Envision a warm day spent poolside, with blue skies above, birdsong in the air and the serenity of your own oasis.

For Paul Collins and Tony Rowe, that scenario was a must when they were searching for a house in Washington. So when they toured a Water Street house previously used as a Moss Landing Harbor Homes model, it didn’t quite fit their bill — they needed more space.

“We have three dogs. I said, ‘We love it, but there’s no yard, and I can’t live without my pool.’ So we asked the developers if we could buy the next lot and have a pool,” Collins said.

“I don’t think we expected them to do it, but they did,” Rowe laughed.

And so the side yard was obtained, and a pool was built, nestled against the side of the three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath home on the corner of East Water and South Harvey streets. The two have made their home there for the past year; before that, they were in Houston for about a year and the Washington, D.C. area for the 12 years prior. Washington is Rowe’s hometown; Collins had family in eastern North Carolina, so when Rowe was offered a job at East Carolina University, the two decided to “come home.”

“It seemed like it was too good to pass up,” Collins said.

Since, they’ve put their own touches on the home, with a gas range and Viking refrigerator in the kitchen and replacing carpet with hardwood floors in the bedrooms upstairs, in addition to fencing in the lot next door and landscaping around the pool and spa. At 2,129 square feet, this home has plenty of room, but with 10-foot ceilings downstairs and tall east- and south-facing windows, the open kitchen, living and dining area expands into spacious. Just as generous are the details: shiplap walls giving distinction to a living room wall; a computer desk/work station opposite the pantry in a small nook behind the kitchen; a covered porch that wraps its way around the front to the east side of the house; a stately staircase that seems to have come straight from the blueprint of a historic home.

“I love these built-in bookshelves — they balance the room and add some character,” Rowe said of the bookcases surrounding the living room’s gas fireplace.

These architectural details add up to an ideal mix of modern and historic.

“It’s brand new, but it has the character of an older house in a lot of ways. And we just thought they did an amazing job with the design and construction,” Collins said.

Though the home is on Water Street, its porches and windows offer views of the Pamlico River, in addition to the growing neighborhood around them.

“Sometimes as I’m doing things around the house, the water will catch my eye,” Rowe said. “I actually always love seeing and hearing the people, because they’ll walk the boardwalk and circle back around (on Water Street). Seeing that activity makes you feel like you’re part of a community.”

“Another thing we love is the convenience of being downtown and having access to everything,” Collins said.

Though Collins and Rowe have enjoyed their Moss Landing home and the convenience of having dining and shopping just a short walk away, friends and family are calling them back to the D.C. area. The only home in Moss Landing with a full-size pool and built-in spa, and a side yard where dogs can play, is now for sale.

For more information about 239 E. Water St., call Jackson Lancaster, Coldwell Banker Coastal Rivers Realty, at 252-402-9067.