OCEAN CITY — Real estate agent Mark Grimes calls the new three-story single at 418 Waverly Blvd. “magnificent” — a strong word that falls well short of properly describing the home.
Located in the city’s popular Gardens section, it is just a block in two directions from the large north-end beaches with views of the ocean from multiple porches.
And like everything built by Buck Custom Homes and designed by Asher Associates, it features high-quality style, materials and craftsmanship with evident attention to detail.
The home has five bedrooms, four bathrooms and two powder rooms, as well as a stunning second-floor great room, third-floor master suite and a three-stop elevator. Its upside-down design puts the main living area up high for a better view.
Outside, the home has curb appeal aplenty, with its two-tier grassy front lawn with border wall, ornamental trees and brick-and-slate steps flanked by mulched flowerbeds with colorful hydrangeas and shore grasses.
A paver drive large enough for three to four cars leads down the left side to the one-car detached garage, which has a tall peaked ceiling able to accommodate a boat.
While the backyard is large enough for an in-ground pool, for now it is a private grassy area with more hydrangeas lining the back of the house and fence. A brick fireplace is welcome on cooler spring and fall days or to add some ambiance to a summer evening.
The real shutters on the garage and home, as well as the multiple flower boxes, look as if they’re from a Victorian cottage. Whole-round downspouts add to the aesthetic.
Back out front, the covered front porch is decked in durable bluestone slate, adding a touch of color to the gracefully aging cedar siding.
Each of the solid-wood front doors features 12 glass panes and opens onto a foyer with wide-plank oak hardwood flooring. The custom-trimmed walls — with both vertical and horizontal planks — are reminiscent of a coffered ceiling.
A hallway straight ahead with 5-foot wainscoting leads to three bedrooms, a living room, laundry room, powder room and hall bathroom. The interior doors are solid wood and feature black hardwood and faux glass knobs. Crown molding and Colonial-style trim complete the millwork.
The color scheme is subtly nautical, with white throughout and hints of blues.
Each of the bedrooms has the same hardwood flooring found in the foyer.
The first door on the right opens onto a bedroom with twin beds and a built-in clothing organizer. The four windows have plantation shutters.
A hall bathroom is shared by the two bedrooms on the right. It has tile flooring, a Calcutta marble-topped wood vanity with self-close, soft-close doors and drawers and a tall mirror flanked by sconce lighting. The porcelain-coated tub has subway tile walls and a curtain on a curved rod.
Across the hall, the second bedroom has a queen-size bed between short café tables, a double window on the ocean side and a built-in armoire. The full bathroom has a basket weave tiled floor, corner tiled shower with glass walls and a swinging door and a marble tile-topped wood vanity with a whimsical-shaped square basin sink. The 4-foot bead board wainscoting completes the room.
Back on the right, the third bedroom has a queen-size bed and built-in armoire and dresser.
The rear of the first floor features a living room with a coffered ceiling — picking up the theme hinted at in the foyer. A sofa an armchair rest atop an area rug.
A rear foyer with a door opening onto the covered back porch connects the living room with the laundry, which features a frontload Electrolux washer and dryer with a marble shelf and cabinets above. A door here opens onto a powder room with a stand-alone porcelain sink with chrome legs. The color scheme continues with the zig-zag blue and white wallpaper. The elevator also is located here.
Back in the front foyer, a handsome wooden staircase to the left ascends to the second floor. It features Buck Custom Homes’ signature compass rose on the first landing before turning right and leading up. Four tall windows on the second level add abundant natural light to the foyer.
A thunderous wow moment is experienced atop the stairs when the eyes fall upon the great room with its lofty barn loft-like ceiling with wood plank trim. Cutouts shaped like the top of a bell on each side feature ornamental windows high above. A double sliding glass door opens onto a covered front porch with ipe hardwood decking and wood railings and another coffered ceiling. From here the ocean is visible just a clam shell’s throw away while sitting in one of the multiple rocking chairs, cold beverage in hand.
Back inside, a sofa and two armchairs are centered around a wood-burning fireplace with a marble-tile hearth and wood mantel, above which is a large flat-screen television. A cushy chairs is nestled into the corner.
A 15-foot-wide doorway separates the living room from the fantastic kitchen. I often have kitchen envy when touring these high-end homes, and this is no exception.
With apologies to the previous title holder, this kitchen features the largest center island in the city. Topped by Peruvian wood, it has four stools on one side featuring a driftwood aesthetic — which is picked up by the table, chairs and wallpaper in the dining room just steps away — and a Shaws farmhouse sink on the other. The white cabinets are by Master Design and have self-close, soft-close doors and drawers. A Miele cabinet-front dishwasher is just right of the sink.
More cabinets with quartz countertops are located along two walls. Directly behind the sink is a Sub-Zero side-by-side refrigerator/freezer and a two-door pantry with a dacor microwave, sliding shelves and drawers.
Along the other wall is a stainless-steel six-burner Wolf range/oven beneath a white Faber hood outlined in chrome. Those colors are matched by the pendant lights hanging above the island.
A butler’s pantry opens off the corner. It features abundant cabinetry and countertop space, along with two Sub-Zero wine refrigerators with a beverage center between.
The dining room features a long table reminiscent of driftwood with seating for eight beneath a chrome candelabra-like lamp.
The entire ceiling above the kitchen and dining room is wood-planked.
A hallway off the dining room leads to the home’s fourth bedroom, the elevator and a storage area with built-in cubbies and drawers, as well as the second powder room.
The bedroom has a 9-foot-high coffered ceiling above a queen-size bed and a full bathroom. The corner shower features glass subway tile to the ceiling.
Another set of stairs with shiplap walls leads up to the third floor, where a small foyer provides access to the elevator and walk-in closet. Off to the left is the master bedroom, where a king-size bed awaits the weary beneath a bead board ceiling. Two armchairs are to the right just inside a double window, near where a door opens onto a dressing room with a walk-in closet and full bath. A marble-topped vanity features his and hers sinks with sconce lighting and mirrors above. Wood paneling reaches to the ceiling. A pocket door opens onto the necessary unit and a fully tiled shower.
The home is listed for $3.649 million with Mark Grimes of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, Fox & Roach Realtors. Call (609) 425-2042 or (609) 399-8200 for more information or to set up a tour of this wonderful home.
