Step Inside this Modern Renovation Overlooking Mobile Bay
Off of Sea Cliff Drive in Fairhope, past the raised garden beds and reinvented carriage house, sits Peri and Brad Summersells’ home atop the bluff. After searching all over Fairhope for a property to renovate as empty nesters, they finally arrived at the abode that would be theirs.
“When we approached the front door and could see the Bay from that position — not even being in the house yet — we knew we were done looking,” Brad recalls.
“This is what sold us on the house,” agrees wife Peri as she looks out over the water. “Thank goodness it had good bones.”
The couple called on architect Clay Adams and architect and interior designer Abby Davis, both principals and partners at Walcott Adams Verneuille, to remodel the home and open up the floor plan so that their view of the Bay was the focal point.
“For me, the most important goal with the renovation was to create a fresh modern interior design without destroying the character of the existing cottage style,” Peri says. “I wanted it to be functional, not too formal, and maximize the Bay views from all the major living spaces.”
Clay and Abby say that the Summersells saw the potential for their house but were also passionate about preservation. “They embraced what might seem limiting to some, like the interior winder stairs, as just part of the quaintness or character of the house,” Abby says. So Clay worked in the existing architectural features while making structural changes that opened up the rooms and emphasized the stunning, panoramic view.
