58
WBM august 2020
HOMEOWNERS Ross
and Bryce Tomaselli
collaborated with builder
Tanner Konrady to reno-vate,
retrofit and reinter-pret
the 1928 Shore Acres model home on
Harbor Island for year-round 21st-century
living. Little did they suspect they were
following in the footsteps of others who
came before them nearly 100 years ago.
“My mom was the first to notice the
house was for sale,” says Ross Tomaselli,
who grew up in the Airlie Road neighbor-hood
near Wrightsville Sound as the son
of Kate and Lumina Station developer
Joel Tomaselli. “We really wanted to be
on Wrightsville Beach. Real estate is at a
premium over here.”
Top and opposite: The one-story brick house covered in stucco has a flat roof with a central stepped parapet facade and arcaded entry block.
The previous owners of the Shore Acres model home applied for a Historic Wilmington Foundation plaque in 2007. Above: Looking from
Motts Channel east along Live Oak Drive in 1928, the Shore Acres model home comes into focus.
ALLISON POTTER
COURTESY WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH MUSEUM OF HISTORY MEAGAN FORBES