Beacon on the Lake
Turrets, a cupola and old-world touches make this Rehoboth home stand out
By Lynn R. Parks | Photographs by Don Pearse
From the June 2023 issue
The Rehoboth Beach home of Joe Filipek and Larry Richardson has its roots in lists of features that each of them had always wanted in a house. The two men merged the lists and ended up with “12 pages of things that we really loved,” Larry says.
Among the lists’ items: shingle-style architecture, old-world workmanship, functionality and plenty of light. The two men also wanted tributes to their histories incorporated in the design: Joe grew up in southern West Virginia and worked in coal mines as a teen (he’d later earn a pharmacy doctorate); Larry had a career in the Navy.
And they wanted a house that would be an iconic design for the beach town they both love.
“We have a very special property in Rehoboth, with spectacular views of the lake, and we knew that our house would be very visible,” Joe explains. “We wanted to do something that was special, and in harmony with the lake.”
The architect for the Filipek-Richardson house was Doug Hertsenberg with the Wilmington-based firm Bernardon. The contractor was Dewson Construction, with offices near Rehoboth Beach and in Wilmington, and the interior designer was Ted Pearson of Baltimore.
The house sits on the south bank of Silver Lake, west of the Silver Lake Drive bridge, on a point of land that juts out into the water. The front of the home is on its south side, facing away from the lake. And from the street, “it’s very modest, intentionally smaller to fit the scale of our neighbors,” Joe says.
But it’s a different story on the lake side. With two turrets, a cupola, two stone chimneys and dozens of white-trimmed windows, the house is an eye-catching structure when viewed from the bridge as well as from the north bank of the lake.
The scene is no less spectacular from inside the house. In particular, the den, located on the ground floor of the lakeside turret, and Joe’s study, on the second floor of the turret, have panoramic views of the lake.
As seen from the lake, the great room is in the center of the house. It faces north, and despite its two-story windows, it could have been in shadow if not for the glassed-in cupola that allows in direct sunshine. Five lighted Moravian stars hang from the cupola to “bring the ceiling down,” Larry says. “The room is so voluminous and we were concerned that sitting in there could make you feel like you were in a chapel. We worked with our interior designer to come up with a plan so that when you’re sitting there, you don’t feel like you’re in a big room.”
Lighting is also a feature at the top of the curved stairway, located in the second turret. To find what they wanted, the homeowners visited a number of suppliers “from New York to Florida,” Larry says. Finally, they talked with Baltimore glassblower Tim McFadden, who composed a sun-like chandelier from nearly 200 pieces of hand-blown glass.
“Each piece weighs from 1.5 to 2 pounds,” Larry notes. “Workers actually had to beef up the structure of the turret to support the light fixture.”
Inlaid in the floor at the base of the stairway is a compass, made from a number of different woods and pointing true north. That, as well as a sailor’s whiskey bar in Larry’s study, are in honor of his Navy career.
Reminiscent of Joe’s brief time in the coal mines is the black and gold granite that surrounds the fireplace in the den. Also reminding him of his days in West Virginia, and of fording that state’s creeks, are five square stepping stones placed along the edge of the pool. The pool follows the curve of the lakefront turret, much like a moat; a handrail fastened to the stones of the turret helps to keep anyone walking on the stepping stones from falling in.
As things are now, the couple’s primary residence is in Florida. But, Joe says, the Rehoboth Beach house “is the home that we feel the most comfortable in.”
“I miss this house when we’re not there,” Larry adds. “There’s a simple elegance about it that I really enjoy.”