When Riley and Olivia Roberson built their home on the river, the maple in front was just a seedling. Today, it’s a towering tree, its leaves just beginning to turn with the season.

What hasn’t changed about the Riverwalk Drive home is the view — water, as far as you can see.

“You’re looking straight south to Blount’s Creek. It’s about two and half miles across the river. You look left, and you’re looking straight down the river. You stand on your toes and you can see the lighthouse,” Riley Roberson laughed.

Four bedrooms, four bathrooms, the traditional brick home is 4,700-square feet that mixes modern with elegant: oak floors and three-piece crown molding frame a wall of windows looking over an expansive porch which, in turn, looks out over the Pamlico River. The great room blends living, kitchen and breakfast nook together, but it’s the porch that’s been the center of Roberson’s home for nearly three decades, no matter the season.

“Sitting on the porch, it’s about a 220-degree view. You don’t see your neighbors. You see the sun rise and the sun set. The light on a sunrise or a sun set, you can watch it move across your yard. You’ll see the porpoises come through. It’s a peaceful experience,” Riley Roberson said.

Nothing gets in the way of that view — every room in the house has one. From the moment you enter the double doors at the front of the house, the eye is drawn toward the river in back by a central, two-story hall that leads to the great room. Ten-foot ceilings provide even more room for that view. Yet details stand out: details such as built-in bookshelves framing the brick fireplace; a graceful molded chair rail bordering the dining room; and quartz kitchen countertops punctuated with bar top, desk and kitchen pass-through made of luminous walnut.

But it’s not just the river view that makes the house, it’s the river access. On two lots, the bulkheaded property also has a sprawling brick terrace, complete with seating areas and a stand-alone swing just feet from the water’s edge, shaded by a stand of crepe myrtles — a particular favorite of Riley Roberson.

“I love them when they bloom, and when there’s no foliage on them. You turn on the lights at night, and they look like works of art. I like the way they change with the season. No two days are the same,” he said.

For the Roberson family, the home was a constant draw for their children and their children’s friends growing up. The possibility of a swim and a first floor made for entertaining guaranteed it.

“This was a great house to raise teenagers in,” said Olivia Roberson. “The kids were literally coming in boats before they could drive. It was a good place for them to hang out, and we could keep an eye on them.”

The Robersons have put much love into this sturdy brick home of their own design, built to be efficient and immovable — it sits on 49 pilings driven into the ground, has a 1-inch steel flitch plate around the perimeter of the foundation, and its first floor is 15 1/2 feet off the ground. But a new phase is in the works: a transition to town and a soon-to-be-built home at Moss Landing.

“It’s downsizing and simplifying,” Olivia Roberson said. “I do think it makes it easier on your children, if you go ahead and do some of this before you absolutely have to. And it will free us up to do other things.”

The Roberson home at 164 Riverwalk Drive is currently listed by The Rich Company, 252-946-8021.