It’s hardly a surprise to type this but on Friday we went on contract for what I’m privately calling Bella Blu by the Bay. We’ve met with our brokers to list the Cove House and have spent a whirlwind week doing the new house inspection, getting in touch with our attorney, staging this house for photos and chivvying the landscaper to get the curb appeal improved. We even painted the garage.
The Cove House living room staged. We edited drastically.
I’m feeling comfortable about beginning to share pictures of the new house. I’m rethinking the name for the blog as I have posted in an earlier post. Right now “We are having an adventure “ seems a likely title.
But I will treat you to another peak.
A view from behind the garageA peak at the kitchen and the breakfast room beyond.
So we took a couple of steps closer to moving again. Yikes!!!!! We went back to the house by the bay for a second look. We checked out listing agents for the Cove House.
In the meantime, I planted more hydrangeas anyway. I’ve got the garden bug fairly badly this summer. If we stay, I will have a good dent into my “ look” for the property. If we go, I’ve created some curb appeal for selling. Either way, I get to enjoy, right?
So I will give another tease on this house that we are much more seriously considering.
I went down to Florida last week to oversee the closing of a permit and the startup of our new generator. I was also checking on the progress of our pool restoration. While I was away, my husband was perusing Zillow. This is ALWAYS dangerous. Can’t leave that man alone with waterfront listings.
We have wanted to be on the water our entire married life. We had a few lucky years on Fire Island with a difficult to get to cottage. As we age, difficult to get to cottages don’t cut it anymore. And truthfully, we want that lifestyle regularly, not just odd weekends. When we chose Cove House, it was the closest we could find near the water that would work for the plan of my daughter and son in law sharing our home during the pandemic.
That plan shifted as our daughter made a great career move! But it meant she would stay put in their home in Westchester County. So we decided to stay in the Cove House despite its very large size. And we have been loving it. But the call of waterfront living has often raised its seductive siren call over the last two years. We have gone to look at properties a few times since moving here. Each time, the property in question either didn’t quite meet our criteria or the sale just didn’t happen.
So here I am, home from Florida, actually indulging my husband’s latest foray into the real estate listings. And I’m not so surprised or stressed about yet another move. Even as I am doing work inside and outside our home! And we have literally checked out a house on the Great South Bay of Long Island. Twice. I have to say, we are seriously considering the move.
Aside from the waterfront opportunity, this house is quite our type as it’s a shingle style house. ( I’m a real sucker for a cedar shake house). This a real coastal house, somewhat smaller that the Cove House with less yard to care for. But with great amenities including a bulkhead for a boat. That’s a real bonus. We’ve often fantasized about getting a small one. And the kayaking and paddle board opportunities abound as well.
The layout of the house flows well for entertaining and the kitchen is rather super. There are fireplaces. One is wood burning! Yay! The gardens are beautiful. And of a size that I can manage. there’s a potting shed and a raised vegetable and herb garden. The fencing is in place for the dogs. The existing landscaping has been well tended. Add an easier commute for my husband, who has never truly retired, close proximity to friends and family, and access to Robert Moses, Jones Beach, and Fire Island and suddenly, I am strongly tempted.
There are many pros and cons to be weighed before this could happen. But we are talking. Which means I’m going to be reassessing the title and intent of this blog. I guess the quest for the forever home isn’t quite over yet.
And being planted by me! I’m finally feeling like the exterior of the house is reflecting me. Although the previous owner planted some great hydrangeas, fruit and ornamental trees, shrub and flowers, the gardens here have felt rather impersonal. With the white picket fencing we did the first September and the bluestone stairs with their stone walls off the deck last fall, I was feeling like we had left a marker that we were claiming the house as ours.
But this planting I’m doing this last week? It makes me feel that I’m yanking the house away from very nice builder’s spec colonial into the more coastal home I long for. The Hydrangeas deserve a lot of the credit.
Todays handiwork. I planted three hydrangeas on each side of the front stoop. It’s an instant change.
I’m about to begin the same treatment off the deck. I planted one but it’s not enough. But I still love how it looks.
Great look but the poor dear is lonely. Hopefully, next weekend I will add more.
I still owe you the lavender hedge border. Tomorrow! Meantime, it was a good day. Got tons done and after a week of wildfire smog, it is truly beautiful out.
We got behind a bit this week with garden planting. The terrible wildfires in Canada created such hazardous air quality that outdoor work really had to be suspended. But a few things are finished. And lavender hedge is done although I haven’t photographed it yet. But here are a few moments that are ready. Can’t wait for a few weeks to pass so they fill in and out.
A new bench to welcome guests on the front stoop and a container of petunias, impatiens, and grass.The other planter. I’m planning to spot hydrangeas between the day lilies.
I’m finding that, somehow, my garden tools got lost in the move. Had to go buy a shovel the other day. I need a rake and a leaf blower. But this is all part of creating the home.
Been absent a bit this week. We were settling in, unwinding, doing minor repairs and the like. We had great weather up until last night. I’m already working in the garden. Tomorrow I will share my brand new lavender hedge.
Today I realized the azaleas are fading. The Siberian irises had a gorgeous flush. So happy I got to see them for the first time. I only have a few peonies. I definitely have to plant more this fall. They are nearly done. The nepeta is shining, keeping the local bees happy and the Russian sage is just a few days away from the first bloom.
I went out to the nursery for more lavender. I will devote a post to my driveway garden in the next few days. That may be the most complete of my beds. But are they ever complete? Even as I fill in blank spots, my mind is racing towards the later season plantings. I’m craving an Autumn clematis to climb up the corner of stone wall by the garages. But it’s spring, so I will try hard to stay focused.
As I brewed my afternoon tea, I clipped a few remaining spring flowers. They will all be gone in a few days, alas. So happy nepeta blooms all summer.
The last of the peonies and Siberian iris.A few sprigs of nepeta visit the silk hydrangea and my kitchen horse.
Bought myself a new shovel today. Gardening recommences tomorrow morning. I saw a few buds on some other plants and bushes. My two apples, my pear, and my peach are absolutely laden with fruit. The squirrels always get the peaches and pears before they even ripen. But my apple trees usually gift me in September.
We pulled onto the drive way as the landscaping crews were mulching. Despite feeling like I have more mulch than plantings, the beds do look great. The Siberian iris are just peaking in some places. But in others, they are beginning to finish. Got a few peonies on the baby plants I put in our first fall. We lost a few of them so they go back in the list to be added on to.
The collies are in heaven. They were chomping at the bit to be out at dawn. They went out and haven’t come back in yet. the weather is clean, fresh and a little on the cool side for my thinned out Florida blood. The dogs would beg to differ!
Schuyler in the “mulch” garden.Spencer “en guard”.It’s a glorious morning. And wouldn’t my horses love that clover!
So good to be home. Working on unpacking and getting comfortable today.
I’m an avid Pinterest user. I am on nearly everyday saving inspirations, vignettes, and plain old stuff! While I do still save dressage related images, in recent years I have really used the site to hone my interior design, architectural, and lifestyle tastes. There are thousands of pictures on dozens of boards. I think I’m more organized on that site than on my phone. Which impresses me. That said, I really should edit, archive, and delete more often.
While my home style has loosened and grown more eclectic over the years I have remained true to my traditional, classic roots. I still prefer English country house and Cape Cod coastal styles. Southern maximalism weaves through but I’m a Yankee at heart. I have a few boards that groan with saves. “New York and New England Aesthetic” probably has the most stuff. But “Cove House”, “Kitchen Inspirations”, and my “What if I lived in…” series are close seconds ( especially Nantucket).
I’ve learned a lot about architecture thanks to Pinterest. Patrick Ahearn and Gil Schafer are favorites. The shingle style of Robert Stern is another. Indoors, the designers are too numerous to mention.
I love my Design Vignettes board. The choices are more eclectic. They reflect mood as much as style. I wish I could figure out how to import photos from my site over here. In the meantime, I will hit my phone and share some vignettes over the years that I have taken myself.
Food always recurs. West Palm Beach kitchen.Fireside.Living room bookcase at Christmas.Ordinary Kitchen arrangements. How to make the functional pretty really matters.Long views.Table Settings. In this case, brunch at Bella Blu Farm.Cookbooks in the Bella Blu Farm kitchen.Food Again.Library in Garden City.Master bedroom looking out to the Sound. Cove House.A favorite! The dining room in Waccabuc set for company. Photo:Jenna Valente.Cooking in the Cove House kitchen.The bar at Waccabuc.Kitchen Desk at Cove House. Subject to change daily!
That’s it for today. We are still foot tapping Florida, looking forward to going back to our beloved New York.
Bella Blu by the Bay 