A love of the beach and a few nudges from the universe helped Brian and Joanne Duncanson end up in Vero Beach, with one happenstance after another shaping their decision to relocate in sunny Florida.
Brian says that while they were visiting his mother in Orlando, they realized they needn’t wait until retirement to move to Florida. Why not do it now?
“Every time we were down here in February or March, it was so nice, while we’d just gone through six months of winter and still had two months left,” recalls Brian.
“We literally just picked Vero out on the map. We wanted to be on the beach, and when I zoomed in on the map, there was this little town I hadn’t ever heard of before,” continues Brian.
Everything fell into place when Joanne came across a job opportunity in Vero Beach. The couple packed up, moved to the “Hamptons of Florida,” rented a home, enrolled their kids in school, and haven’t looked back.
Once they sold their home up north, they began to search for something permanent in Vero Beach. The house at 2255 Magans Ocean Walk in Atlantis was one of the first houses the couple looked at, but it seemed out of their price range at the time.
They kept looking, but “couldn’t find anything we really loved, so we came back to this house and made an offer,” says Brian. “We’ve been here ever since. It’s been a great family home. A great beach home.”
And a rare find in today’s market, according to Hank Wolff, ONE Sotheby’s International Realty broker-associate. He says that only eight single-family, island home sales – off the ocean but with ocean views – have been reported in MLS in the past year.
“Having a view of the ocean from a single-family home [without an oceanfront price] … is pretty hard to come by,” says Wolff. “This is a special house. It’s a fraction of the price of oceanfront, but you still get those ocean views. You’re in a single-family home, not a condo, and you have all this space, square footage, a large lot and privacy.”
As soon as you walk through the front door, it is apparent this is a home meant for a family. The front door opens into a grand foyer with a wooden staircase leading to the family living space on the second floor. This allows everyone to come and go without interfering with what’s going on in the rest of the house.
The communal spaces on the first floor are all accessible from the foyer, with the formal living room just off the entry. From the living room, you can enter the dining room and then the kitchen, where a granite countertop creates a buffer between the kitchen, breakfast nook and family room beyond.
“You’ve got multiple living spaces here,” says Wolff, noting the flexibility of the rooms. “It’s great for a family because you can see the pool from the kitchen and living spaces.”
The door that leads to the two-car attached garage, the laundry room and a full bath finish off the U-shaped first-floor layout.
Upstairs the loft is the perfect spot for an office, studio, children’s playroom or secondary gathering room – though views of the ocean may make it difficult to concentrate on the task at hand.
Three bedrooms with private balconies stretch across the rear of the house. Two of the rooms share a sunset balcony, while the third offers peeks of the ocean as well. A shared bathroom is located at the end of the hall.
The owner’s suite resides on the southern end of the house, with a sunrise balcony opening the room up to ocean views. A walk-in closet, jetted tub, dual sinks and shower in the owner’s bath complete the spacious suite.
Back downstairs, outside, an expansive deck surrounds a large, solar-heated pool in a fenced backyard, creating a private oasis. The cabana bath allows the kids and family pets to rinse off after coming from the beach before hopping into the pool, says Brian, adding that tile flooring throughout the first level makes for easy cleanup if sand is tracked into the house.
“The deeded beach access and beautiful community walkover with a grass roof hut” were a big draw for the Duncansons. “The beach is one of the nicest beaches around. We always wanted to be right by the beach, and the access is great,” says Brian.
They love having access to such a variety of outdoor living opportunities, from their pool to the beach across the street to Round Island Riverside Park just down the road, where you can hike, fish and kayak. It’s also a popular place to bird watch and view the manatees.
Atlantis is a small, gated community with only 32 lots. It is convenient to Saint Edward’s School, and a quick drive to Fort Pierce or Ocean Drive in Vero Beach for shopping and dining or visiting Riverside Park, Riverside Theatre and the Vero Beach Museum of Art.
With the last of their children finishing up college, Brian says they don’t need such a big house, but Vero is home now, so they won’t be going far.
Photos provided
