Bruce Mears Designer/Builder celebrates 30 years

After 30 years in construction, custom home designer/builder Bruce Mears said his designs continue to raise the bar of excellence.

The first completed home of his 30th year in business, a challenging 4,600-square-foot build in South Bethany just a few feet away from the Assawoman Bay, has already been nominated for a national award from Marvin Integrity Windows and was featured on the cover of Annapolis Home magazine.

Far from the old beach cottages he was contracted to build when he started his business south of the Indian River Inlet in 1985, the new South Bethany home, Mears said, reflects a shift he's seen in the desires of his clientele for their beach escape.

"Your beach house evolved over the years from a simple place at the beach to an investment that reflects today's high-end products and features," he said. "It's sort of a sky's the limit market. If you can think it, you can do it."

All the amenities evolved as the resort towns have evolved into year-round destinations, Mears said.

The award-nominated South Bethany home, a three-story piling house he built for political insiders from Washington, D.C. was just his latest challenge, as Mears took on designing a luxurious beach hideaway on a property shaped like a piece of cheese edging up to the shores of the bay.

Mears said all of his home designs begin with a conversation; his prospective clients tell them their wishes for the home and he begins to work up a preliminary design and budget.

Due to the challenges of this build in particular, he said other designers rejected the project, but Mears said he was able to make the homeowners' vision come true with a little creativity and ground-breaking products, resulting in their dream house on the Assawoman Bay.

Three master bedrooms with bay views, decks, wet bars, porches, patios, a home gym, an elevator, built-in wine cellars, a spiral stairway to a fourth-floor view of the Ocean City skyline, remote security and temperature controls and cocktail-hour sunsets have all become a reality in this home, which is just one of the four he plans to finish this year.

A native of Sussex County himself, Mears said he lives in the first house he ever built near Bethany and stays busy as a single father, a youth leader at Mariner's Bethel UMC and chairman of the Sussex County building code board of adjustment and appeals.

An Indian River High School graduate in the late '70s, Mears said when he was entering the work force, there wasn't much industry in Sussex County besides poultry, real estate and building.

A competitive surfer, he took classes at Delaware Technical Community College and worked various jobs in the building industry while learning the more formal architectural aspects in school.

When he began his business in 1985, Mears said he was the only designer and builder in the area and still considers himself the first and premier designer/builder of the Delaware coastline.

When clients come to him, Mears said he not only designs their home, but he's active in the entire process, start to finish, to ensure the highest quality and standards.

Even with his busy schedule accommodating clients from the surrounding cities, Mears said one of the most exciting projects on his horizon is the design and completion of a new youth building at his church.

"It's the creative part I like, but I want to build each house as well as it can be built," Mears said. "There's nothing standard about it."

For more information go to brucemears.com or search Bruce Mears, Designer/Builder on Facebook or Houzz.com.