Tongue & Groove’s Modern Carolina Beach House is among the top 10 finalists in the Waterside Retreats category for HGTV’s Designer of the Year 2020 contest.

Each year HGTV explores design trends in beautiful spaces created by some of the country’s most talented designers. It comes as no surprise that this luxurious, contemporary beach house caught the network’s attention.

Located on Snow’s Cut in Carolina Beach, the home is surrounded by water, featuring tranquil views of the Cape Fear River or the Atlantic Ocean from every room. Inspired by a luxury ocean liner, nautical design vernacular emerges throughout the exterior and interior spaces.

The home’s exterior features the use of plank siding and crushed shell tabby, stainless steel railings and an array of porthole style windows as a backdrop for the chimney, banded and numbered to replicate a ship’s smokestack. The house is even equipped with a working steam whistle – triggered from each level of the home by a chain that hangs from an exterior porch column.

“The design started with thoughts of boats, and how we develop a narrative around them. Once we established narrative and meaning, then patterns of use emerged,” Mark Batson, owner and visionary of Tongue & Groove, said.

Inside, an iridescent woven tile backsplash echoes the sheen of seashell chambers found along the nearby Atlantic seaboard, while the interlaced pattern mimics a knotted sailor’s bracelet. Two celestory porthole windows welcome cascading sunlight from the home’s south elevation and a unique pass-through window echoes the features found in vintage beach homes.