OCEAN CITY — The terrific house at 44 Arkansas Ave., in the exclusive Riviera section of the city, has everything today’s homeowners are seeking, packaged in a way that’s perfect for multiple generations to spend a shore vacation together.
From the ground-floor suite for the grandparents to the four bedrooms on the second floor and the children’s paradise up top, there is a private space for everyone, while the extensive great room provides a place for the whole crew to come together.
In addition, there is more entertainment space on the back deck overlooking Sunny Harbor, where the 53 feet of waterfront provides plenty of space for boats, personal watercraft and paddle-craft. The seller installed a 12-by-18-foot swimming pool and multiple awnings to create a private paradise just out back.
Arkansas Avenue, which juts out into the bay around 19th Street, is a quiet neighborhood with little traffic — other than your neighbors waving as they slowly roll by — making it perfect for children, pets, walking or biking, as well as playing on Great Egg Harbor Bay. In fact, many think the bay is the best part of the island, since anyone can go to the beach.
The three-story, 4,096-square-foot home was custom built in 2011 by Georgetti Construction based in Upper Township. It has curb appeal aplenty, with its mature red maple standing sentinel alongside the concrete drive outside the one-car garage, cedar-impression vinyl siding, lush, green lawn and mulched beds with established shrubs and grasses.
A paver walkway leads up to the covered front porch, which is decked in a long-lasting composite material, and another runs along the left side to the back deck and dock.
A front door with a large window divided into 12 panes and side panels opens onto the foyer, where the quality of the craftsmanship is immediately evident in the maple hardwood flooring, tall baseboard, Colonial-style window and door casing and the handsome staircase with maple treads and wrought-iron spindles.
The first of the five bedrooms, each with an en suite bath, is located to the right, while the stairs are straight ahead and a hallway to the left of the stairs leads back to the great room.
To the left, just before the living room, is the door to the garage right outside a full bathroom — the first of seven — with a tile floor, bead board wainscoting, a Corian-topped vanity and fully tiled shower with a swinging glass door. A laundry closet with a full-sized Whirlpool washer and dryer is inside the bathroom.
Stretching along the lagoon, the wide-open great room, with a spacious living room area, jaw-dropping kitchen and large dining area, is nothing short of fantastic. There are six seats at the center island, 10 more at the long wood table in the dining area and space for another 10 in the living room, so with standing room and overflow onto the back deck, the home could easily accommodate a gathering of 50 people.
The cathedral ceiling is almost not worth mentioning. The rear wall of the living room area is almost entirely glass — one door and three panels overlooking the deck and lagoon, where boats ply up and down on their way to a favorite fishing spot, going waterskiing or just cruising.
A gas log fireplace with a granite and wood surround is flanked by windows, providing even more natural light, and there is a television hanging above (but who watches TV in paradise?). Along the back wall are built-in cabinets with a granite top for books, games, electronics and such.
Just steps away, the two-level center island with a granite top provides space for the children to eat while the adults are in the dining area. The island contains a double stainless steel sink, one of the two two-drawer Fisher & Paykal dishwashers and a two-drawer Sub-Zero beverage cooler, as well as some cabinets.
More of the Elmwood cabinets and granite counters run along the outside wall, where there is a second dishwasher, a wine cooler and icemaker. Other appliances include a six-burner Wolf range/oven and a 48-inch Sub-Zero refrigerator/freezer.
The dining room has four large windows along the back, plus another on each side and a door opening onto the back porch, which is both covered and has a power extendable awning. A second extendable awning keeps the sun out of the dining area.
Back in the foyer, the stairs ascend to the second floor, where there are four bedrooms and a laundry room.
Straight ahead is the master suite, which has a king-size bed beneath a vaulted coffered ceiling, wall-to-wall carpeting and a walk-in closet. Custom barn doors with horizontal wood planks open onto the bath and walk-in closet, are complement the accent wall in the bed chamber.
A door opens onto a private back deck and multiple windows provide the best view in the house of Sunny Harbor below.
The master bathroom has a heated tiled floor, Quartz-topped vanity with dual sinks and a tiled shower with a pebble floor, standard and rain faucets. There’s also a built-in makeup center and chest of drawers.
As stated before, each of the other three bedrooms has its own bathroom, each similar in size and amenities, meaning large and upscale. Two are in the front and one is in the back with a water view.
Another set of steps leads up to the third floor, which could be used as a game room, media center, second living room or all three because of its size. It’s essentially a place where the younger set can hang out without getting underfoot at night or on the rare occasion when it rains in one of the most popular family-friendly beach resorts on the East Coast. A full bathroom up there provides another place to go.
As if it needed something else to make it terrific, a nice feature not often found in island homes is the indirect lighting in the great room and master bedroom. It operates on a separate switch and can be used to create ambiance with the rest of the lights out. Other cool features are the dual Noritz tankless on-demand water heaters and 50-year “Gaf” roof shingles.
The garage has a rubber floor made up 2-foot-squares. The kegerator and top-load freezer are included, as is all of the furniture.
