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The master bedroom overlooks Monroe Bay in Colonial Beach. The dock seen through the window comes with the property.
photos by SUZANNE CARR ROSSI/THE FREE LANCE-STAR

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Overlooking quiet Monroe Bay

Remodeled Colonial Beach home has Hollywood connection

Date published: 10/30/2009

BY RICHARD AMRHINE

There are many special little corners of the world that might give you that this-is-the-place-for-us feeling. Maybe you were in search of such a place, or just happened upon it.

Terry Rankin and Jim Kail traveled up and down the mid-Atlantic coast looking for the right place back in the spring of 2008. Rankin said they put 5,800 miles on a rental car in their search, and then someone suggested they have a look at Colonial Beach.

Once there, they stumbled across 622 Monroe Bay Ave. It needed some work, but the idyllic setting, overlooking the Potomac River inlet that is Monroe Bay, was captivating and, well, it was love at first sight. This would be where they'd retire.

Jumping ahead 14 months, the house has been delightfully redone, with Kail doing 90 percent of the work himself. A wall was removed to combine the kitchen and family room into a single open space, and extensive renovations have been made that result in a light-filled home perfectly suited for its waterfront location.

But 14 months can also bring changes in plans and priorities, and the couple has decided to put the property on the market. It is listed with Colonial Beach Real Estate at an asking price of $875,000.

The couple is prepared to leave behind all but a few sentimental furnishings, providing a move-in home for the right buyer.

Built in 1988, the house has four bedrooms and 2 baths on two levels, covering 2,436 square feet of finished living space. It sits on a little over a third of an acre on a peninsula created by the Potomac River and Monroe Bay that extends south from the central part of Colonial Beach.

THE PROJECT

Rankin and Kail are no strangers to remodeling houses. Having come here from the West Coast, they have redone houses in Venice Beach and Malibu, Calif., and another house and office in Bend, Ore., during their 26 years together.

The Southern California connection owes to Kail's work as a Hollywood makeup artist for many television shows and major motion pictures. His list of credits is extensive and impressive.

He likened taking on a home renovation to getting his first look at a script.


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Date published: 10/30/2009


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Nice house! Good luck selling it. (posted by fireball , Nov. 1, 2009 1:04 pm)   
I drive by it all the time. The metamorphosis was interesting to watch. However, I wonder why someone would invest so much time, effort and money into a house in a working-class neighborhood, only to put it up for sale in this kind of market. "But 14 months can also bring changes in plans and priorities", makes me hope they're OK financially, and just as frustrated w/the current direction CB is going. See Fredtalk's CB blog "CB residents-read learn and CHANGE" for more.

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