Patriotic colors and casual wicker make this sunroom a popular place to relax.

In the dreaming days, Colene and Carl Joiner's weekend getaway was a wooded lot where they sat in white plastic armchairs (which were chained to a tree), drank wine, and admired their spectacular view.

Now that they've built the house, the seating is a little better--Adirondack chairs, sturdy rocking chairs--and the dream is reality, but the view is the same. The Joiners see clearly a future of fun-filled family celebrations and quiet evenings by the bay.

An Easterly Wind
Several years ago, the Joiners purchased a lot in Kemah, a town on Galveston Bay about an hour from their year-round home in Kingwood, Texas, a suburb of Houston. During the months before they started building their house, the couple frequently sat in the "yard" to plan the vacation retreat. Inspired by the casual beauty of Maine, Vermont, and Massachusetts, where they vacation, Carl and Colene imported East Coast attitude to Texas. With vision and expertise--he is an architect; she is an interior designer--they created a home that has a Nantucket-casual feel.

An outdoor shower by the side entrance is a great spot for rinsing off and hanging up wet towels.

Island Ideas
White cedar shingles were shipped in from Massachusetts for the home's exterior. The Joiners had the shingles painted taupe rather than let them weather to the silvery gray color seen along the East Coast. "That's a real no-no. We would be run out of Nantucket for that," Colene says, laughing. "But long-term, I prefer paint."

At a Nantucket antiques shop, the couple found weather vanes they liked. They custom ordered a copper whale weather vane for the garage roof from the artisan in Connecticut. A hand-carved personalized ship sign, made by Nantucket woodcarvers, hangs above the front door.