This three-story home is located right alongside Sandy Beach at 556 S Atlantic Ave. in Virginia Beach. Homeowners Stacy and Robert Baer built this home in 2004. Playing the role as the designer as well, Robert Baer used a feng shui design focusing on the elements: water, earth, fire and wind.
The property has five bedrooms and five bathrooms, and multiple other rooms for various activities, including a home movie theater, a “kid’s cave,” a home office, and a sauna.
One of the most intriguing things about this house is how it was built. Since the house is about 15 feet above sea level, the city does not require the homeowners to have flood insurance for their property. However, that did not stop Robert Baer from making the house completely hurricane-proof.
An engineered foundation with grade beam foundation and pillars pounded into the ground for extra stability were used as the support system for the house. To add even more, iron girders were used in the structure of the house. Extra-large bricks (containing crushed quartz to give it a little sparkle when the sun hits) were used, too. Special windows were installed to handle hurricane winds and the roof was designed with a curvature to allow for more space and height.
There’s a lot going on outside and that continues once you walk in.
The walls are filled with tall windows that reveal a beautiful scenery of the ocean, the kitchen is done in an Italian style and dangling above the staircase is a chandelier designed by famed sculptor Dale Chihuly.
If it were available, the estimated price for this house is around $2.5 million or $9,000 to rent.
