They also installed a top-of-the-line Viking range, and a collection of high-end, quirky chandeliers throughout the house. The men especially like the Currey & Co. chandelier in the foyer that was made to look like pieces of white coral dusted with beach sand, and the custom-made black feather chandelier hanging in the sitting room off the kitchen.
McFall added splashes of red, stripping and repainting an armoire from a previous beach house and purchasing red lacquered dining chairs. Photo by Ivana Biela.
Adler says the 12-foot ceilings, which the couple insisted on to keep the rooms from feeling narrow, were a challenge. “Designing a shower with a 12-foot ceiling is tricky,” Adler says. “I had to readjust my whole sense of scale.” In the kitchen, the high ceilings created an extra expanse of wall above the cabinets. Instead of making the cabinets taller, McFall suggested installing transom windows. “It was a creative solution,” Adler says. “They double the amount of natural light in the room.”
The men say the house reflects both of their styles. “I’m the more formal one; Rob is more beachy from his years growing up on Long Island,” McFall says. Adler describes the home as upscale but still coastal.
McFall loves to cook, so he selected a high-end Viking range and a double oven for the kitchen. He uses the convection microwave as a third oven when entertaining. Photo by Ivana Biela.
The eclectic furniture is a mixture of new, old and repurposed pieces. Some are sentimental, including the gilt American eagle mirror that belonged to Ramoy’s grandmother, and the French bergère chairs in the great room that came from the furniture store once owned by McFall’s parents. McFall had the mirror painted white and hung it in the blue guest room upstairs; he stripped the chairs, painted them white and had them reupholstered in a zebra print. There’s also an oil painting of the Intracoastal Waterway by McFall’s grandfather, and a large fishbowl with Ramoy’s collection of sea glass from beaches around the world.
Ramoy and McFall often sit on one of their three decks and watch joggers, bicyclists and bird-watchers. One of McFall’s favorite places to relax is the nook that’s nestled under the third-floor stairs. “I love to just sit there and read,” McFall says. “You love to sit there and talk on the phone,” Ramoy says, laughing.
The third-floor deck provides the lake and ocean view that convinced the couple to buy the property. Photo by Ivana Biela.
On summer afternoons, the couple likes to walk to the town’s boardwalk, have a bucket of Thrasher’s fries and people watch. Ramoy says that when they first started coming to Rehoboth in the late ’80s, there was a “Keep Rehoboth Family Friendly” campaign in progress. People were concerned about a gay couple buying a house in the neighborhood.
“You weren’t free to be yourself,” Ramoy says. Now, the men find themselves in a place where being gay is accepted and they feel welcome. “Rehoboth offers us a place to be us,” Ramoy says. “To enjoy life like everyone else.”
McFall and Ramoy love to entertain around the pool at night when underwater lights change from purple to red to green. Photo by Ivana Biela.
Ramoy and McFall spend as much time as they can in Rehoboth, making the trip from Bethesda year-round. McFall says one of the “drawbacks” of building their dream house is that everyone wants to stay there. His mother and two tween nieces are frequent weekend houseguests, as is Ramoy’s 21-year-old nephew, who is lobbying to turn the unfinished basement into a theater room. McFall’s older niece, who has a baby, likes to stay in the guest apartment over the garage.
“We didn’t really need a house this big,” Ramoy says. “But we built it and they come.”
Gabriele McCormick is a frequent contributor to Bethesda Magazine.