HOMES OF THE TREASURE COAST
Sporting the same classic lines of 40 years ago, a major difference in this home’s appearance is the paint color. The more contemporary color along with
crisp white trim depicts a charm in keeping with neighborhood homes.
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HOME & DESIGN
Just like the early settlers, when Walter and Dale Mc-
Gee first stumbled upon the little town of Vero Beach,
it was love at first sight. “We were coming back from
the Keys on our way back to Baltimore and the car
broke down on A1A near Riomar,” says Dale, referring
to the barrier island’s oldest neighborhood. Charmed by the
character homes, mature oaks and proximity to the beach, she
turned to her husband and announced, “OK, I’ll move here.”
It was 1971, and one year later, they made the seaside town
their home. “I loved old Riomar as soon as I saw it,” Dale
says, adding that it reminded her of Maryland where she
grew up. When a home came on the market, she jumped at
the chance to purchase it.
Built in the early 1900s by John P. Sawyer, a prominent doctor
from Cleveland, the 3,500-square-foot winter retreat was
a wood-framed structure cradled by sand dunes. Still familyowned,
it also boasted a basement — a rarity in Florida.
Over the years, a hodge-podge of additions and remodels
had obscured the original footprint, resulting in a one-story
rectangular structure with a flush façade of jalousie windows
that Dale likened to a ’50s diner. But it wasn’t the curb appeal
that spoke to her. It was the history.
“Having grown up in an old historic neighborhood, I have
an affinity for older homes and the history they hold,” she
says. “I’d heard Mrs. Sawyer loved animals, and during cocktail
parties she’d be sitting on the sofa feeding milk to a baby
calf. She’d keep it in a playpen in the corner of the living room.
When I got this, I knew it had good bones and a good vibe.”
STRUCTURAL CHALLENGE
Anyone other than Dale might have torn it down, but she
felt in her heart of hearts it was a house to be lived in. Her
first task, however, was to give it a sense of style. For this
she turned to friend and fellow Marylander, Deborah Gooch.
For several years, they had run an interior design business
together and were instinctively drawn to the architectural
styles of their Maryland roots. Envisioning a two-story Victorian
farmhouse with clapboard siding and open porches, they
hired an Orlando-based architectural firm to draw up the
plans.
But that was just the beginning. Along with the renovation
came a multitude of challenges. Structurally, the home was
very unsound and, as Dale remarked, “It needed to be gutted
and reassembled.” The pine studs, made from older growth
lumber, proved too hard for nails, so they had to be replaced,
and when it came time to rip up the layers of cork and linoleum
that covered the original pinewood floors, a worker fell
through into the basement. The house required a three-footsquare
concrete piling to prop it up.
With the foundation secured, they set about tearing down
walls, raising ceilings that had been lowered and adding coffers
to accommodate ductwork. They updated all the plumbing,
wiring and fixtures, adding a second story with a master
suite, bedroom and sun deck that connected to an existing
bachelor apartment in the rear. The new elevation, along with
multi-paned windows, open porches and northern landscaping
not only added character to the home but also gave it a
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