Gary and Becky Patrick

Gary and Becky Patrick have made the inland marshes of the Jerico River their home for the past thirty-one years. Minutes away from the bustling traffic of I-95, off Coastal Highway 17, there’s a magical island perhaps once part of an antebellum rice plantation, known as the community of Twin Rivers. Here, the Jerico and Grass Rivers split the two neighboring counties, Bryan and Liberty. This indeed is one of the most breathtaking expanses of marsh and river-front property in our area. A white, one-lane causeway leads visitors through welcoming pineapple emblazoned gates onto Blue Crab Lane, where Gary and Becky’s Jericoastal Cottage sits. Stepping onto the Patrick’s well-hidden river retreat gives one the feeling of stepping into a different world.

After thirty years with the City of Savannah Fire Department, Gary retired and started a small building and remodeling company, called Georgia Seacoast Properties. He and Becky’s creative capabilities—paired with his building and business expertise, allowed the couple to create a small, 572 square-foot river house that is the perfect example of sustainable design. The initial building idea was merely to create an outhouse for their dock and property! But, the project grew from a bathroom… to a one-bedroom, one-bath cottage! Built by Gary himself, many of the materials were reclaimed from excess materials used on new construction projects on Hampton Island.

A combination of pine, antique heart pine, and a few exotic wood planks create a rustic palette throughout the house. The interior of the home is very comfortable with its blue-gray and whitewashed color scheme. Accents of the coastal landscape, such as oyster shells and dolphin bones, enhance the neutral color scheme. A large painting of a beached shrimp boat framed with a piece of the boat’s weathered hull, painted by Becky, highlights the living room. She comments in her candid way, “If I had known we would end up with this piece of wood from the boat itself, I would have painted the picture so that you could recognize it better!” To which Gary sweetly replies— “It’s perfect, baby.”

View of the living room — the weathered hull and painting

Most of the furniture has either been built by Gary or has been acquired from family heirlooms and flea market finds. Becky has a special knack for turning antique flea market finds into unique coastal pieces with some new paint or fabric. The décor of the home looks like something right out of Coastal Living magazine. This especially applies to the swinging bed in the guest bedroom. The bed’s edges are padded with boat bumpers to protect the nearby wall. “Our grandchildren, nieces, and nephews just love to swing on that bed,” says Becky as we take the grand tour. She describes her design style as…nothing goes to waste. The small bathroom mirror is actually an old dresser mirror of her grandmother’s that she painted and mounted above a new sink.

Using the small space to its maximum potential, Gary designed a pull-down Murphy bed in the living room, which he disguised to appear as an entertainment center with hooks used for beach bags and towels. The front folds down to create a second sleeping area for guests. Doing so, reveals beautiful beaded board with another of Becky’s beach paintings above.

The Murphy Bed undisguised

Though the Patrick’s main house is only a few minutes up the causeway, they enjoy using this river house as a weekend escape, as well as a place to entertain friends and family. They have adopted the blue crab as the trademark for their waterfront retreat. A quick walk through “Inch Beach,” a small patch of sand where their daughters, sons-in-law, and grandchildren enjoy many summer afternoons, leads visitors to the dock where a Boston Whaler, aptly named She Crab sits waiting her next afternoon troll. The dock house boasts faint blue ceilings and custom crab artwork, making it an extension of the main house.

As Gary and Becky speak about the house and their memories of many fun, family filled weekends, they tell stories about getting older and their memories of raising their children and grandchildren in this house. They enjoy letting friends, family, and even strangers use their beautiful coastal cottage and have recently donated the use of it to the Pay it Forward Foundation of Bryan County, who in turn raised funds for the Matthew Reardon Center in Savannah.

A small sign tucked into Gary and Becky’s garden truly speaks of their personalities and what this coastal retreat means to them: “Live, Love, and Laugh.”