Does Beach House Decor Have To Look “Coastal?”

Hey Guys.

wow.

wow.

Thanks for weighing in on your thoughts about Cyndi’s lovely home in the beach community of Saint Simons Island, GA.

And, I’m back, coincidentally (or maybe not, since it’s summer) from my beach vacation in Cape Cod, MA. Provincetown, to be precise. Or, as the locals affectionately call it, Ptown.

 

Your comments plus, my trip are the inspiration for today’s post. The main idea is:
Does beach house decor need to look coastal?

 

Or rather, does a beach house for SALE need to look coastal?

But first, a little about my vacay which interweaves nicely with the beach house decor topic. (I hope!)

 

 

Provincetown, if you don’t already know is a historical village on the tip of Cape Cod.

In addition to a historic beach community, today, Ptown is a popular vacation spot for those in the LGBT community. However, there are plenty of “straight” (whatever that means-lol) people and couples with children.

 

And, let me stop right here for a sec before someone decides to send me a message I don’t wish to receive.

 

I realize that there are people here of all different beliefs and some who believe that their way IS the only way. And, that’s absolutely fine. You may think and believe whatever you like. But, please keep it to yourself. Thank you.

I love all people who are kind, decent human beings. What they do with their private life is their business.

Amen.

The best way for me to describe P-Town is like the East Village of NYC by the sea. Very colorful. :] And it was quite a steamy two days too! Oh, if you’ve never been to the east village in NYC, please add it to your bucket list and go to 6th St. (between 2nd and 1st Ave) for some terrific (and cheap) Indian food. You won’t be sorry.

 

I went on my Cape Cod vacation with my 28-yr-old son, Cale who lives in Boston.

 

He went to Beantown exactly 10 years ago to study music at New England Conservatory and stayed after graduating. Now, at 28, he has evolved into the most delightful young man. Very proud of him. And if you ever get to hear him play his trombone, you won’t be sorry about that either.

I wish I could say that I took a zillion pictures. I still haven’t programmed myself to do so. However, I did take a few which I will share with you.

Cale and I had been talking about taking a trip, but he was the fuel that made it happen.

 

And so, only two weeks ago, I got on one of those internet sites and quickly found a place that looked terrific. The White Porch Inn. They had one room left with only one bed. No problem. We’ll work it out. I booked it.

Cale had already been traveling and arrived at my place last Sunday. We drove to Boston the next day, spent the night and then left the next morning. On the way, we stopped at my dear friend, mentor and web guru Eileen Lonergan. And yeah… true to form, forgot to take pics of her brand new splendid kitchen.

You can see her lovely New England home in this post from four years ago!

 

After an easy trip up the cape, we arrived at our destination in Provincetown, MA – The White Porch Inn– Ahhhh… that’ll do.

 

This is from the White Porch Inn website.

A better view of the porch, also from their website. Every evening, the guests are invited to convene here to enjoy a glass (or two) of wine.

Tom, the owner was waiting for us with a big, warm smile and we climbed up to our room– the penthouse. He couldn’t have been more gracious and explained everything to us including the history of the inn.

That included the fact that Cher had stayed in this room a couple of years ago!

YES Cher! And YES! I slept in Cher’s bed! haha And no. I don’t have a pic of it. But, the photo below, from their website, shows the area beyond the bed.

Handsome room with a great shower!

Well, I’m sure that I didn’t book this room, but it was ours because they had a cancellation.  And so, the penthouse we got, along with a roof terrace!

And there was plenty of room for Cale’s air mattress. He was a good sport about that.

 

The next images are mine from our rooftop terrace!

 

view of the historic Provincetown library and harbor beyond.

Yes, yes… I know. Calm down. He has a lovely girlfriend.

Our terrace is nearly as big as my bedroom!

No, I wasn’t lucky. I cheated. (a little) haha. This is a still from a short video that I took. It did take a few tries however, to actually get the shot of the bolt.

 

These photos were taken near the end of our trip on Thursday morning.

 

Back to the beginning, Cale just had to go for a swim in the ocean.

The ocean, however is only about 500 feet away, so no problem there. I just dipped my feet in. The water was delicious!

The next six images are ones I took, except for the first one. :]

Then, we hadn’t really eaten much so we went for an early dinner at Pepe’s which is very near the White Porch Inn and on the water. Actually, you can see the entrance to the restaurant in the lightening bolt pic. It wasn’t cold, but it was quite breezy.

I have to take pics of Cale when he’s not looking. Just trust me on that one!

After dinner, we went for a long walk and saw the less “colorful” part of town that is in actuality, an elegant, New England-style coastal community.

If you don’t already know. Hydrangeas are my favorite flower. And there are tons of them in Ptown! Alas, some of the most beautiful gardens, we saw at night.

Blue hydrangeas at dusk in Ptown.

After walking and window-shopping, we went for a yummy dessert at The Purple Feather on Commercial St. I highly recommend that.

The following evening, nobody was standing in my way and I quickly snapped this lovely pic in front of Shor Home.

 

Please also follow Shor_home on instagram.

That evening, we saw this character, Dina Martina, do a fabulously entertaining one-woman show. I realize that this type of humor isn’t for everyone, but if you love seriously weirdly funny + irreverent about everything, you’ll love her! Here’s a clip of Dina on youtube.

We also did a lot of eating and shopping. The food in Ptown is terrific!

On Thursday, we packed up our things and said goodbye to the White Porch Inn.

 

Love this cosy eating area in the pretty blue and white kitchen where we ate breakfast. The kitchen was in a state of getting tidied up at that time. Arrgh. I had a chance earlier but as I said, wasn’t thinking enough about photos.

Memo to Laurel. TAKE PHOTOS!

The front parlor at the White Porch Inn is handsome but not particularly “beachy” or even “coastal.”

There is a rotating display of original artwork for sale as well.

Another thing I noticed, is that there appears to be a town ordinance against having window treatments of any kind. I noticed this in many houses. I do love getting to see what’s behind the glass; from a distance. From a distance!!!

Before we left, we drove around Ptown a bit and saw Herring Cove Beach on the far tip of Cape Cod. We were hoping for some bigger waves, but as you can see, that did not happen. Still, it’s very pretty.

We stopped in the town of Wellfleet on Cape Cod where I snapped this classic house and garden.

Okay, time to get back to beach house decor. Your comments inspired me to take a closer look at that.

 

In my mind, the perfect beach house– ever is the incredible film set from the movie, Something’s Gotta Give.

 

I created this image from the video that I rented on youtube.

 

My friend and interior design colleague, Linda Merrill did an amazing compilation about this amazing beach house decor which links to all of the other awesome posts on the same topic.

However, this is a film and the set is the vision of a brilliant designer. But, a lot of people have copied this beautiful beach house decor since the movie came out 15 years ago.

 

And since I was just in a coastal beach area, I decided to have a look-see at the homes for sale in Provincetown for over a million dollars.

 

All of the images are from Capecod Ocean View Realty

So, please check them out for more images. The specific properties are also linked underneath their exterior image.

Below, the most expensive home currently for sale in Ptown.

This beachfront property at 47 Commercial St, is so close to the water, it’s actually IN it! haha

Commercial St. is the main drag, but this home is away from the more intense section of shops, art galleries, restaurants and theaters.

Let’s look at one image of the interior. (for more images, please click the link above)

It’s an antique home with low ceilings in most areas. For nearly 6.5 million, I’m a little underwhelmed with the decor. The house has oodles of charm. They could’ve done a lot better with the furnishings, IMO. And see? No window treatments. I do rather like that as it’s a cleaner non-fussy look.

7 Harbor Drive is a classic beach house stunner.

 

uh oh. Apparently, they did not heed the Ptown ordinance for no window treatments, but they should have. Or, at least they should’ve done away with the valance. Definitely! And I would’ve put up a white linen drapery.

But, that view!

 

52 Point St. is another sprawling antique beauty

 

Let’s go inside.

 

A handsome dining room, for sure, but definitely not what I am expecting to see for a home just a few hundred feet from a New England beach.

38-40 Commercial St. is an interesting property

 

with some quite nicely-done classic-traditional but definitely not what I think of when I think of beach house decor. Charming antique home, however.

584 Commercial St. is a classic Victorian of Historic Significance.

 

The listing says: “You truly feel transported to another time in history when you arrive at this home.”

I would go along with that. ;]

But, maybe a little too transported?

This is a house that you leave your sunglasses when you come inside. It’s an incredibly lovely home. And I know. “It’s only paint.”

Do you think that buyers will be able to see past it?

But, maybe ONE will love the saturated hues.

I far prefer Gerald Bland’s lovely home built a few years before this one.

Well, Laurel. Fine. We get the point. You can have a coastal home and it doesn’t have to be shades of blue, white and beige. But, aren’t there any classic beach homes in Provincetown?

 

Yes, I did find one.  And for whatever it’s worth, I DO think that the interior of ANY home should tie into the home’s exterior in some way or other.

 

Architecturally, it’s everything I could ever want in a beach home.

139 Commercial St. in Provincetown, MA

Most of the decor is fine. There are a few things I would tweak.

 

I am showing this image because one) please take off the arm covers for the photo. And two, what I really want to see is a slipcover for the entire thing in white cotton duck. That would be sensational!

Well, this is a lot of images.

What do you think of the non-beachy colors for beach homes? Would you be able to see past them if you see a house you are interested in purchasing?

 

Thanks again for all of the great comments for Cyndi’s beach community home. She wrote me and said that many of the suggestions are helpful and appreciates the help.

xo,

 

 

PS: Don’t forget to check out this weekend’s hot sales!