Eddie Seal/Caller-Times

The Seay’s swimming pool is a colorful evening oasis of pool shapes and bubbling water fountains. A nearby pool house is equipped with a full bath and furniture. ‘If it gets wet I don’t have to worry about it and fuss at the kids,’ Nancy Seay said. ‘We’re here to have fun.’

By Diane S. Morales, Caller-Times

October 23, 2005

Eddie Seal/Caller-Times

Visitors can get a peek at the crackled coastal birds through the glass-paned doors of the Seay’s foyer. ‘My husband asked me why I put those there. I just like them,’ Nancy said.

ROCKPORT—Whoever heard of a formal vacation home? Nancy and Donnie Seay certainly didn’t consider the concept when they renovated their home.

“We didn’t draft formal architectural plans,” Nancy said. “We just did a visual walk-through with the builder and said let’s do this or let’s do that. It was fun.”

And fun is what the 6,120-square-foot home on Albatross Street is all about for the San Antonio natives, who spend the summer and most weekends enjoying their Key Allegro playground with their grandchildren.

FISHING LURES

The Seays gave up their lake house in Horseshoe Bay to follow the lure of fishing.

“My husband is an avid fisherman,” Nancy said. “One day he said, ‘We’re moving to the coast.’ And I said ‘What?’ So we came and found a house.”

It took some time to find a house where each bedroom had its own full bath. Nancy wanted her family, including four grandkids and another on the way, to have all the space they needed to romp and relax.

The 10-month renovation project by Mark Uhr of Rockport Properties and input from the Seay’s son, who’s an architect, resulted in some design enhancements and room additions to the 1970s-built home.

After gutting the house and adding a new master suite and a redesigned swimming pool, the family moved in July 2005 to a crisp environment of casual minimalism warmed with natural tones and a waterfront view.

Eddie Seal/Caller-Times

A stylish metal banister complements the smooth lines of the bamboo wood floor. The stairs lead to Donnie Seay’soffice and the master suite. Both rooms were additions to the home.

Nancy decorated the five-bedroom, seven-bath home, incorporating their lake house furniture and other reliable classic pieces, which she called “old friends.”

“I just keep reupholstering. You know how you get used to things,” she said.

The Seay’s trusty furniture pieces hardly show their age in the home’s décor where bamboo wood floors, trim work and cabinetry lend a modern sophistication of natural texture.

BRIGHT SPACE

The bamboo details are most striking on the second floor of the white stucco home because natural light pours in from the waterfront view, brightening the open space of the living, kitchen and dining areas.

To raise the height of the living area, a barreled ceiling was created between a sitting area and the dining room. Coffered ceilings above the sitting area and dining room contrast with the softness of the concave ceiling, a feature also used in the kitchen.

Eddie Seal/Caller-Times

The addition of a new master suite lends a perfect view of the canal. Nancy said the rattan chaise in the corner is perfect for curling up with a good book or taking naps.

Silver granite counters in the kitchen gleam against the bamboo wood cabinets and sleek silver hardware in the kitchen, the family’s gathering place.

“We spend all of our time here or at the pool,” Nancy said. “I cook here more than at home because there it’s just the two of us. It’s just more fun with all of us here. We do a lot of fish.”

The split bedroom layout upstairs gives family members their own private resting spot with full-sized baths. Two more bedrooms and baths are downstairs, including a lounge room near the pool.

The Seays added a tower to the house next to the sitting area for Donnie’s office. Arched windows overlook the front yard, while a glass-paned door leading to the balcony offers a view of the canal.

Flowing from the office is the master suite, another addition to the home.

“It’s very peaceful here. I can close the door while the kids are running and screaming out there,” Nancy said laughing.

A moss-green sectional sofa cradles a corner near the bedroom’s entrance. Opposite the cozy sitting nook is an L-shaped wall of windows and doors leading to the balcony that stretches from the master suite to the kitchen.

Eddie Seal/Caller-Times

An inviting sectional in the master suite is a cozy retreat with just enough sunlight from the glass windows shimmering on the bronze curtains.

Nancy had a little more fun decorating the separate full baths in the master suite. She chose small teal glass tile for the countertop and around her jet tub. In her husband’s bath, iridescent green glass tile dominates the horseshoe shaped shower.

“It’s great to fit four little boys. They think it’s the neatest thing,” she said.

SWIMMING POOL OASIS

When the Seays, or their grandchildren, aren’t hanging out in the kitchen, they’re gathered at the swimming pool overlooking the canal. Cantera and flagstone tile surround the redesigned pool that features a Jacuzzi, a shallow tanning pool and a bar amid waterfalls, fountains and palm trees.

“I wanted it to look like it’s always been here,” Nancy said. “And the new novelty for the kids is eating lunch in the pool. They think it’s the coolest thing.”

Maybe it’s not worrying over spilled drinks or fussing over napkins that makes eating at the pool bar fun for the kids.

“It’s so nice here and the grandkids love it,” Nancy said. “The boys love fishing, finding fiddler crabs. There’s always something for little boys to do on the coast.”