Dave and Anne Robblee are technically Bellevue residents.
But when they want to get away from the big city, they love escaping to Camano Island.
It’s where they’ve built the retirement home of their dreams.
But it isn’t just a newly built custom home right smack on the driftwood-scattered shore of Port Susan, it is a celebration of all things nautical.
“We love it up here,” Anne Robblee, 64, said of their future retirement home. “When you decide to go with a theme, it’s always neat.”
The Robblees’ commitment to all things nautical is obvious even before you set foot in the home.
On the front lawn, they’ve beached a sailing dinghy in a berm landscaped with grasses.
Their home’s architecture, designed by Pelletier + Schaar of Stanwood, reflects the theme too, with blue-gray shingle siding and a large porthole window facing the street.
In the entry, a 6-foot compass rose ceiling mural, lit dramatically and framed with white-painted wood, makes a stunning display.
Nautical accents large and small define the great room, featuring a wall of windows facing the beach. High white-washed knotty pine ceilings are crisscrossed with wide, white-painted beams.
White cabinets in the kitchen create a bright space. Nautical light fixtures hang from two 12-foot-long oars over a granite-topped island.
Two ships’ wheels have positions of honor here, too, including one used to hang antique light fixtures over the dining table and another mounted over the fireplace.
But perhaps most important of all is a 6-foot-long, 10-foot-high model of a 130-foot sailing yacht.
This dramatic piece, perched on a table behind the sofa, divides the dining and the living areas.
Dave Robblee, 69, has been restoring the model for the past seven years, including the rigging, inspired by photos of similar vessels.
Next he plans to add sails.
“I’ll spend this winter redoing it,” he said, as his wife added: “And he’s not a hobby person, so this is a big deal.”
Living room cabinets with louvered doors, honey-colored wainscoting and dark wood flooring all evoke a maritime theme.
Blue and red furniture fabrics soften the look, including two blue tufted chairs in the living room that swivel easily to accommodate the view. Since the Robblees’ 2,600-square-foot home was completed in March, they’ve been spending about four days a week enjoying the oasis of the beach.
“This is rest,” Dave Robblee said. “We’re on island time.”
The Robblees both grew up in the Seattle area and have always been avid boaters.
Though they used to entertain family on their cabin cruiser, they found their four grandchildren drawn more to land-based activities, so a beach home made perfect sense.
Their grandkids’ guest room includes bunk beds and a wooden ship’s ladder that leads to a loft, featuring a built-in, pillow-strewn seat right under the home’s porthole window.
Miniature versions of maritime signal flags adorn the colorful space, along with marine line attached to the ladder’s metal cleats.
The Robblees’ visiting family members appreciate the serene location and the home’s 180-degree view.
Mount Baker is visible to the north and, at night, the city lights of Everett shine from the south.
Though one might expect a beach home to be at its least charming during winter, Anne Robblee said it’s just the opposite.
“Even on a gray day, this is cheerful. Stormy is great. There’s always a different vista,” she said. “Our lifestyle is so much quieter here. It’s a year-round retreat.”
Sarah Jackson: 425-339-3037, sjackson@heraldnet.com.
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