John Jablonsowski / For the Courier-Post A custom-made home on Long Beach Island nears completion and will be in move-in condition by June, according to Bill Tagland. Construction was high over the winter months. On what will eventually be the back deck of this $2 million, custom-made home in Hideaway Bay on Long Beach Island, architects Bill and Richard Tagland go over construction plans. Located in Beach Haven Gardens, the 30 houses slated to be built in the development will cost $500,000 to $4 million, depending on how close they are to the bay.

JOHN JABLONSOWSKI / For the Courier-Post
A custom-made home on Long Beach Island nears completion and will be in move-in condition by June, according to Bill Tagland. Construction was high over the winter months.

Architectural firm handling 30 projects, including exclusive housing development

Part of an occasional series on the Jersey Shore during the off-season.

By WILLIAM H. SOKOLIC
Courier-Post Staff

Hideaway Bay lives up to its name.

Tucked off Long Beach Boulevard in Beach Haven Gardens, the latest housing development on Long Beach Island has kept about 25 construction workers busy through the winter months. The 30 houses here will cost from $500,000 to $4 million - depending on proximity to the bay.

And it's just one of 30 off-season projects for Studio Tagland, an architecture firm run by brothers Richard and William Tagland.

"Usually our busiest time of the year is through the winter. Everyone thinks the island has died, but it's when we do most of our work," said Bill 34, who's one year older to the day than his brother. "There's a lot of construction going on."

The Taglands have plenty of company here. The number of cars cruising on an early spring weekend comes close to the volume of summer traffic.

"LBI has always been a romantic getaway for people looking to go off for a quiet, secluded weekend. But his season has been particularly busy," said Jeanne DiPaola, executive director of the Southern Ocean County Chamber of Commerce.

She credits an influx of people seeking summer rentals, as well as those hoping to buy real estate. About a quarter of the island's 40 motels stay open year-round, with more opening this month.

Like other shore resorts, much of the winter on LBI is much spent preparing for summer.

"People don't realize how much is going on behind the scenes," Bill Tagland said.

Still, the island's year-round population is less than 9,000, spread out from Barnegat Light to Beach Haven. For transplants from metropolitan sprawl, the population drop in the off-season can be unsettling.

"I didn't know if I'd like it, but I adapted," said Cookie Luft, a home healthcare worker who moved to Surf City from Bergen County. "I don't regret the move at all. I love it here. This is God's country. You're all by yourself."

Now she dreads the summers, when more than 110,000 people crowd the island. Of course, the crowds attracted Frank Panzone here in 1980. The Mount Laurel native opened Panzone's Pizza and Pasta in Beach Haven - a restaurant now undergoing a $300,000 expansion being overseen by the Taglands.

"There was just not enough capacity here before," said Panzone. Based on design models in the Tagland studio, new homes on LBI tend to be grandiose and different. At Hideaway Bay, most clients are seeking large second homes to accommodate extended families.

"Their main residences are more traditional, but people become more adventurous on the island," Bill Tagland said.