Linda Hales, an editor at The Washington Post, writes frequently about design.

Photographer Judy Davis is a principal of Hoachlander Davis Photography in Washington, DC.

After raising children in Boston, Barry and Mary Jo Beswick took three years to settle into a new life in Richmond, Virginia, before discovering the Chesapeake Bay. New friends had talked about “the river,” but Mary Jo recalls that she “didn’t even know which one.” When the couple finally drove down to the Tides Inn, a yachting haunt in Irvington on the Northern Neck, they encountered an environment so leisurely and removed from their weekday hustle that Barry remembers thinking, “Holy mackerel. This is really the end of the world.” Mary Jo was reminded of Long Island where she grew up in the 1950s, “before it was really developed, when it really was little harbors and potato farms.”

The Beswicks laugh now, from the balcony of their shingled weekend cottage on Ball Point overlooking the Corrotoman River, which flows into the Rappahannock River just above the Chesapeake Bay. Mary Jo had always dreamed of having a water view from her window. And so, when they lucked into a virgin stretch of riverfront at what was then a bargain price, they knew this was the time and place.

Against a backdrop of lush foliage —tall pines, oak and gum trees, dogwoods and wild holly—they have completed the first phase of a family resort that puts them at the leading edge of the gentrification that is slowly transforming the rural Northern Neck. Now, they are learning the rhythms of running fish and getting to know every bird that plies the Corrotoman. “Part of being here is just relaxing and going at a slower pace of life,” says Mary Jo.

The cottage they call Corroluna (a blend of the river and the moon) is just a carriage house—a loft apartment over a two-car garage—but they spend almost every weekend there. From the water, their place can’t be missed; it’s the vaguely shingle-style cottage with the whimsical tower. This playful element rises just two stories, but it gives the simple dwelling dignity far beyond its size. The secret is that the tower serves solely to hide a stairwell from the garage to the balcony and front door. “This is where it’s dangerous to let the owners look at books,” Barry says with a laugh. “This was an example of the architect listening to us.”

Architect David Haresign of Bonstra/Haresign in Washington, DC, designed the carriage house as a prelude to a 3,000-square-foot residence now on the drawing board. This small dwelling is taking them a step closer to creating a family gathering place. The carriage house will serve as guest quarters once the main house is built. The Beswicks are still mulling retirement plans, but family needs are clear. “Like all aging boomers, we’re trying to figure out how to attract our kids,” Barry says, so they thought they’d “try living in a destination spot, so there are lots of things our kids and their kids would like to do.”

Barry, an executive at Capital One, had known Haresign from his work as architect for the corporate headquarters in McLean, Virginia. Haresign had moved on from major commercial projects (including the AOL campus) to design loft-style urban housing as a partner of Bonstra/Haresign Architects. But he had time for a residence for the Beswicks. “He was part of our serendipity,” says Mary Jo.

Together, the couple and architect developed a master plan for the 1.5-acre lot. They declined to take advantage of a grandfathered regulation allowing them to build just 50 feet from the water and set the house and cottage 100 feet back. A winding drive will bring visitors from Queenstown Road to the shingled two-story house, which will have a tower of its own. A service drive hugs the property line on its way directly to the carriage house, which sits just west of the planned residence. A spa terrace with an infinity-edge pool will tie the compound together.

Haresign has designed plenty of space in both buildings for entertaining guests. In addition to the full apartment on its second level, the carriage house includes a bedroom and a bath on the ground floor, alongside the garage. The  larger house is designed with a master suite for the Beswicks off the great room on the main floor and two more bedroom suites upstairs.

In creating the house and cottage, the owners and architect met each other half way on aesthetics. The Beswicks admit that they respond emotionally to Craftsman detailing. But Haresign, a confirmed modernist, says frankly that “this is not my normal instinct.” So he eased the couple into a “modern interpretive” tower for the carriage house
with tapered rectangular columns instead of round ones. He had hoped the design would be free of molding and trim, but the local builder, David Jones of Connemara Construction, added some to the owners’ satisfaction.

Both building designs take pains not to overwhelm the neighborhood. “We didn’t want to be the McMansion,” Haresign says. Despite two-story volumes for the great room and the towers, the carriage house and the eventual main residence are essentially horizontal structures that hug the ground and face the water. “This house is all about the view,” the architect says.

Since the carriage house is intended for guests, who are unlikely to spend a lot of time cooking, luxuries weren’t required and simplicity rules in the 19-foot-by-45-foot space. French doors from the balcony lead to an airy living room, which is defined by a floating gas fireplace and an open kitchen under the peaked roof, Haresign’s nod to contemporary loft style. A bedroom and bath are located at the far end of the rectangular space. The kitchen is flanked by windows, one with a built-in seat, the other furnished as a dining nook. A local cabinetmaker, Tom Beatley, produced a Shaker-style kitchen island in white oak.The interiors take cues from nature—with walls and accents in aqua and sand—and offer comfort without clutter.

Barry laughs about the “slippery slope” that brought the couple to this point in their idyll. The waterfront was so alluring that he built a dock in the fall of 2005, before the couple had a place to stay. In January 2006, he “made the mistake of turning into a boatyard,” where he bought a 23-foot fishing boat. Beswick is proud of the striped bass he caught on the Corrotoman, but adds, “I think we’re still learning what it means to fish.”

As for the house, Barry admits, “The scope mushroomed. David fell in love with the site. We’ve just been along for the ride.” He expects to break ground on the main house in 2009. For now, weekends mean taking the boat out early to fish, playing  golf at a nearby club and saluting the sunset with an evening cruise.

As the sun rises over the Corrotoman, the Beswicks are content to enjoy the timeless vista of tundra swans, Canada geese, blue heron and osprey returning to the nest. “We were here by ourselves during the winter,” Barry says. “It was really quite fantastic. We were sitting out on the balcony in hats and gloves watching the sun rise. Only true New Englanders would do that.”