When Eileen Deymier and Stephen O’Brien first bought their Tilghman Island home, it was in dire need of attention. A clapboard farmhouse built in the late 1880s by Capt. John B. Harrison, its potential was buried under years of neglect. “It was a simple waterman’s house,” Eileen says. “There wasn’t much worth saving architecturally except for the staircase, the attic door, and a bit of molding—and the pool, which I never liked.”

But oh, the view. Set back seventy yards from Harris Creek, the little more than half-acre property overlooks the receding remnants of man-made Devil’s Island, once the home of Capt. Harrison’s boat-building facility and oyster house. The prospect of waterfront living proved strong enough to look past the sweat equity that would be required for the refurbishing.

With help from St. Michaels architectural designer Suzanne Brigham, the couple mapped out the entire renovation. Their plan of attack seemed straightforward enough: incorporate a water view into every room where possible, add a porch, and reconfigure the upstairs, where the ratio stood at five bedrooms to one bathroom. It took one-and-a-half years—during which Hurricane Isabel came to visit—for St. Michaels’ carpenter Paul Waite to rebuild the structure from first floor to attic.

And as for the unwanted backyard pool? “That pool saved the house during Isabel,” explains Eileen. “Since it was empty at the time, the water rolling in from the creek fed right into it, which kept it from flooding the first floor. So now I have to like it, which I do!”

Eileen is a New York girl through and through. She’s sharp, says what she thinks, and is a force in the publishing world as senior regional editor for the Meredith Corporation.

Steve is a Southern boy, a Tuscaloosa, Ala., native. He has a calming, gentle nature, and has been making his mark in the world of interior design for twenty-two years. For the past eleven years, he’s operated his own company, Stephen N. O’Brien Interiors, out of Tilghman Island.

Married eighteen years, the couple shared the interior design duties. The colors in their rose medallion Chinese porcelain collection set the first floor’s palate of pink, yellow, rust, and green. And while Eileen prefers a clean, non-traditional look, Steve’s a believer in using two or three different patterned fabrics in a room—incorporating some of the same fabrics into adjoining rooms to connect the spaces. “It’s not boring that way,” says Steve. “And it’s not an obvious detail.”

Steve opened up the living room to the light and the view by adding a sixteen-foot-wide sliding glass door. For the rest of the room he chose raffia wallpaper, giving it a natural feel that’s enhanced by the earthtone Italian tile flooring and antique wicker furniture, which was painted chocolate brown. The wicker settee is covered with a geometric floral pattern that carries nearly every color found in the china; a complementary green-and-off-white-striped fabric covers the two side chairs and gives the room a subtle dose of nautical charm. “There’s something about the water that’s informal, comfortable,” says Steve.

The room’s accessories are a mix of old and new, Chesapeake and Caribbean, sophisticated and simple. A vintage photo of a sailboat on the Bay hangs next to an old ship’s clock that Steve discovered at his favorite shop, Americana Antiques in Oxford. A Victorian mantle frames the fireplace.

Eileen found the weathered, painted farm table at Audrey Julian & Co. in St. Michaels. She had the pine bookcase built at Easton’s Stone & Rose furniture makers, which also designed the matching frame for the six-foot mirror that stretches across the wall facing the creek, indulging all angles of the room with a water view.

“I always tell young people that they should buy one good piece of furniture a year,” Steve advises. “You’ll be amazed at the collection you’ll have in ten years.”

The kitchen was Eileen’s charge. She designed the space, complete with dramatic “tea leaf” Silestone counters, to include clever, clutter-cutting tactics. A spice rack is hidden in a three-inch-thick pullout drawer on either side of the range, while pine cabinets painted with a black finish, and the island’s built-in drawers conceal everything from the silverware to the trash can to the breadbox. Steve injected a sculptural element into the room with black track lighting on the ceiling.

Since all rooms downstairs feed into the kitchen, their primary goal for the space was to meld it into the other rooms by not adding typical utilitarian elements. They substituted overhead cabinets with an antique French two-tiered pine shelf that Eileen found at Coco & Co. in St. Michaels. It holds tableware, teacups, and collectibles, such as baskets and carvings of shore birds. They also had a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf built to hold cookbooks and gardening books. Selecting the right art was crucial—and in this case, great fun. Hanging on the walls are several bovine portraits by Easton painter Jackie Stork, who painted each cow from life.

The library/dining room is the most formal space in the house, its brick-red walls complemented by a black full-wall bookcase, which displays the couple’s collections of China, wooden antique boxes, and silver. A cushion-drenched window seat and fireside couch make the space inviting. Above the fireplace hangs a plein air painting of a workboat on a nearby creek by local artist Walter Bartman. “There’s so much talent on the Shore,” notes Eileen, “that you don’t have to go very far to find a treasure.”

Upstairs, the layout includes a master suite and two guestrooms, each with a full bathroom. The heart pine flooring throughout the downstairs carries through upstairs, where each room offers a haven of its own.

The master bedroom has seven-and-a-half foot ceilings, which inspired Steve to create an upholstered bed frame that sits twenty-eight inches above the floor and affords the couple a bedside water view. The bedding, dotted with large tropical fish in orange, hot pink, and aqua, pops against soft gray walls. The adjoining bathroom is an inviting space. The counters framing the his-and-hers sinks are made from “stellar sky” Silestone, which incorporates minute glass fragments that glitter in the light, adding depth and drama to the room. A walk-in closet and clawfoot bathtub, its exterior painted black, and a washer/dryer unit hidden behind doors complete the space.

Steve and Eileen have embraced the Eastern Shore tradition of having a glider on the screened-in porch, their favorite room in the house. A more elegant version of the Southern favorite, theirs is made of antique wicker, as are its three complementing chairs. Thanks to Plexiglas panels especially made for the winter months, they camp out here to enjoy the water view all year round, typically surrounded by newspapers and their Maine Coon cat, Chelsea. Here the ambience matches that of the rest of the house: comfortable and easygoing. “It’s a very casual place,” says Eileen. “When people come here, they seem to feel like they’ve been on a bit of a vacation.”

“Don’t tell Eileen,” Steve whispers as his wife walks out of the room, “but I don’t ever see us leaving this spot.”