Love for Sanibel shines in first “Peek” tour home
Serenity, contentment and a big serving of island charm. A delicious mix of elegant and quirky. The backdrop for a busy family life – and a testament to a 30-year love story.
This is “Serenity Nowell,” the first home to be revealed for the Zonta Club of Sanibel-Captiva’s 18th “A Peek at the Unique” signature home tour, which raises funds to help empower women and girls.
Coming up on March 16, the event will feature four different but equally intriguing – and normally inaccessible – island residences. Tickets are going fast as the event has typically sold out.
Honeymooning on Captiva 30 years ago, newlyweds Vinny and Suzie Nowell drove around Sanibel, passing a brand-new structure on the island’s east end, and fell instantly in love – with the house. Over the years, as they worked, raised a family and vacationed on the islands, the couple would drive by “their” house and imagine a future when they might own it. In 2013, the home came on the market and it was time to realize the dream.
Built in 1989, the 3,300-square foot Shell Harbour home was architecturally sound but with dated layout and dcor. The Nowells worked with Sanibel home builder Matt Kirchner to create an interior that would facilitate their busy family life and love of entertaining. “Peekers” will climb stairs into an open and airy, light-filled living space with a calming view, filled with objects found on the couple’s searches through local antique shops, on travels and from their former life in West Virginia.
The Nowells named their home “Serenity Nowell” as a play on their name and in tribute to a “Seinfeld” character who frequently shouted “Serenity now!” A color palette of soft blues, sand beiges and the occasional splash of coral says “Sanibel” as no other combination can. White, bead-board cabinetry in the bathrooms and kitchen offers a cottage vibe; the mother-of-pearl kitchen backsplash sparkles. Beachy items such as an oversized framed seahorse and lamps that look like buckets of shells reflect an island theme, as does the dreamy granite named “Blue Sky.” On the top floor, the master bedroom deck overlooks an open pool.
The home is sponsored by Kirchner Contracting Inc. and Island Home Service/Tree West.
A notable fact: Hurricane Irma in 2017 brought down 40-foot ficus trees, palms and heavy shrubbery fronting the home, leading to replacement with a clusia hedge.
Zonta relies on this annual event to fund its support for organizations that empower women, and recently distributed $105,000 in grants to 17 Lee County non-profits through its foundation.
Tickets are $100, plus a small service fee to EventBrite.
To purchase tickets, visit www.EventBrite.com.
Anyone uncomfortable using EventBrite may email PeekTickets@gmail.com.
For more information about the Zonta, visit www.zontasancap.com.