Virginia Seaside—Almost a century in the past, small cottages had been constructed close to the ocean within the younger resort city of Virginia Seaside. In 2021, a string of bungalows on Cypress Avenue caught the eye of Katie Denton.
“Homes with character,” she describes them.
Denton was looking for a brand new venture after transforming two trip cottages within the Outer Banks. She owns Bees Nees, an organization that makes a speciality of trip getaways and intimate occasions.
She purchased the Cypress Avenue properties and transformed them—three homes, an previous storage and a shed into The Pink Bungalows, leases that play up the historic attraction of the neighborhood with an eclectic look and customized expertise.
Denton, who prides herself on preserving and never tearing down, noticed potential within the homes and renovated them utilizing inspiration from her childhood trip experiences. Even the title of her enterprise was impressed by her roots: Her household house on Maryland’s Gibson Island, within the Chesapeake Bay, was known as The Bees Nees. (Within the Nineteen Twenties, “the bee’s knees” grew to become a preferred colloquialism for one thing excellent.)
Denton, who’s from Baltimore, moved to Hampton Roads as a younger little one, and he or she typically visited her grandparents in Key West, Florida. The tropical environment and the inviting spirit she remembers from these journeys work their approach into her tasks.
All through The Pink Bungalows, Denton has integrated kinds from world wide. Pops of colour and aptitude take heed to the Caribbean, Mexico and India in contemporary, uncommon and tasteful methods.
“The areas kind of transport you,” she mentioned.
Firstly of the pandemic, Denton remodeled her house in Southern Shores, dubbed The Treehouse, right into a trip rental. She employed her buddy Liz Hartz, a Virginia Seaside inside designer, to steer the venture. They revamped one other rental property, The Cottage, a mile away. Denton picked out the furnishings and ready the house for company. She fell in love with the extent of planning concerned.
“Intentional” is the phrase she makes use of to explain how she thinks by means of each bit.
The extent of the work wanted for a makeover of The Pink Home, a 1937 cottage that’s the centerpiece of The Pink Bungalows, shortly grew to become extra of a problem than she anticipated.
“It was actually struggling,” she mentioned. “The home was simply sinking.”
A contractor was capable of shore up the inspiration and salvage all the partitions and the unique lounge flooring. The Pink Home options a number of bedrooms and a loft with twin beds for youngsters.
Subsequent to The Pink Home was a “actually awful-looking storage,” Denton mentioned.
She remodeled it into The Carriage Home for intimate gatherings. It encompasses a lengthy eating desk and a big beaded chandelier. French doorways result in the yard, the place wispy, beachy vegetation line the sting of a brick patio. Pink and white umbrellas are subsequent to a heated saltwater pool. Even the backyard hose and the electrical golf cart are pink.
The Libby is a second seashore cottage, shiny and tropical, that Denton renovated and makes use of as a workspace and for occasion leases. Behind it’s The Liz, an previous shed transformed into an opulent sitting room. On show there are items from a glassware line that Bees Nees developed with the Chrysler Museum’s Perry Glass Studio. A 3rd house, The Kate, is a yearly rental.
Denton likes to assist native companies, particularly women-owned firms, that present catering, floral and present providers in addition to a few of the décor. She is worked up a couple of industrial renovation she’s about to embark on, and it is going to be her most intensive but, she mentioned. She isn’t able to share particulars.
“The following huge one goes to be one other preservation venture as a result of that’s actually vital to me,” she mentioned. “I really like that you could go searching in Virginia Seaside and nonetheless see a few of the unique Virginia Seaside.”
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