A Dream, Indeed
5 of 5This house is, thus far, the most wonderful I have stayed in at Emerald Isle. It had lots of space to spread out and play in, and was well maintained and appointed with good taste and a little whimsy. I did not know prior to arrival that it was a three story house; it appeared by the on-line pictures to be a two story house! Thanks goodness for the elevator, which we used primarily for moving our items into and out of the house, and for taking groceries to the kitchen. I had sourced a home with an elevator when booking this year after having issues with lugging so much stuff, particularly for kids, into beach homes. It was truly nice to have, and worked well during our entire visit. The bedrooms were beautiful. This home came with beds pre-made and towels located in the kitchen and baths, which was a very nice perk. The master suite on the top floor was huge, with a meandering ensuite bathroom that included two vanity areas, a separate toilet room, a massive shower and a walk-in closet area. Each bedroom had some sort of hallway or alcove that gave it a bit more privacy. There was a tiled bedroom on the ground floor and a half bath on that level as well as a vestibule, three bedrooms on the second level with two sharing a jack and jill bath and the other with a private ensuite. The laundry room is located on the ground floor, and a separate gathering room with TV is located on the second floor. Also on the second floor is a media room with large TV and surround sound speakers. Each level leads to the outside with beach access; a hot and cold private outside shower is located on the ground floor. The upper story has a huge chef's kitchen with eat-in table overlooking the water and a 12-14 person dining table as well. A family room with TV is located here as well, and is open to the kitchen area. The upper deck is open to full sun; the second level deck is covered and has two rocking chairs for cooler, shaded enjoyment. There is a two car garage which we did not use, but which was, I believe, available. The deck/walkway to the beach was in great shape and provided easy access to the sand. I only had two real issues with the facility, one of which was its front tree-cover and corresponding leaf-litter which attributed to a mosquito problem. If I had had time I probably could have sourced out whether there was standing water, gutter, or neighbor issues that were at the heart of the issue, but we were regularly attacked when getting into and getting out of our vehicle, and both of my kids had numerous large bites just from traveling to and from the car. We would prepare to run into the house when arriving, and would run to the car when departing for a destination. We fortunately did not have the same issue when on the beach side porches or the beach itself. I would say that this needs some minor investigation and remediation. The other issue, also fairly easily resolved, was the fact that the room set up more for children with lower beds more friendly for smaller children was on the ground floor rather than on a floor that was higher up and close by rooms to be occupied by adults. I had a hard time leaving my two small children by themselves on that floor and took turns sleeping in one of the twin beds in that room (there were 4) with my mom. We also used a monitor system but found that the insecure feeling brought on by having them alone on a floor by themselves made for poor sleeping. They ended up sleeping in the master suite with my mom in that large bed for a few nights.Thanks also to Emerald Else Realty maintenance for helping with windows that we were unable to lock and for replacing the dvd player in the media room when an issue occurred.We had a fabulous week - what a lovely home!
-Lynn L on 10/05/2014
