Making It Work at the Beach

Weekend Retreats Become A Year-Round Reality

LEWES, Del. -- There is a moment in every beach vacation when a deep breath of salt air, the crunch of a fried clam or a drift of summer flowers sparks a fleeting daydream about pitching everything and moving there for good.

The DiSabatino family, four generations of them, is living the dream.

Mario and Carol DiSabatino bought a small raised ranch house just off the beach here in 1980 where they could spend summer weekends with their children, Taryn, 5, and Matt, 4. The house was divided into two apartments back then; the DiSabatinos took the two-bedroom lower unit and rented out the upstairs.

Fast forward to 2007. Mario and Carol have doubled the size of the house, opened a shop and settled permanently into life at the beach. Both kids are out of college, are married and have started their own businesses in the same town. There are two grandchildren and another on the way. Carol's 79-year-old mother, Eleanor Wright, has relocated here, too, and helps out in Carol's home accessories and gift shop.

"I pinch myself each morning when I'm out for my early morning walk," Carol says. "We are very lucky."

It took a lot more than luck, however. Entrepreneurial spirit, hard work and family support turned a passing daydream into viable reality.

The DiSabatinos, originally from Smyrna, Del., about an hour away, have been going to the Delaware beaches since childhood. "We grew up doing the Dewey Beach thing as singles," Carol says. But it wasn't until friends invited them to their cottage in Lewes 27 years ago that they fell for the centuries-old history, quiet bayside shoreline and village vibe of the town, and bought property there.

"The kids could play on the street; the bay is safe," says Mario, a dentist who commutes four days a week to his office in Smyrna. "We figured that our kids would get married and move away, so we decided to expand the house so they could all come stay with us."

But as years went by, that vision started to change. Mario and Carol became empty-nesters and were spending more time at the beach house. Carol and a friend who shared a talent for antiquing and decorating decided to open a shop in Lewes called Two Friends, carrying such things as summery table linens, beach bags and quilts. It seemed only natural for the couple to sell their house in Smyrna and move to Lewes full time, joining 3,000 year-round residents, a population that swells to about 9,000 each summer.

In 1999, the DiSabatinos began the latest remodeling of the beach house, preserving its original '50s charm while adding a master bedroom and bath and a living room with a vaulted ceiling.

That gave them plenty of room for visits from their grown children. As it happened, though, the kids had more than visits in mind, each coming up with business plans that would make possible their own permanent move to the beach.

Matt had worked in Lewes restaurants over several summers during college, so not long after he graduated he started planning for a bistro of his own. In 2001, he opened Striper Bites in an old cottage in the village. "We wanted a nautical place with a spirited atmosphere, good energy and great food at reasonable prices," Matt says. The bistro's walls are dotted with weathered oars and buoys, and dinghies hang from the ceiling. He married in 2003, and his wife, Ali, who is expecting a baby this fall, is part of the business. Early this year they opened a second eatery down the street, Half Full, a rustic pizza and wine bar in a shingled cottage dating back centuries. This month, a third place, Kindle, will debut in neighboring Milton, where the centerpiece will be a massive copper fire pit surrounded by banquettes.

"My parents have always supported whatever I wanted to do," Matt says. "My creativity and energy and ambition definitely stem from them. We all help each other out."

Taryn started her working life as a special education teacher in Maryland. She and her husband, Jason Burris, moved to Lewes in 2003. Two years later, she and another teacher, Lori Schell, dreamed up a business they called Kids Cottage. Their concept was to combine a preschool with a drop-in play and learning center where local and vacationing parents could leave their little ones for a few hours. They even throw birthday parties. The colorful, friendly cottage in Rehoboth, with such beachy themes as "surf shop," "lighthouse" and "candy store," was built primarily by Jason and his remodeling firm, True North. Taryn and Lori are exploring the idea of franchising the concept.

With all of this growth and activity, the hub of the DiSabatino family remains Carol and Mario's place. A spacious kitchen opens onto a screened porch, a favorite family hangout furnished with black wicker and white denim cushions. Seaside touches include a wet bar Matt built out of a rowboat, bowls of beach glass, and starfish lined up on the windowsills. Matt and Taryn's childhood maple bunk beds are still in the tiny bedroom where Taryn used to play with her Barbies.

"I love those beds; we slept in them for so many summers," says Taryn, who has two children, Gannon, 2, and Evan, born four months ago. "I remember having a lot of dinners in that little kitchen with no dishwasher and staying up late washing dish after dish after parties with the neighbors."

Now four generations are making new memories. "If it's over 32 degrees we wear shorts and flip-flops to work," says Jason, who also spent childhood summers in Lewes. "Where else could you do that?"