Snuggled in its setting, an island cabin opens up a wild scene The living room is Bill Fraser’s favorite spot, where he can sit and see the Gulf Islands of Canada. Only the couch, carpets and leather chair are new purchases. The rest of the room was built upon treasures that Joanne Fraser and interior designer Barbara Rostad of Chez Motif culled from antique and second-hand shops.

What they really did was simmer.

"There was a lot of indecision," Bill says.

"The first thing was, where do you put the house? Out there on the point? Or down here?" says Joanne with a wave across the flagstone terrace, steps from the water's edge.

Over those 18 years, Bill, Joanne and their son, Kirk, had been on the land under every circumstance. They knew where the light was and that they did not want the house built on the edge of a small bluff over the water.

That spot, they decided, would be perfect for the whimsical little guest house, which feels more like a tree house perched on the edge of that ledge. Neighbor and builder Skip Bold of Bold Construction designed and built all 18-by-18 feet of it in 1992.

It wasn't until 2001 that the Frasers felt confident enough to begin their home, a 2,550-square-foot Northwest shingle-style designed by architect Edward Carr, an island-retreat specialist, and built by Bold.

Architect Edward Carr nestled the Fraser house among Shaw Island’s beachfront firs. The house’s northwest slant, established with a 66-foot-long gable, aligns it with long midsummer sunsets over Wasp Passage.

The house sits oh-so politely in its forest-beach surroundings. It does its best not to intrude and, for the most part, does not. As Joanne pours tea one foggy morning, a three-point buck grazes its way up to the dining-room doors, grinding leaves and watching the humans. And the humans are close enough to see that the deer has a runny nose and a twig stuck in one antler.

Other times the view includes harbor seals, otters and various wild critters. "There were a couple of mink running down the dock this morning," says Joanne. The sound of her voice is lost in a ferry blast as the boat cuts through the gauzy haze.

"It's a great quiet," she says when the sound sinks into the haze.

Carr's log, stone and shake design complements the waterfront site, each room watching the waves. Charming and rustic. The open kitchen, living and dining rooms take up the south end, capturing natural light from three sides and a skylight above. A long hall bisects the house, dividing public and private spaces, which includes the guest room, bath and laundry.

Upstairs is the master suite and a sitting room, which helps to handle a houseful for sailing events on weekends. The couple have been known to host 25 people for an after-race party, and 10 have stayed over.

"It's just a big gathering place," says Joanne from the kitchen, her favorite room.

The Montana slate terrace stretches from the house toward the beach, beginning just off the wide-roofed porch. Placing the porch and terrace on the same plane unites inside with outside and binds the house to the earth.

The house's northwest slant, established with a 66-foot-long gable, aligns it with long midsummer sunsets that smolder over Wasp Passage. Carr lured in the light during the rest of the year with higher windows and with skylights in the porches. Another skylight above the dining room brightens both the kitchen and the loft above.

Light is one of Carr's three key ingredients for the perfect island home. The two others are the shape of the site and the view.

"Natural light is really the difference between a house feeling comfortable and not," he says.

The Frasers are most comfortable here.

"You get the feeling like you were outdoors even when the weather wasn't good," Joanne says.

The terrace, which leaves the house from under a wide-roofed porch, is another Carr signature, tying the house to the ground, providing protection from the weather and uniting inside with outside. All the downstairs waterside rooms open onto the terrace's rusty brown Montana slate.

"It's one of the few sites in the San Juans that has this really great beach that you can walk right out on," Carr says. "I wanted the flow to go from the house to the beach. I really planned it like there's another room there."

Vertical-grain fir cabinets give the open kitchen a homey feel. The refrigerator and freezer doors are covered in slate that Joanne bought out of an old school. “It's very heavy, though. It's wearing on the hinges.” But she loves it as an artist’s palette, message center and conversation piece, so she plans to change it out for a lighter Masonite surface with chalkboard paint.

By day, Bill works in finance and building development for commercial real estate. The couple, together since they met at Roosevelt High School, live in Blue Ridge, but now that their son is grown, they spend more and more time on Shaw.

That time is all about the water, because Bill is all about sailing, competitive and recreational, with some fishing thrown in for good measure. Joanne is a sailing enthusiast, too, but also appreciates the slower season of winter to catch up on rest and reading.

The couple is pleased with their recycling efforts for the home. But it is recycling done elegantly. Only the couch, carpets and a leather chair are new; Joanne and interior designer Barbara Rostad of Chez Motif gathered the rest of the furniture from second-hand stores and antique shops.

The cable railing on the master-bedroom deck used to be the shrouds off the Frasers' sailboat. The entry-hall chandelier is an antique ship's lantern. The rusty chain it hangs from used to be attached to their buoy. They also used downed wood on the property for the fascia boards and cedar trim. And Bold combed the beach for the rugged wooden posts of the porch.

"It's fun," a patient Joanne says of the search that never ends for new old treasures. "You can't force these things. You find them when you find them."

Rebecca Teagarden is assistant editor of Pacific Northwest magazine. Benjamin Benschneider is a magazine staff photographer.