Editor's Note

Although I’m a word person by trade, photo shoots are my favorite part of my job. I like them because they’re exciting: fast-paced and artful, intensely collaborative and individually demanding. The photographer and stylists never stop moving. The art directors take perfect charge. The homeowners transform into models. And me? I get to be the approving audience.

Of course, the shoot’s setting is reason enough to want to spend a day or two working there. Our summer issue features three utterly distinctive down-the-Shore dwellings, which meant our team could (carefully) cavort about the elegant, historic Cape May home designed by Colleen Bashaw for her brother, Curtis (page 42). We also kicked back in a casual-chic restored family getaway in Avalon (page 54). And we blissed out in an organically modern retreat on a Loveladies lagoon (page 64). We even got to play around a nautical-fun kids’ space in Margate (page 24). Sure, the work is hard, but the working space is divine.

I’m always so grateful when any homeowner allows Home to invade her abode. This time around, I’m especially thankful to those who let us set up in their home’s most popular spaces for our feature on kitchen and bath design (page 74). (And if you find yourself inspired by that, you’ll definitely want to peruse our editorial guide to the region’s top showrooms and suppliers on page 93.)

After all, summer is the perfect time for remodels: While the kitchen’s being redone, you can dine alfresco. While the bathroom’s under renovation, you can hit the outdoor shower. Then, when the sawdust really gets flying, you can always relocate to the beach house.