If you haven’t heard the news: we doubled down on beach houses. In fact, we bought a duplex — a literal double — in the same little Chesapeake Bay town where our pink house sits.
If you listened to our recent podcast, you already know the basics: the price was right (we negotiated it down $30K), the location is excellent — close to the park, local shops, and just a few blocks from the beach — and we felt this was an opportunity we couldn’t wait on. Inventory in this town is limited, and desirable fixer-uppers get renovated quickly. We paid $220K for the duplex, which works out to about $110K per side — cheaper than the pink house we bought previously.
The podcast covers more context about how we decided to move forward, how it took us a little while to see the charm, and how we’re making the finances work (including details about paying off our Richmond mortgage). If you haven’t listened yet, there’s plenty of detail below along with photos and two video tours of each side of the duplex.
The Basics
This is a historic fixer-upper in Cape Charles on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, the same town where our pink house is located — and it’s just two doors down from that home. The proximity to shops, the park, and the beach made the location a major selling point for us.
We didn’t expect to jump into another big project so soon, but over months of working on the pink house we watched inventory shrink for homes in our price range. The duplex made practical sense beyond the thrill of a new renovation:
- Vacation rental potential: We don’t plan to use the duplex ourselves, so each side will become a dedicated rental unit. That gives us income when we’re staying at the pink house and increases overall rental capacity.
- Accommodating larger groups: The pink house has three bedrooms (four counting a bunk room). The duplex will potentially offer six bedrooms total, so groups or family overflow can rent both sides together.
- Efficiency of shared work: Renovating two units at once can be more cost- and time-effective for big-ticket items like roof, siding, HVAC, and foundation work because those jobs can be completed for both sides together.
Having already worked with contractors in Cape Charles and learned a lot from the pink house renovation, this project feels more manageable than our first.
The Before Tour
The duplex is built as a mirror image down the middle. Each side shares the same layout but differs significantly in condition. Both sides had long-term tenants who moved out prior to sale, so the property needed a full refresh. We captured video tours of the left and right sides; below are photos and a written tour that highlights key problem areas and potential.
The Left Side
Both entries open directly to stairwells. We want to open the stairwell wall into the living room to bring more natural light into the stair area and make the space feel bigger.
The living room is a good size and the floors should refinish nicely despite cosmetic issues. There is water damage on part of the ceiling and a hole above the wall paneling that needs repair. Beyond the living room is a dining area and a narrow galley kitchen squeezed into what looks like a former side porch. That kitchen layout is inefficient and will be rethought; the current fridge placement and trim color are not staying.
The kitchen opens to a small, dark rear hallway with an old water heater and a back door. Our plan is to reconfigure the downstairs layout for better flow — creating a larger open living/kitchen/dining area, a more functional laundry space, and an improved bathroom. We briefly considered adding a downstairs bedroom, but current thinking is to keep all bedrooms upstairs to preserve more flexible, open common space downstairs.
Upstairs currently has two bedrooms and a large, oddly shaped full bathroom off a small landing. The upstairs rooms are surprisingly spacious, which gives us options to possibly add a third bedroom or a second bathroom if we reconfigure walls and layouts.
Many surfaces are covered with layers of finishes — wallpaper, foam ceiling tiles, and faux paneling — which we suspect are hiding older issues. Our experience on the pink house taught us not to fear uncovering surprises; we expect to strip these coverings back to reveal original details and necessary repairs.
The Right Side
The layout mirrors the left side, but this half is in slightly better condition. The living room features colorful trim and the same ceiling leak pattern found on the other side. A fridge currently sits in the dining room, and there are faux plants adding a bit of unexpected decor.
Upstairs, several rooms are covered with sticky adhesive residue from removed vinyl tile layers, which makes walking through the space unpleasant. Behind the coverings we suspect moisture damage and rot in some places, but there are also promising original features like an intact brick chimney that could be revealed and preserved.
The bathroom on this side includes a clawfoot tub in decent condition. Both bathrooms are large and oddly shaped, offering potential to rework them into more useful layouts that better suit modern rentals and guest comfort.
The Plan
We’re still in the dreaming and planning phase. Immediate demolition and major construction will wait until we wrap up several remaining tasks at the pink house, but we’re actively sketching floorplans and discussing priorities. The duplex likely dates back at least a century, and it will need whole-house systems updates similar to those we completed on the pink house: new plumbing and electrical, a modern HVAC system, a new roof and siding, and careful restoration of original features where they remain.
Our earliest goals are to: (1) maximize the usable floorplan in each unit, and (2) improve curb appeal so the duplex fits comfortably into its charming neighborhood. We’ve already scoped a local duplex nearby that helped us imagine color, shutters, and porch details. Some decorative trim on our duplex is not original and will likely be removed, but unique original features — like diamond-pane windows that are currently blocked off inside — will be revealed and restored.
We’ll share updates, floorplan sketches, photos, and video as the renovation progresses. A big thank-you to everyone who cheered us on when we announced this purchase — we’re equal parts excited and slightly crazy, but ready to get started. When the days of tiling double the kitchens and bathrooms blur our vision, remind us that you told us so — with a smile.