I N M E M O R Y MICHAEL KERSTING
Nestled in a Landfall cul-de-sac overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway, a sprawling design by Michael
Kersting is strategically positioned to maximize water views from every angle as well as provide seclusion and
privacy. The book Andrew Henry’s Meadow by Doris Burn was most influential in leading Kersting into the field
of architecture, he says.
“IT’S a story of this kid who … discovered this meadow not
far from his house and built himself a really awesome tree
house,” said Kersting. “One kid came and Andrew built a tree
house for that kid that reflected his personality and another
kid would show up and he built a fort for that kid. Before you knew it,
Andrew Henry’s meadow had this whole collection of structures and
a community was formed. In a way,
this is what I do as an architect now. I
have clients who come in and want a
house that fits their personality. We
like to sit down with our clients and
understand who they are, what are the special things we can extract
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WBM
and present through architecture.”
Michael Kersting’s meadow turned out to
be a little more sophisticated than Andrew
Henry’s and continues today with several of
Kersting’s custom home designs currently
being constructed. Recently, his design
“Clear Blue” located near the Blockade
Runner at Wrightsville Beach won the
2022 (George) Matsumoto People’s Choice
Award. This prestigious NCModernist prize
is the state’s highest honor for residential
modernist architecture. Kersting’s design
“Surrender” at Figure Eight Island featuring
curved rooflines and a hotel wing won the
2018 (George) Matsumoto People’s Choice
Award.
Other awards include a North Carolina
(AIA) Honor Award, several AIA Wilm-ington
Merit and Honor Awards and five
Matsumoto People’s Choice Awards.
Kersting met his wife, Pam, at the
school of design at NC State. They have
two sons, William and Jack.
This Wrightsville Beach waterfront Kersting design called “Waterline” won the 2015 Matsumoto
People’s Choice First Place Prize and the 2015 AIA Wilmington Honorable Mention.
RICK RICOZZI PHOTOGRAPHY WBM FILE PHOTO