“IF YOU BUILD IT, they will come” is the famous
line from the 1989 film, Field of Dreams and is an apt
description for the motivation behind Bill and Debbie
Rudisill’s decision to construct a vacation home at
Wrightsville Beach.
The Rudisills have five grandchildren, all of whom currently
live out of town. The beach house gives the grandkids — and
their parents — extra incentive to visit.
“Debbie grew up on the beach,” Bill Rudisill says. “That’s
something I’ve sort of always hoped we could do. Our children
live out of town, so this house creates a reason for them to
come back to Wilmington. We are looking forward to many,
many years of fun with them coming home.”
Debbie Rudisill was one of seven granddaughters who
enjoyed summer days at Wrightsville Beach back in the 1950s
on her grandparents’ front porch.
“The house was right across from the Little Chapel on the
Boardwalk. I remember when it rained we would sit out there
on the porch on a couch, all seven of us. We could judge what
kind of car was coming down the street by the sound of the
engine and whoever could say it first would win that round,”
Debbie laughs.
Today, there are a lot more cars, a lot more houses and new
construction is peppering in more and more modern designs
at Wrightsville Beach. The Rudisills didn’t want to lose sight of
their roots.
“They just really wanted that classic Wrightsville Beach
beach house, but they are also young spirited,” says Lindsey
Cheek, owner and principal designer at Gathered, a Wilming-ton
design firm.
Cheek, who had worked with the Rudisills
before, collaborated with Stone-Montgomery
Construction from the inception to bring
timeless style to the strand. The home on South
Lumina Avenue, completed in July 2020, beauti-fully
pairs stained cedar shakes with crisp white
trim and windows and, of course, a wraparound
porch.
“They have said ‘I can’t wait to paint and read
books and do puzzles with my grandchildren on
the porch’,” Cheek says. “We wanted to make
the home low-maintenance and kid-friendly.
They’ve got a really active family and we wanted
to make it comfortable.”
Clockwise from top: The front door is painted
Van Courtland Blue HC-145 by Benjamin Moore.
The outdoor shower gives the Rudisills a conve-nient
spot to wash off a day at the beach. Wrap
around porches offer the family a place to
gather for a meal with breathtaking views of
Wrightsville Beach.
3142 Wrightsville Ave, Wilmington NC 28403
910-343-1065
www.goodricharchitecture.com
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WBM september 2020