OCEAN CITY — The popular Gardens section of Ocean City is well known for its beautiful historic homes that almost anyone would be happy to own.
I’m not one of them.
For my money, I’ll take a brand-new, custom-built home such as the one at 504 Waverly Blvd., designed and built by Oasis Property Group.
While some may argue “they don’t build ’em like that anymore,” referring to a well-built older home, I say they rarely build them like this.
The quality of the materials, design and craftsmanship are exceptional, both inside and outside.
From the wide-plank brushed white oak hardwood flooring to the intricate millwork, the attention to detail is amazing.
The location is also fantastic.
“Close to Ocean City’s finest beaches and located in one of the most sought-after neighborhoods, 504 Waverly encompasses what shore coastal living is all about,” Chris Monihan, of Monihan Realty, said of the home.
The 3,428-square-foot home features five bedrooms plus a cabana room, five full bathrooms, an elevator with a stop at every floor, a luxurious master suite and a custom chef’s kitchen that leads out to a large porch overlooking the backyard in-ground pool, as well as high-end appliances and finishes throughout.
Out front, a new concrete sidewalk passes through the grassy yard with two ornamental trees. A long concrete and grass drive — large enough for four cars stacked — leads back to the one-car detached garage, but not before passing a tall, arched exterior entrance to the elevator and a side porch off the mudroom/laundry.
A brick walkway matching the foundation skirt leads to wide slate-topped steps up to the covered front porch, where a door with keypad entry is flanked by tall windows.
Inside, the quality is readily apparent in the 5-foot-high wainscoting found in the foyer area and throughout the house. Many are familiar with ordinary bead board wainscoting, but this is exceptional in that it has both vertical and horizontal boards dividing it into sections, reminiscent of the coffered ceiling in the living room and dining area.
“We pride ourselves on doing unique things, and we encourage all our installation partners to do the same. So there’s no particular name to the style, only that it is not created from stock trim designs,” said Jeff Kaliner, of Oasis Property Group.
The hardwood flooring is also of top quality and found throughout the house, with the exception of the bathrooms and laundry rooms.
I’m not a tall man by any means, but the 10-foot ceilings, tall doorways and solid-wood doors make me feel downright short. Everything about the home is designed to create a sense of height and spaciousness.
To the left, a long hallway leads to the cabana room in the back and is mostly open to the great room with only a halfway separating the spaces. The elevator is located here, as well as one of two laundry rooms, which has a herringbone-design tile floor, full-size Whirlpool washer and dryer, storage cabinets and a built-in bench seat just inside a door off the side porch.
The great room is to the left, with the living room in the front to take advantage of the three tall windows overlooking the front yard. These, combined with two more flanking the gas-log fireplace, create a wonderful light and bright area for relaxing when not out at the beach or boardwalk or downtown shopping.
Natural materials have been used extensively in the interior design, including the horizontal pine planks above the fireplace. The rough boards set in shiplap style draw attention to this focal point of the space.
Kaliner said all of the furnishings are available and that the company works with Surroundings Furniture & Design of Northfield to not only stage the home but to provide high-quality items that help make it turnkey ready.
The dining area is just steps away from the living room and includes a long table with a glass top and driftwood base, with seating for six in upholstered chairs. A wicker basket-style lamp hangs from the ceiling high above, while two tall windows provide natural light.
A wide entrance into the kitchen again is designed to create an open layout. The kitchen itself has a large quartzite-topped center island with a large overhang, creating space for six or so barstools.
Kaliner said the biggest difference between quartz and quartzite is that quartz is a manmade material, while quartzite is a natural stone. A quartzite countertop begins as sandstone, which under a natural process of heat and pressure is fused with sparkly quartz crystals to form quartzite.
This could be a popular gathering place for drinks while dinner is being prepared. Inside the island are a beverage cooler and Sharp microwave drawer, as well as dark wood cabinets.
More quartzite counters top the soft-gray Elmwood cabinets along two walls, where there is a subway tile backsplash. The cabinet hardware is Lucite with a satin gold finish from Richelieu.
A stainless-steel Bosch dishwasher is right of the wide Kohler farmhouse sink. Open wood shelves are to both sides of the sink.
Other appliances include a six-burner Wolf range/oven beneath a dark wood-covered hood that matches the center island cabinets. To the left is a two-door Sub-Zero refrigerator with bottom freezer drawer.
From the kitchen, you can step directly out onto the back porch or head into the hallway, where a full bathroom is just outside the cabana room. With pocket doors on two sides, the bathroom can be accessed from either the hall or cabana room. It has a decorative tile floor, a quartz-topped vanity and a fully tiled shower with a swinging glass door.
The cabana room is the perfect place for chilling out after leaving the pool. It has a sofa beneath three clerestory windows and two windows overlooking the backyard. The tall sliding glass door opens onto the back porch.
Back in the foyer, the handsome set of stairs, with white risers and solid wood treads, ascends to the second floor. A very cool banister features nautical-style ropes attached to cleats, while the ubiquitous wainscoting lines the walls all the way up.
On the second floor are three bedrooms, each with a private bathroom, as well as a laundry room and bonus sitting space at the bottom of the steps to the third floor.
The elevator stop on this floor is just across from the door to the master suite.
Shiplap is a big feature in the master bedroom, covering one wall completely and three-quarters up on the other three. A king-side bed is flanked by tall windows and a large sliding glass door opens onto the private front porch, which is open on three sides and topped by a high V-shaped ceiling.
The master bath has a tile floor, Carrera marble-topped vanity with his and hers sinks and a large, fully tiled shower with a swinging glass door. One door opens onto the water closet while another accesses the walk-in closet.
Heading down the hall toward the back, the second laundry room is on the right. At the end of the hall is the second bedroom, featuring two large windows overlooking the backyard and three clerestory windows over the queen-size bed. The large closet has double swinging doors. A full bathroom has decorative tile flooring and a deep porcelain Marabelle tub. The tile walls in the shower extend all the way to behind the quartz-topped vanity.
Taking a left at the end of the hall puts you outside the third bedrooms, this one identical to the second except for the bathroom, which has just a shower with the tub.
Back at the front of the house, the cozy little bonus space has a sofa across from a triple tall window overlooking the front, beneath which is a built-in window seat.
Another set of those handsome stairs ascends to the third floor, where there are two more bedrooms, one currently set up as an office.
Inside this room, whose ceiling slopes down on two sides, is a closet with double swinging doors and a desk that looks to be a plank of a large tree.
Around the corner is a long hallway with a closet on the left and two more on the right. A full bathroom on the left includes a tile floor, a shower with tile on the walls and sloped ceiling with a swinging glass door. At the end of the hallway is the final bedrooms, this one long with a ceiling sloping down on two sides. A window at the end overlooks the pool below.
Out back, a gated vinyl fence provides access to the stone patio and swimming pool. Freshly planted evergreens line the rear and side fence, that when mature will provide privacy. An enclosed outside shower sits alongside the slate-topped steps up to the covered back porch with composite decking. Overhead, a bead board-style wood ceiling contains recessed lighting. A large sliding glass door opens into the cabana room, while a tall glass door provides access to the kitchen.
Other amenities include cedar-impression Hardiboard siding, dual-zone heating and air conditioner.
The home is listed for $2.635 million with Chris Monihan of Monihan Realty. Call (609) 602-3336 or (609) 399-0998, or email cmonihan@monihan.com for more information or to set up an appointment to see this wonderful home.
