“This place is built like a fortress,” says David Courage, who owns the beautifully designed and built house at 1820 E. Barefoot Place in Summerplace, just a couple of blocks north the intersection of A1A and CR-510. Located one lot west of the Atlantic Ocean, with great sea views from the master suite on the top floor, the three-story beach house is anchored to the planet with 20 concrete pilings heavily reinforced with steel that go down 30 feet and are tied to a grade beam at the surface.
David, a retired United Airlines pilot who spent most of his career being addressed as Captain Courage, owns another home in Summerplace that suffered significant damage during the 2004-05 hurricanes; when he built his new home in 2007, he made sure it would not suffer a similar fate.
“The engineers say the house will withstand a Category 5 tropical storm,” David says. “The Pella windows will resist 180-mile-per-hour winds, and I have storm shutters, too. The Pella people told me I was wasting my money on the storm shutters but I wasn’t taking any chances.”
Steel rebar extends continuously from the pilings to the roof within the concrete block exterior walls, tying the trusses to the foundation. Interior walls are framed with 2 X 6 studs and filled with isolene insulation, same as the floors and ceilings.
“My contractor told me it is the best insulation,” David says. “They spray it in so that fills the space and it hardens up like a rock. I haven’t had to turn the heat on yet this winter, the house is so warm, and in the summer the highest total electric bill I have had was $125 in the hottest month.”
The 3-bedroom, 2.5-bath, 2,330-square-foot house’s solidity will appeal to some homebuyers, for sure, but even more buyers will be attracted to the bright, beachy interior that features exotic granite countertops, solid-wood louvered interior doors, New Hampshire white maple flooring, sea glass-flecked tile and exquisite craftsmanship.
“It took me 8 months to find that slab there,” David says of the Blue Louise granite that caps the island in his state-of the art kitchen, which features 3 ovens, including a steam oven for cooking lobsters, shrimp and other tasty seafood treats.
Custom Amish-made cabinets and a tongue and groove plank ceiling add to both the elegance and beach vibe of the room. Countertops are illuminated by special windows added to the design at David’s suggestion that shed abundant natural light on food preparation surfaces.
“It is a great house,” says Janyne Kenworthy, a Treasure Coast Sotheby’s agent who sells many luxury homes on the north island and who is offering Captain Courage’s house for $1,295,000.
Entry to the home is via a covered porch that leads to double glass doors with dolphins and palm fronds etched into the glass. Inside is a foyer and hallway that leads to the 4-car garage and a set of steps that go up to the main living area. There is a half-bath at a landing a few steps up. The bath has pretty blue-tiled walls, a sea glass-flecked floor and a second door that opens onto a covered back porch with a grill and steps that lead down to the tropical back yard.
“There is room for a pool out there and if a new owner builds one, this will be the cabana bath,” Kenworthy says.
Up another half-flight of stairs is the main living area with two guest bedrooms, a full bath and a magnificent great room with a two-story 22-foot-high ceiling. Symmetrical rows of clerestory windows line three of the walls just below the ceiling, flooding the room with light. A third-floor balcony overlooks the great room on the fourth side.
More light comes in four sets of glass French doors set in the great room’s two outside walls, all of which open out onto a gracious wraparound veranda with eastern and southern views.
“I love the L-shaped porch,” says Kenworthy. “It is a beautiful place to relax or eat and enjoy the tropical surroundings.”
The spacious room is open on the west side to the high-tech yet charming kitchen. One end of the kitchen is open to the sunny dining room; the other has a passageway that leads to home’s laundry room. There is a wine cooler with sink where the kitchen and great room meet.
The third floor, at the top of a second flight of maple stairs, is taken up entirely by the owner’s suite. It includes a cozy sitting room on the east side, with comfortable couches and great ocean views, and a spectacular master bath.
The bath includes a big corner Jacuzzi tub, two elegant porcelain pedestal sinks and a shower that can only be described as awesome, with an 8-head, adjustable Kohler massaging device with rain-shower head, and a large window that allows bathers to take in a view of the Atlantic while enjoying all those pulsing streams of water.
The master bedroom features a coffered ceiling and a private covered terrace where the sight, scent and sound of the ocean is ever-present.
At the top of the stairs there is projecting Juliet balcony that overlooks the great room and kitchen. Opposite the balcony is a paneled elevator that provides access to all three floors for those disinclined to climb the handsome staircase.
Captain Courage started flying as a teenager, trading work “cleaning the restrooms and polishing planes” at a small airport for flight lessons. He flew in the military as a young man and started as commercial pilot in the 1960s, flying old-fashioned, low-rent aircraft for a few years before figuring out he needed a college degree to get ahead in his chosen profession.
Post-degree, he went to work for United Airlines, putting in 34 years and earning a reputation as a topnotch pilot. Then-Senator Joe Biden served as flag man to guide him in on his last landing.
He says he is the only retired pilot he knows who does not have a plane and he has a good explanation why: “I cheated fate enough times during my career and I am not going to tempt it anymore!”
He hasn’t got all of the typical ex-pilot’s need for speed out of his system, however. Among the “toys” in his expansive garage are a 1992 custom soft tail Harley Davidson motorcycle he rides regularly and a 1993 hotrod Corvette with a 450 horsepower engine.
“I have had a lot of engine work done to the bike,” Captain Courage says. “It is a pretty powerful machine.”