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A writer's place to work in peace

An author and his wife design their MiraBay home so that quiet and warmth are ever present.

By ELIZABETH BETTENDORF
Published March 24, 2006

APOLLO BEACH - Writers' homes come in all sorts of architectural styles and sizes. Edith Wharton lived at the Mount, in Lenox, Mass.; Louisa May Alcott at Orchard House in Concord, Mass.; and Eugene O'Neill at Tao House in Danville, Calif.

Author Ray Morris lives in a "Key Largo'' style house in MiraBay, a master-planned coastal development of front porches and sunny postcard views in south Hillsborough County.

It's very much a writer's home, a charming three-bedroom, two-bath cottage with dormer windows and a sweet-as-lemonade front porch with wicker chairs and a door wreath laced with shells.

Morris, 65, a mystery-thriller writer, retired Army colonel and Green Beret, and his wife, Brenda, 62, built the house last year as a second home, a place where Morris could write in blissful quiet.

"It's just nice,'' Ray said of the New Urbanism feel of the community that lured them from the Pacific Northwest to the Tampa area.

In fact, they are so content, the Morrises say, that they plan to sell their waterfront home in Washington state and make MiraBay their year-round residence.

They've already settled into the seaside rhythm of the community, befriending neighbors and throwing a chocolate-themed book launch party Saturday night at the MiraBay Clubhouse. The event will fete the recent publication of Ray's latest book Tender Prey (VBW Publishing, 2005), available at Barnes & Noble bookstores and through Amazon.com.

Morris served as the deputy director for the Army's Criminal Investigation Division in San Francisco and recently came out of retirement at the Army's request to train Stryker brigades going to Iraq. Always a writer, he wrote short stories during his three tours of duty in Vietnam and habitually tucked away manuscripts for later publication. He's written westerns, science fiction, sagas and nonfiction (he's at work on a nonfiction book about Delta Forces).

It was Brenda, who acts as his proofreader, business manager and publicist, who encouraged him to get his manuscripts published.

Their house in MiraBay has proved perfect for his writing life, providing the kind of quiet he needs for his writing schedule, which sometimes keeps him working for long stretches into the evening.

The view from the house is breathtaking, even inspiring. The shallow pool (deliberately built that way for their young grandchildren) faces a small canal and a freshwater lagoon. The location allows the couple to cruise in their small fishing boat through a series of locks and then out into Tampa Bay.

"We wanted the perfect community - it had to be waterfront because we're boaters,'' Ray says. "We wanted a secure (turnkey) place because at the time we thought we were going to be living in two states.''

Brenda, a lifelong seamstress with a love of interior decorating, created an interior space that feels both stylish and coastal, with sea blue and green chairs and ottomans (finds from Hudson's Furniture in Brandon), a coral-painted tray ceiling (Brenda took her inspiration from the colors in the MiraBay clubhouse) and lots of handmade window treatments in dark tropical florals.

She made all the wreaths and shell still lifes that decorate the house. Shells, pinecones and balls of grapevine fill bowls on coffee tables and add visual interest in every room. The guest bedroom, painted cool celery green, features a mirror made from wooden shutters where Brenda casually tucks family photos.

She made use of paintable wallpaper from Lowe's to give some of the walls texture and interest. She covered the tray ceiling in the master bedroom with painted beadboard and the walls in the master bath in grasscloth.

Rustic signs point the way to the beach. And tropical pink pillows with dragonflies were finds on a recent trip to Vietnam.

Ray jokes that they didn't simply buy out "furniture showrooms'' but instead took their time looking, scouring small boutiques, locally owned furniture stores, even Pier 1 for exactly what they needed. Brenda even hot glued shells into the sheer drapes for Ray's study, a masculine, nautical feeling room highlighted by an antique-looking wicker reading chair with built-in side pockets to hold books.

They took a lot of their inspiration - and color palette - from a large painting of exotic, colorful birds that hangs in the dining room. The couple were also motivated by the decorating they saw in MiraBay's model homes and communal buildings, including the clubhouse. In the living room she opted for four club chairs upholstered in palm-tree fabric instead of traditional love seats or a large sofa.

Says Brenda: "We wanted this to feel like a vacation beach house - coastal with a lot of informality, something comfortable that we're not afraid to live in.''

[Last modified March 24, 2006, 10:46:31]