Oceanfront Expertise: Why Our Homes Stand Stronger

When most people dream of a beach house, they imagine wide-open views, salty breezes, and a place where family and friends can gather for generations. But when you build along the oceanfront, beauty alone isn’t enough. In Coastal Delaware, the Atlantic Ocean can’t be taken lightly, so the custom beach homes I design and build have to be as strong as they are stunning.

I’ve built more than 150 custom homes, including 37 directly on the oceanfront, and each one has taught me how to balance design with resilience. For many of my clients, building a beach house is the dream they’ve worked their whole lives for, a home they hope to pass down to their kids and grandkids. That’s a responsibility I take seriously. My job is to deliver a home that not only looks beautiful, but also is built to stand up to everything the ocean throws its way.

Recent storms like Hurricane Erin are a good reminder that storms don’t have to make direct landfall to cause damage. Even skirting offshore, the wind, rain, and surf can pound oceanfront homes. Our homes are built in FEMA Flood Zone and Hurricane Zone 3, which means our homes need to withstand 130-mph winds and tidal flooding, while still delivering dream beach retreats. That balance of beauty and strength is the only way these houses last for generations.

It all starts with a solid foundation. A lot of people ask me “why steel framing?” The answer is simple: our clients don’t want walls anymore. They want big, open floor plans and entire walls of windows facing the ocean. But if you take away walls, what’s holding up the roof? Steel.

Unlike wood, steel doesn’t deflect, so those huge multi-slide doors and headers stay strong and operate properly. It’s also stronger, so it spans farther than conventional lumber. That’s what makes those airy, oceanfront great rooms possible.

To prevent racking during high winds, we tie the house together, literally, using a comprehensive system of strapping and metal connectors from the foundation through each floor. It’s like putting the home in a seatbelt during a storm.

Flooding is another big challenge. We can’t build finished living space below the base flood elevation, that “line in the sky” FEMA dictates, so below that level, we build the foundation to break away safely if a storm pushes water through. Instead of a standard slab, we use smaller cinder blocks filled with concrete and built in a specific pattern that lets water push through without taking down the main structure. Even the garage floor is designed with a thinner 2” vs 4” frangible concrete slab so that if it breaks away, it does so in little pieces without damaging neighboring properties. It’s one of those details most homeowners never see, but it’s what keeps our homes and communities safe.

And then there are the windows. At the beach, everyone wants as much glass as possible to capture the view. But more windows mean more challenges with energy efficiency and weather protection. We use hurricane-rated windows with low U-factors and Solar Heat Gain Coefficients, which is the technical way of saying they keep the hot and cold air where it belongs. Paired with strong framing, these windows don’t leak, don’t rattle, and keep families comfortable year-round.

Of course, beauty still matters, and the good news is the products we use today have come a long way. Traditional cedar siding is classic, but let’s be honest, it’s pricey, it doesn’t hold up well at the beach, and it’s a maintenance headache. Instead, we go with materials that give you the same coastal look without the hassle. NuCedar siding, made from cellular PVC, looks just like cedar but never rots, molds, or warps. Or we’ll use James Hardie shake, a durable fiber cement that comes in tons of colors. You get all the charm of cedar without the constant painting and staining. For trim and railings, we use cellular PVC, too, which is tough enough to take on salt air and still look brand new years later.

At the end of the day, my goal is always the same: create homes that are as resilient as they are stunning. For our clients, this is their dream. It’s where their kids will run barefoot from the beach, dogs will track in sandy paws, and families will watch sunsets and fireworks from the porch.

For me, it’s about honoring the ocean while protecting what matters most: a place for families to relax, laugh, and make memories that will outlast every storm.