AS LIFE LONG BOATERS , Kathy and Sean O’Leary knew they eventually wanted to live on Harbor Island. The area is home to the famous Wrightsville Beach Marina, which provides easy access to the inland waterways and the Atlantic Ocean. When a little cottage perched on the sound side of the island came onto the market in 2016, the O’Learys, who are originally from Cary, snatched it up.
It was an ideal location for the couple—not only was it near Wrightsville Beach’s soughtafter Lee’s Cut waterway, but the property also came with its own dock. The house itself, though, was a different story. “It had been made into two condos, and it had a Pizza Hut–style roof,” says Kathy. But the biggest problem wasn’t the facade, it was the structure. The house sat on the ground instead of pilings, which help protect coastal houses from flood waters—something that the couple learned firsthand after Hurricane Florence hit the island in 2018.
“After the hurricane, we had terrible mold issues,” says Kathy. “And when we started tearing down the walls inside, we noticed there was termite damage.” So the O’Learys decided to demolish the entire house and build their dream home instead. The couple knew they wanted a contemporary house that stood out from the rest of the homes on the beach, so they enlisted the help of architect Tony Frazier, builder Dennis Moeller, and interior designers Chris Groeschen and Bridgett Mazer of Bridgett Mazer Interiors to bring their dream to life.
With Groeschen’s and Mazer’s help, the O’Learys began creating the perfect family beach retreat—one that would help lure their three adult children back home throughout the year. “We did it because we wanted them to come home,” says Kathy. “They grew up boating on the weekends and they all love swimming and surfing. And I knew that if we made our home on the island, versus being inland, they would make an effort to come back.”
Groeschen tailored the floor plan to suit the O’Learys’ fun-loving lifestyle. She turned the massive formal dining room into a music room, complete with overhead color-changing LED lights, and added a glass wall to help contain the sound. To make room for a king-sized bed in each of the five guest bedrooms, she removed the closets and opted for custom built desk-and-closet combinations instead. And in the kitchen, the designer installed two marble waterfall islands—one for food prep and the other for casual eating. “We were so lucky to work with Chris,” says Kathy. “Our styles are similar and we hit it off right away.”
The hard work paid off. The O’Learys’ three grown children and their spouses, along with their two grandchildren, spend holidays and summer vacations at the house. As for Kathy and Sean, they live in the home full-time—and couldn’t be happier. “People always ask me if there’s anything we would change or do differently, and I can honestly say there isn’t,” says Kathy. “I love everything that we did.”