By Gretchen A. Peck

Buyers with a luxury budget and a quest to live close to the Rhode Island coast may like to consider 4 Belle Rose Drive in Westerly. Realtor Stuart Marvin, who’s affiliated with the Berkshire Hathaway, New England Properties brokerage in Westerly, is both the listing agent and the co-owner.

Marvin and his wife, Suzanne, bought the property in 2011, initially with the intention to rent the house. At the time, the house “needed a little TLC.” The homeowners provided Welcome Home with a list of improvements they’ve made to the property, which initially included a new roof, new powder room, a central air system, new siding, windows, carpeting, and more.

After just one summer of renting the house, their fondness for the Belle Rose Drive home—and especially the beach community setting—compelled them to make it their primary residence.

“No matter how bad your day was, you’d come here, and you’d feel like you were on vacation,” he said.

Mrs. Marvin, who grew up in the Midwest, concurred: “It’s almost surreal that I live in an ocean state and have access to the ocean any time. But I think the thing that drew me, that made me fall in love with Westerly, was Stu’s affinity for it. He was almost a different person when we came here. He enjoyed the water so much, and found everybody in Westerly to be friendly. It’s just a great community.”

She also had a “vision” for renovating the two-level house over time. (*The 3,212-square-foot figure represents both finished levels—a lower level and a top, main floor.)

The floor plan affords a great room-style living and dining area, with a gas fireplace; the kitchen, a media room, powder room, full hall bath and laundry. Exterior doors in the kitchen open out to the wraparound deck.

Three bedrooms are on this level, as well, including the primary bedroom suite—complete with a private bath, a walk-in closet, and a private balcony deck.

In 2017, they completed a kitchen renovation. They paid attention careful to little details in the design—full-depth cabinet storage above the refrigerator, a built-in lazy Susan in a lower corner cabinet, a single-handle faucet in the sink, built-in dish- and hand-soap dispensers, and a pull-out spice rack next to the gas stove and oven.

They chose bamboo floors, sustainably sourced and particularly durable. “It is easy to maintain. You can use a dust mop, vacuum or a Swiffer, and the kitchen has a built-in Vroom Vacuflo system for quick cleanups,” she said. It’s an add-on to the home’s central vacuuming system the couple installed in 2014. For the appliances, they selected GE Adora Profile models, in a slate gray finish.

“The kitchen has a lot of storage, which was lacking in the original kitchen. Now, we have a large pantry and a more functional island, because it has drawers and cabinets underneath,” she said.

“All the doors and pull-out drawers are soft-closing, and the cabinets are solid wood from Thomasville. Nothing is laminated,” he said.

In 2022, they made another improvement that not only changed the house architecturally, it added a lifestyle feature—a rooftop deck, accessed from the second-level deck by way of a new, aluminum spiral staircase. The couple said they used the outdoor living space “as often as possible,” and recounted how guests are wowed by the breathtaking views from the high perch.

“You’re on top of the world up there,” he said. “You’re looking down toward the Weekapaug Golf Course and Atlantic Avenue, out to the beach, all the way to Block Island and Montauk.”

The water views aren’t confined to the rooftop deck. The second-level deck and south-facing interior rooms have water views, too.

The most recent renovation work has been to the lower-level guest suite, which they completed earlier this year. It’s a flexible space; besides using it as a guest suite, it could be a playroom, a crafting room, additional home office space or as homework room—or, as the owners recently used it, as a home gym/exercise room.

The couple dedicated one of the lower-level rooms to a home office. Should a buyer require a second home office, they suggested the main-level media room would work well. There’s also a family room in the lower level, with a second fireplace.

Mrs. Marvin described Westerly as embodying “New England charm.”

“And the friendliness of everyone is just beyond compare,” she added. “You’re two hours from Boston and three hours to New York City. You can travel to the ocean or to the mountains. Westerly is the best of New England, with a central location and easy access to I-95.”

The couple said the location has weather benefits, as well.

“It can be 20 degrees warmer inland,” Mr. Marvin said. “We get shore breezes from the Sound, and it cools us off in the summer. In the winter, we have the advantage of having milder weather because of the proximity to the water. So, in the summer, it’s cooler than inland, and in the winter, it’s warmer.”

The Marvins are asking $1.195 million for the 4 Belle Rose Drive.

“Our home has a lot of memories, and it’s been perfect for our lifestyle,” she said. “Every morning, when I walk out of the bedroom and into the main part of the house, when I look out through the dining room windows, I do feel like I’m on vacation. I thought maybe in time I’d get complacent about the view and not really pay attention to it, but it’s part of the beginning of my day, and it just makes me feel good to see the ocean.”

“It’s like living in vacation land,” the listing agent/seller concluded.

Property: 4 Belle Rose Dr., Westerly

Bedrooms: 3

Baths: 4

Square Footage: 3,212*

Acreage: 0.36

Asking Price: $1.195 million

Listing Agent: Stuart Marvin, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, New England Properties, Westerly brokerage; Mobile: (860) 839-3152; stuartmarvin@bhhsne.com