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Home seller Jo Beth Hill said she begins using the free-standing copper fireplace in the living and dining area in September. “I keep it low for the ambiance,” she said.

By Diane S. Morales, Caller-Times

June 26, 2005

Eddie Seal/Caller-Times

Near the dining table, a full bar made of Mexican marble is illuminated by natural light pouring from the skylights.

Whenever Jo Beth Hill steps out of her home to a sprawling waterfront patio, the beauty of her surroundings never ceases to amaze her.

THE DETAILS: Address: 2503 Turkey Neck Circle, Harbor Oaks Subdivision, Rockport Square feet: 4,861 Bedrooms: 3 Bathrooms: 4 full, 1 half Price: $1,600,000 Built: 1984 Information: Mark Uhr, Rockport Properties, (361) 729-7474, 1-800-436-9511 or www.rockportproperties.com

“Everywhere you look you see something beautiful,” Hill said. “Whether it’s the birds, trees, the plants or the house. I really don’t think there’s anything quite like it in Rockport.”

Hill’s partiality could very well go uncontested, considering her home is one of the few projects in Rockport designed by architect Gale Garth Carroll, a former Corpus Christi resident also credited for designing The Amphitheater in Cole Park.

Carroll, 69, who is retired and living in Port St. Lucie, Fla., said he spent a year designing the home for the original homeowners. With their encouragement, Carroll was motivated to stretch his creativity.

“The segmented plan is a trademark of mine,” Carroll said. “I like to spread a house out instead of stacking the rooms. The purpose is to make every room have cross ventilation and some kind of a view to the outside, and hopefully access to the outside.”

The end result: A contemporary, gray stucco home with a copper roof, cypress pyramid ceiling accents throughout the home, strategically placed indirect lighting, a 10,000-square-foot deck canopied by oak trees wrapped in a geometric essence that isn’t harsh or overwhelming.

Eddie Seal/Caller-Times

Refuge from the sun often comes with a cool breeze from the canal, while sitting under the covered patio that overlooks the swimming pool.

“What I try to do is use form and shapes as contemporary, and not forgetting woods that make it look warmer, and color for the interior,” Carroll said. “That was my goal anyway.”

Preserving a batch of oak trees on the property two decades ago was another Carroll design detail that adds to the home’s allure.

About 20 oak trees stretch across the front of the home, shading the

gray cobblestone driveway and casting shadows on the home’s gray-copper

roof, including the copper roof of the porte cochere, or car port, that’s supported by white concrete columns.

Inside the home, glossy saltillo tile in the foyer glimmers from the natural light pouring through the skylight. The tile stretches to the left into the dining and living area where glass walls offer guests a courtyard view of vibrant fuchsia bougainvilleas, potted rhapis palms or lady palms and other plants shaded by oak trees.

Hill has enjoyed entertaining family and friends in her home for the past three years. She often hosts dinners for fundraisers,

Eddie Seal/Caller-Times

The warm amber glow of the kitchen is reflected in the swimming pool on the deck at dusk. “We’re always outside at night,” Hill said.

and recently hosted a book-signing reception in December 2004 for artist Jesus Moroles and a charity event for 400 guests.

“The beauty of the home is that it doesn’t require much,” Hill said. “The beauty of the house stands out alone, the architecture.”

In the dining and living areas, eyes are drawn upward to the 20-foot ceiling. Carroll said the termite-resistant cypress, which lines the pyramid, was milled in Louisiana. Indirect lighting recessed in a crevice where the wall stops and the slope of the ceiling begins creates a warm glow in the rooms’ tan hues.

A free standing copper fireplace provides an elegant focal point to the rooms, capturing the red-tinged Mexican marble bar near the dining table.

Master suite elegance

Down a glass-walled hallway to the master suite, the outdoors is a constant presence with the deck and swimming pool in view along the stroll.

Eddie Seal/Caller-Times

The subtle lighting and smooth lines of a Gale Garth Carroll table design, which he never duplicated, punctuate a fine dining experience. ‘The lighting in this house is so phenomenal,’ Hill said. ‘Each light outlines artwork precisely.’

The pyramid ceiling centers the suite with a white brick fireplace positioned across the bed. A separate his and her bath provides a spa-like retreat, especially in Hill’s bath where more Mexican marble gleams from the skylight in the pyramid ceiling above the jet tub.

Since Carroll designed the home in segments, guests access the spare bedrooms from the courtyard. The swimming pool is at the doorstep of each bedroom, which have a cabanaesque ambiance of natural wood tones. Both guest bedrooms have full baths as well.

Back through the foyer, a kitchen reminiscent of mid-modern century influence is reflected in the flushed, natural wood cabinets and a triangular white Corian counter.

A glass wall offers a view across the courtyard into the hallway that leads to the master suite, but another glass wall offers a perfect view and access to the expansive deck.

Across the swimming pool, Hill often spends her time reading under the covered patio, which mimics the design of the home’s copper roof carport.

“House guests just migrate to this spot. They prefer it than coming indoors,” she said.

About 10 to 15 steps down to the lower deck, runs the canal that leads to Aransas Bay.

Reading the beauty of nature around her is what Hill relishes.

“There’s a serenity here,” she said.