Fenwick Island, DE
A summer home that hovers above the dunes, designed to be uniquely of its place
This summer home on Fenwick Island is designed for a family deeply connected to the place who wanted a house that fully embraced it. They had summered on Fenwick Island for decades, and when they acquired a rare corner lot overlooking the dunes, they sought a home that would accommodate their growing family while fostering deep connections with the surrounding landscape.
The home had to fit a demanding program on a sensitive site with a tight zoning envelope. To make space for six bedrooms, eight and a half bathrooms, and generous entertaining areas within 35-foot height restrictions, the house takes the form of an elevated bar that cantilevers toward the Atlantic. This maximizes square footage within the zoning envelope, protects the dunes by hovering above them, and positions living spaces over the beach. By elevating living spaces above the floodplain and using breakaway construction at ground level, the design also provides flood resilience.
The exterior takes its cues from the dune fencing that lines the beach, embracing the visual and material character of its place. Accoya cladding matches the exact proportions of those weathered pickets, connecting the house to its coastal context. The slats create a light, airy facade that softens the silhouette and generates shifting patterns of light and shadow throughout the day.
This material continues into interior spaces, blurring the boundary between inside and out. Left unfinished, the Accoya weathers in the salt air, allowing the house to age in the landscape and contain time and place in its materiality.
The ground floor is designed for beach living. With outdoor showers, foot-washing stations, and storage for umbrellas and paddleboards, it functions as a boardwalk extending through the dunes to the beach.
A custom stair continues the motif of the dune fencing. The second floor holds five bedrooms, each with ocean views and access to terraces. This floor serves as the guest wing, accommodating the younger family members and their children.
At the upper level, the house opens entirely. The living, dining, and entertaining spaces occupy a vast, open area that extends onto a terrace cantilevering 17 feet over the dunes. An operable glass wall dissolves the boundary between interior and terrace, creating an uninterrupted space that extends toward the beach and ocean.
Custom furnishings reinforce the connection to place. A coffee table and sinks are cast from concrete using sand from the adjacent beach. The main dining table is milled from a fallen ash tree in Baltimore, where the family is from. Throughout, the palette is muted and reserved, focusing attention on the views and surroundings.
About Ziger|Snead Architects
Ziger|Snead Architects is an award-winning Baltimore-based architecture studio with a national reputation for design excellence in adaptive reuse, civic architecture, and sustainable design. Grounded in the belief that architecture can strengthen communities, the firm is known for a distilled design approach, strong client relationships, and active community engagement. Z|S's work has received more than 100 design awards and the firm has been named one of the Top 50 Architects in the U.S. by ARCHITECT magazine. The studio is led by partners Katelin Etoh and Douglas Bothner.