47
the story of the nautical contemporary home that anchors a new skyline.
STEVE MATTHEWS skims across
the surface of the Cape Fear River,
the bow of his Carolina Skiff parting
the water. The automobile and boat
broker heads through Snow’s Cut,
then turns into the west bank of the Carolina
Beach canal. The bustling waterfront is a highly
trafficked boat lane, but Matthews navigates the
channel with ease. Nosing the bow into its berth,
he disembarks, secures the launch, and with the
press of a button elevates the skiff high above the
incoming tide.
He’s arrived at his new, custom-built water-front
home. Not just any home, but his dream
home. And eventually, his retirement home.
“I love the water,” he says. “That’s what
the house is built around. I had a condo about
10 doors down for 13 years. I used to walk by
this lot all the time.”
Matthews envisioned the potential the prop-erty
offered but had to wait to purchase until the
timing was right. In 2016, he met builder Mark
Batson of Tongue & Groove.
“When we started on this project I said:
‘Mark, I want it to look as much like a ship as
you possibly can.’”
Batson, a National Association of Home
Builders Custom Home Builder of the Year final-ist
in 2018, recounts the beginning of the design
process.
“The look that I thought would fit the prop-erty
and the location on the water was a nautical
contemporary,” he says. “Something that was a
little edgy for Carolina Beach, mixing in contem-porary
elements and traditional shapes with little
nautical touches.”
With a team that included architectural
designer Scott Sullivan and interior designer
Bridgett Mazer, Batson worked from Matthews’
top 10 design ideas and formulated a plan.
Mazer, a regional winner of Parade of Homes
accolades for the Matthews’ residence and other
Tongue & Groove collaborations, minted the
palette with shimmering quartz and quartzite
counter tops, mother-of-pearl tile finishes, tum-bled
sea glass greens and blues, all grounded by
mahogany floors.
www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com WBM