Life is indeed a beach at this expressive Rockaways home that embraces the beauty in every detail.

Under the tenets of wabi-sabi, a traditional Japanese aesthetic ethos, the imperfect is perfect. Perhaps most notably, the term applies to bonding a broken piece of pottery back together with lines of gold in the cracks, a practice that signifies the piece is better for having fallen apart. 

This charming home at 144 Beach 93rd Street, a mere half-block from the Rockaway Beach boardwalk and some of New York’s premier surf, embraces the wabi-sabi philosophy. The gilding within may be more metaphorical than literal, yet there’s a resplendence here that will have you racing toward New York City’s Atlantic shore in the Rockaways.

Gut-renovated by its current owner in 2017, the four-story house was creatively pieced back together with parts originating from as near as the backyard to as far as East Asia, Iberia, and Scandinavia. Hemlock wood flooring and exposed ceiling beams, plus a central brick chimney, amplify a prevailing sense of reclaiming existing space. The resulting picture feels the exact right amount of over-the-top en route to being purely irresistible.  

Despite very much fitting into the summer beach house mold, the retreat-worthy residence is no mere seasonal getaway; it’s built for the year-round long-haul. Enter through a front door sourced from a 1950s Portuguese speakeasy — complete with a tiny window for uttering the secret password — into a contained universe that fosters wellness and staying grounded amid the waves of life.  

Lounge-worthy floor couches surround a wood stove in an invitingly open living room, whose mood is something of Moroccan tea room meets woodland cabin by way of a zen temple. The kitchen is a few steps beyond and flaunts one-of-a-kind details like a cement countertop inlaid with sea glass and an iridescent pool tile mosaic backsplash. A screened-in porch awaits behind a wall of foldable NanaWall glass, ideal for morning tea or sunset dining.  

Up one level, sat in front of custom wooden shutters decorated with glass shapes, you’ll find a Japanese soaking tub (or ofuro), a deep vessel intended not for washing oneself but for serene relaxation. Ingeniously, the tub is positioned within direct view of a pull-down projector screen, a rare combination of thoroughly traditional and exceedingly modern modes of unwinding. Window walls have become an increasingly popular way to open up spaces to natural light, but what about a wall composed of windows? Such is the case for the second-floor bedroom, whose interior-facing wall is a charming jigsaw of windows salvaged from Zaborski Emporium in Kingston, NY. Terraces on either end of this level peek toward the ocean. 

A secret door pops open and leads the way to the third floor, an escape within this escape of a home. Pitched ceilings amplify the private perch atmosphere. The bedroom at one end has a balcony window built into the ceiling slant, making sleeping under the stars a nightly possibility — open it up and let the sounds of the Atlantic serve as a natural white noise machine. Meanwhile, the sun-soaked space across the way is an ideal reading nook. Most singular is the full bath in the middle, a room-sized shower with a rainfall head, a frosted glass window, and a riverstone floor. Ascend a hallway ladder to the private roof deck and unobstructed scenic panoramas encompassing everything near and far. 

Even the home’s brick-walled basement bears features showing off creative attention to detail. Keep warm and toasty in a six-person cedar sauna, imported from Finland and adorned with additional cedar — repurposed from a backyard project and sculpted to resemble a cresting wave. Go for the exact opposite sensation in the adjacent cold plunge tub, which has a dedicated ice machine. Make some noise and express yourself without worrying about angering the neighbors from inside the soundproof music studio.

The basement walks up to a back garden planted with native flora such as chokeberry and plotted with layers of absorbent material to soak up water. A side passage leads directly to the front of the property and greater Rockaway adventure, whether that’s a surfing excursion, sunbathing in the sand, or sampling beloved, nearby local eateries like Rippers or Uma’s.   

For journeys within and beyond coastal Queens, the Rockaway Park Shuttle is four blocks away at the Beach 90th Street station. This line extends westward down the peninsula to Beach 116th in one direction and north to Broad Channel and a transfer to the A in the other — the A also makes 10 daily rush-hour stops at Beach 90th. NYC Ferry docks just a bit further, off of Beach 108th and Beach Channel Drive, and offers sub-60-minute service to the Financial District with one stop in between at the Brooklyn Army Terminal in Sunset Park. If there’s something you can’t surf or take public transit to, a car makes perfect sense — after all, this home has a private driveway.  

Heading back in after a day out and about? That familiar side pathway guides you directly to the home’s hidden outdoor shower, a beachfront luxury like no other.