Theresa and Michael Annechino checked out quite a few places in Florida before buying the home at 1924 Ocean Ridge Circle at Oceanridge.
Michael was a national sales manager early in his career and had lived in Vero Beach with his aunt and uncle at Vista Royale in the late 1980s, so he knew the town’s charm. When he and Theresa decided they wanted to move to Florida, he says they looked all over the state but kept coming back to Vero as the place they wanted to settle.
“We wish we had just settled in Vero in the first place. Every place we went was so much less than Vero. But we wouldn’t have appreciated all the great things that Vero has if we hadn’t gone to the other places,” says Michael.
“All I wanted was a quiet – little town where I could read the local paper, like 32963, at a diner and have a good cup of coffee,” he continues.
The couple got that and so much more when they moved to Oceanridge.
Theresa walks to the village and Michael drives up to meet her, and they often enjoy the sunrise and breakfast beachside, he says.
“We fell in love with Oceanridge and then the house,” he continues, saying that Theresa’s knack for interior design made this the perfect place for the couple to live after they updated the three-bedroom home.
“This house has a great floorplan,” says Michele Ritchie, Realtor with AMAC Alex MacWilliam Real Estate, noting the spacious rooms.
“The layout in the house is perfect if you have guests because it’s got a separate guest wing and two living areas,” says Michael.
“We replaced pretty much everything but the walls,” Michael adds. Upgrades included new landscaping, flooring, cabinets and countertops, bathroom fixtures and pool equipment.
“It’s a happy home,” says Ritchie, noting glass panel doors that brighten the entryway with natural light.
The formal dining room is straight ahead from the entryway, at the center of the house, with a wall of glass sliders opening onto the screened patio.
Two guest rooms and a shared bath are located to the right of the foyer, providing privacy for both guests and homeowner, with the owner’s suite accessed off the dining room.
A tray ceiling and doors that open to the pool area add to the already spacious owner’s suite. A walk-in closet, dual vanities, shower and a luxurious soaking tub complete the suite. A glass block wall lets sunlight in and maintains your privacy as you soak in the tub.
The formal living room is just to the left of the front entry. Beyond that, a short hallway leads to the kitchen, breakfast nook, family room, powder room, laundry room and garage access.
A breakfast bar defines the kitchen and family room. The recently updated kitchen has pantry space along one wall and a pass-thru window to hand snacks outside without having the children coming in and out of the house.
You can keep an eye on poolside activities from the family room while chatting with the person in charge of dinner preparations for the evening. It’s an excellent layout for entertaining because guests can perch at the countertop or nosh on hors d’oeuvres spread out in the kitchen nook.
Outside, the freeform pool gets sun most of the day, and there’s plenty of covered space for dining or when you need to cool off in the shade. The fenced backyard is large enough for little ones and pets to run off excess energy.
What the Annechinos will miss the most is what Michael refers to as their side yard – “It’s a short, three-minute walk to the beach. Some nights we’ll take a walk to the tiki hut and sit and enjoy the breeze after watching a show. It doesn’t get any better than this.”
But both of their children have settled in Rochester, New York, and the couple want to be closer to their family, shares Michael, adding that he hopes they will be able to return to the sunny, little seaside town one day.
A resident of Oceanridge herself, Ritchie has a unique insight into the community. “We’re a very social community. We have a book club, some of the guys get together to play golf and we have cocktail get-togethers up at the beach,” she says.
There’s also a Halloween pet parade with residents watching from lawn chairs in front yards.
During COVID, community members modified their holiday festivities to a holiday stroll.
“People set up bars and tables with hors d’oeuvres in their driveway, and everyone moves from house to house. It was perfect since we’re such a walking kind of neighborhood,” says Ritchie.
The intimate community has mature landscaping and street lighting, notes Ritchie.
Homeowner fees are reasonable at $850 a year that is used to maintain the landscaping, gate and beach access.
Oceanridge is a small, gated oceanfront community with 60 homes and deeded beach access. The neighborhood is conveniently located across from Saint Edward’s School and just a few miles south of the 17th Street Bridge, Ocean Drive shopping, dining and Vero proper.
Photos provided
