From the outside, Pat Wieland and Joe Uhing's house in Brigantine looks like a typical 1970's neo-classical: two stories with symmetrically spaced windows flanked by faux shutters. The interior is an entirely different story. It features a modern open floor plan with vaulted ceilings, skylights and sliding glass doors to a huge tropically themed patio with an in-ground pool, tiki bar and hot tub.
The contemporary design was the result of a major remodel completed by the previous owner, an interior designer from Philadelphia. That, along with the swimming pool, was what sold Joe and Pat on the house eight years ago.
"Pat wanted an open floor plan, and I wanted a pool," says Joe, who first moved to Brigantine in 1980, when he took a job at the new Harrah's casino hotel.
With five bedrooms and four full baths, there was plenty of room for Joe and Pat's three sons from previous marriages, who at the time were in their teens and early 20s. The house had the added attraction of being just a block and half from the ocean on Brigantine's south end, where the beaches are wide and uncrowded and where, according to Joe, "There are no greenhead flies." It was also convenient to Joe's job at the Golden Nugget, where he works in the financial department, and Pat's job with Global Cash Access, a casino vendor.
Located on an oversized corner lot at 45th Street, the property features a meticulously landscaped front yard. From a covered porch, the front door opens to a sunken foyer with a marble floor. The foyer is part of an immense great room that includes the kitchen, dining area, living room and an open staircase with Plexiglas railings. The living room has a tray ceiling and a wood-burning fireplace with a floor-to-ceiling brick chimney. The eat-in kitchen has a large two-level granite island with a cook top and sink. All the counters and backsplashes are granite.
A ground-floor master suite is an addition and features skylights, a vaulted ceiling, a gas fireplace and a walk-in closet. The master bath has a circular glass shower and a glass brick partition. Sliding glass doors open to the patio, where it's just a couple of steps to the 8-person hot tube. The first floor also has another full bathroom and a laundry room.
Four bedrooms and another full bath are on the second floor. Some of the bedrooms have a view of the new Revel casino hotel across Absecon Inlet in Atlantic City
The back yard is completely enclosed by a bamboo fence and features a towering yucca tree, ornamental grasses, a tiki bar with a thatched roof, a supersized built-in gas grill, an outdoor shower encased in bamboo and a full bathroom with shower. The freestanding cabana has a cathedral ceiling and is big enough for a ping pong table. It's also got a bar and cable TV hook-up .
"We call it a cabana/man cave," Pat says. "The men come in here to watch the games and it's a place to go when it rains."
As happens with many empty nesters, Joe and Pat are downsizing.
"The kids are grown and doing their own thing and the house is just basically sitting there," says Joe. "It's time to go."
Not that they plan on leaving Brigantine any time soon. In fact, they've already moved into a condo on the island that they bought years ago as an investment property.
"I'm a beach person," Joe says.
For more information on this property, which is listed for $549,000, call Ashley Franchini of Soleil Sotheby's International Realty at 609-487-8000 or direct at 609-233-6116.
Fast Facts:
Where: Brigantine
Built: Late 1970s
Size: 5 bedrooms, 4 baths
Taxes (2011): $6,588
Price: $549,000
Contact David Enscoe: 609-272-7087 · DEnscoe@pressofac.com
