people can best live side-by-side in a community.”

“Seaside grabbed the imagination, not to mention the emotional heart strings of homebuyers who wanted to be a part of the Davis’ vision of Serendipity on the Gulf.” – Robb Report, “Seaside’s 30th Anniversary Special.”

Read the full Robb Report Seaside article and learn about the other similarities between Seabrook and Seaside!

As many beach lovers from across the nation have flocked to Seabrook to visit the 2010 Coastal Living Magazine Ultimate Beach House, we’ve had a chance to meet some very successful and inspiring people from all industries.

One such person has been Florida based interior designer Michelle Jennings Wiebe. Visiting relatives in Washington state, she had heard of the great 4th of July tradition established at Seabrook and decided to bring her own family here for the holiday.

We had the great pleasure of meeting her and her family as they walked in our office after a tour of the Ultimate Beach House. Eager to learn more about our waterfront real estate neighborhood, we spent good couple hours chatting about our beach town and discussing Seaside, Florida and other similar communities that, like Seabrook, were founded on the basis of new urbanism.

Here are 10 questions Michelle was kind enough to answer for the readers of our blog. She is an incredible person and a unique interior designer; hope you enjoy her interview and pictures of some of her work.

1. Was becoming an interior designer your dream since you were a kid?

Amazingly, yes!  I grew up in a historic home built in the 1800s in a small town in Ohio.  My grandparents owned it before my parents did, and I was quite enthralled when my grandfather let my grandmother hire a “decorator from the big city!”  I loved seeing the transformation of this house from tired to beautiful!  I also spent a lot of my time as a child drawing floor plans and elevations, decorating my Barbie houses, and spending time in multiple art classes.  My love increased during high school with more art and drafting classes.  Upon graduation, I knew I wanted to study Interior Design.  I chose Florida State University and graduated, loving every minute of it!

2. What is your favorite part of the house to design?

Actually I don’t have a favorite room.  I love any space that I get to design with incredible fabrics.  I have a deep passion for unusual, exquisite, colorful fabrics.

3. What is the most common decorating mistake you notice?

Perhaps incorrect scale or proportion used.  All the pieces of the room must fit together.  As an interior designer, I am constantly thinking about how each piece will affect other pieces, and how the final outcome will look.  I never make a singular decision without thinking through the entire scheme or plan!

4. What do you strive for in your career (goal/milestone)?

Throughout my career, my primary objective has been to provide my clients with BOTH excellent interior design and superior client service.  There is nothing better to have the same clients come back year after year, whether they are purchasing a new property or referring us to a friend!

Recently, I have set some new industrious career goals for both our firm and me individually.  First, our firm is very enthusiastic about doing more interior design work outside of Florida; it is our intent to branch out into more national projects, and even international ones!  Second, we would like to design and license our own line of designer home items.  We have some great ideas for bedding, area rugs, and furnishings; we are still looking at which avenue to pursue.  Third, I’d like to write a design book and get published; this has been a dream since childhood.  I’ve actually began the initial process on this.  Lastly, we are developing ideas for pitches with television networks to launch a design TV show.  So needless to say, these are exciting times at Studio M!  We are thankful for every client past and present, and look forward to creating these new chapters (literally!)

5. What is your biggest inspiration in life?

My family is my biggest inspiration!  I have a wonderful husband Tom, who left a decade long corporate career in the finance industry to join Studio M several years ago!  He is also a great dad to our three children.   They all inspire me each and every day!

6. Where do you draw inspiration from in your work?

Inspiration comes from many sources, but travel provides new creativity and refreshment.  I must tell you that during our week long stay at Seabrook this summer, I found a lot of design inspiration from the ocean, the rugged cliffs and trees, and the charming architecture of the community!!  The tranquil setting also was perfect for complete renewal and recharging.

I also meticulously study design books and design magazines for inspiration—you should see my bedside table!  Over the past year, I have also become a design blog junkie on-line.  I am amazed out all the information out there!

7. Favorite place to relax?

The beach….the beach…..the beach.  My soul considers it truly heaven on earth!

8. Most uniquely and interestingly decorated movie scene that you remember?

It is funny you should ask that because I also admire and study movie and television sets.  Sometime it does not even matter what the show is about, if there is an interesting design to the set, I’m entertained by that!

Hands down, my favorite production designer is Jon Hutman, who along with set decorator Beth Rubino crafted the sets of both “It’s Complicated” and “Something’s Gotta Give.”  Jon Hutman also designed “The Holiday”.  These are my favorite recent movie sets.

Of course, my all time favorite which must be mentioned is the incredible “Gone with the Wind”!

9. What was your favorite part about Seabrook?

Our family enjoyed Seabrook so very much, and it was everything we thought it would be, plus more!   We have stayed at and been fascinated with the developments of the neo-traditional communities of Seaside, Florida and Rosemary Beach, Florida.  We come often to visit relatives in the Seattle, Washington area, so we were drawn to check out the Pacific Northwest’s enchanting version of this type of community.

It is difficult to pick out just one favorite part.  Our family enjoyed every minute, and we made lots of treasured memories.  We enjoyed our family bike rides, horseback rides on the beach, decorating our front porch for the 4^th of July, visiting Lil’s Pantry (everyday!), hiking the trail to the beach, and just the fun family time we had!

We sincerely enjoyed our stay!  Thank you for your Washington hospitality.  We look forward to coming back soon!

To find out more about Studio M Interior Design, visit:

Studio M Interior Design Website

Studio M Interior Blog

Studio M Interiors on Facebook

Studio M Interiors on Twitter

 

Jeff Lehman, a soon to be Seabrook homeowner, has recently shared with us his story about deciding to build a beach home at Seabrook. His adventure is fascinating, and he is happy to share it with everyone here on the Seabrook Blog. Hope you enjoy it!

Why I picked Seabrook

“I started my college education as an architecture major. I loved it and it loved me, but I quickly figured out it might be better to be the person the architect collaborated with than a true architect.

Many years ago I purchased a lot in Seaside, Florida. It’s where many say “new urbanism” originated. I designed a house there and named it Kano Cottage, after Frank Lloyd Wright’s favorite horse. Unfortunately, I later had to sell it. That was a heart breaker, and I vowed to someday build another Kano and never be in a position to let it go.

I first heard of Seabrook through a Seattle Times article (circa 2004). It was impressive to see what Casey Roloff and his team were creating. It’s been my long standing opinion that developers have squandered the Washington coastline for decades. Seabrook, however, seemed like a perfect pacific northwest version of Seaside, and in some respects a much better version than the original. It also reminded me of Cape Cod, Marblehead, and Nantucket.

One morning, I took a road trip from Seattle to Seabrook (it’s an easy 2.5 hours). When I turned into Seabrook, I immediately knew that my second chance at creating a dream beach house was about to happen. Soon after that trip I was able to obtain a founder’s lot and get the design process started.

The Seabrook Construction team put together a very reasonable proposal and then moved quickly to get the project underway. As I write this, the house is about halfway completed and is scheduled to be done just before the Coastal Living Magazine Idea Home opens. Good timing.

While they are working fast and furious to get the house done, I’m putting my architectural skills to good use designing and building some of the signature furniture and lighting pieces that will appear in each room. I’ll write more on this later.

Some interesting design features are planned for the house, like Seabrook’s first “see through” fireplace into the sun room, a large master suite, an open dining and living room space, and exterior railing details borrowed from my former Seaside home.

I still haven’t picked a home name yet, so stay tuned. The next time you are in Seabrook, drive by Lot 70 (near the site of the proposed pool house) and take a look.”

-Jeff

 

Here is a slideshow of some picture updates from Jeff’s house under construction: