Amelia Island's remodeling contractor for homes that belong here.

Fernandina Beach is the kind of place that resists easy summary. The historic downtown holds one of Florida's finest collections of Victorian architecture — Queen Anne houses with gingerbread trim, a working waterfront, and the kind of brick-lined Centre Street where you can still walk to breakfast. Out on Amelia Island proper, the housing shifts to elevated beach cottages, cedar-shingled contemporaries, and the larger homes of Amelia Island Plantation and the marsh-front lots along the Intracoastal. Remodeling here means understanding both registers — the inland historic and the coastal modern — and knowing how to build for salt air without flattening the personality of an 1880s home. That is what Rich Warchol Design has been doing on the First Coast for more than twenty years.

In the historic district, our work is preservation-minded. Fernandina's older homes have heart-pine floors, original double-hung windows, and plaster walls that have survived hurricanes and remodelers alike. We design kitchens and baths that fit those rooms — inset cabinetry, beadboard details where appropriate, and finishes that age gracefully in coastal humidity. Permits here run through the City of Fernandina Beach, and homes inside the historic district are subject to review by the city's Historic Preservation Council. We have navigated that process many times and can represent your project before the board.

Out on Amelia Island and the beachfront, the engineering matters more than the styling. Salt air destroys ordinary cabinetry hardware in a few years, so we specify marine-grade stainless hinges, powder-coated pulls, and finish systems rated for coastal exposure. We build to Florida's wind-load requirements where relevant, and we never skip the waterproofing behind tile — it is the difference between a bathroom that lasts ten years and one that lasts thirty. Whether the home is a raised cottage in American Beach or a contemporary on the marsh, we adjust our specs to the exposure.

What does not change is the way we work: one in-house team, one timeline, one phone number. Rich personally designs the layout, sources materials, and supervises installation — no subcontractor hand-offs, no surprises mid-project. If you are planning a kitchen remodel, a bathroom renovation, or a whole-home renovation on Amelia Island, we would welcome a free in-home consultation.