The first sound that greets you at Oyster Glass is waves lapping gently on the shore. The second is Venus the dog’s barks of excitement ringing through the house. “We originally thought she was a basenji, a barkless dog,” explains Laura Glassburn. “You see how that went?” she says with a good-natured eye roll and the tilt of a head toward the dog, now curled up on the couch. “I used to have two little terriers, and I know she learned how to bark from them.”
Laura and Venus, along with Laura’s husband Doug, have barely lived in the house by the water for a year, but it already has a distinct, comforting sense of home, as though they’ve been here much longer. The Southern coastal cottage earned the name Oyster Glass as an ode to the Glassburns’ name. When asked about their backgrounds, Laura has a short explanation. “Native,” she says, pointing to herself. She then points to Doug. “Yankee.” The pair bursts into laughter.
Laura has deep Alabama roots, growing up in Monroeville for just a few years before her family moved to Mobile, where she attended St. Paul’s Episcopal School. “I feel like we’ve just always been here,” she says. “My mom was born in Mobile, right behind the old Weinackers. You know all those places like Macy Place and Ann Court? My mom is Ann. My grandfather was a builder in Mobile. He built all of those and named one after every kid.” Laura herself has lived in Fairhope around 40 years.
Doug’s calling to Alabama came in the form of work, moving to Daphne from Indiana in 2009 for a job at Austal. The two had a chance meeting one Memorial Day weekend about seven years ago. Laura was staying with her kids in a condo. “It was foggy, rainy and gross, and we had no service. They’re like ‘Mom, we’re going to Flora-Bama to watch the Auburn game,’” she recalls. “I told them, ‘I am not going to Flora-Bama. I’ll go around the corner to Tacky Jacks, get a fish taco, watch the game and be done.’ And there he was. Three bushwackers later and I got a ring.”
Laura had already put an offer on a house in downtown Fairhope when she met Doug, so they lived there for a few years. During that time, the Glassburns began looking to buy a fish camp, but the price and proximity of the camps on the market made the decision a tough sell. “Doug’s the voice of reason. And I’m the voice of insanity,” says Laura. “He said to me, ‘Let me get this straight. You want to buy something for that amount of money and keep the house in town, so we have two houses about 15 minutes apart? That’s a hard no for me.”
The Glassburns kept an eye out until their search led them to County Road 1 in Fairhope. “We were down here on a Sunday and saw this lot. So, we called our realtor friend Rance Reehl, who was in Arkansas at the time,” says Laura. “He said, ‘It’s not on the market yet, but I’ll meet you there at 9 o’clock in the morning.’”
The next morning, the couple and Reehl stopped by the lot to look, a task that proved to be more difficult than anticipated. Because of Hurricanes Zeta and Sally, there were trees down across the lot, blocking a clear path forward. “We had to go around to our now-neighbor’s house to see the entire plot of land,” says Laura. “And it had a beach. We loved it because it had a beach, not a bulkhead. Rance said, ‘If y’all don’t buy it, I will.’” They made an offer that day and 24 hours later, it was theirs.
While Laura provided input on her house in downtown Fairhope, this purchase marked both her and Doug’s first time building from the ground up. “We wanted to put in a pier, but we ran into every kind of permitting issue,” says Laura. “And once we finally got everything going, they said, ‘Wait. Because this has never been developed before, we have to have a cultural survey, because the area now covered in water used to be an Indian burial ground.’ We constantly see oyster shells and we don’t know where they come from.” She pauses. “I mean, they could be the guy on the other end of the pier throwing them out,” she says with a laugh. “But we like to think of them as coming from the Indians, our ancestors. We always jokingly tease the kids about Chief Speckled Trout or some other figure. But, needless to say, that’s sacred ground. They’ve always said it’s the Bay of the Holy Spirit, and we believe it. So, we moved our pier over, which we feel good about. We try to be good stewards of the Bay.”
When it came time to start planning the house, the Glassburns dove right in. “We came up with the initial layout and started working from there,” says Doug. “We met with Cameron Reehl from Reehlco Custom Homes, then he made some changes that would make things easier, cheaper and better.”
Their goal was to build a house that was functional and beautiful, with no wasted space. “We wanted to focus on the sustainability of us being here,” says Laura. “We’d like to be here until we’re not, so we tried to build it with family, retirement and entertaining in mind. We tried to incorporate all of that into the design, and I think we did a good job.”
The Glassburns worked with Suzie Winston from the start to oversee interiors, look at the plans and give input. Winston designed the entire kitchen, pantry area and bathrooms, adding functionality to every space. “She helped us with cost cutting without design cutting,” says Laura. The living room has ample seating, as does the outdoor screened-in porch, allowing for family, friends and neighbors to gather without overcrowding. The banquette in the dining room can seat up to 12 people. “I just remember growing up and my grandfather had a huge one. All the kids would pile in, and we’d play games there,” says Laura.
Out of all the rooms in the house, the kitchen is Laura’s happy place. It doesn’t come as a surprise given her family’s background. “I love to cook. My mother had a restaurant in Fairhope and now we have lots of her stuff in here,” she says. The restaurant, Aubergine, was a staple in Fairhope in the ‘90s. Its old location is now home to Aubergine French Antiques, where Laura has sourced some of the furniture for Oyster Glass. An oyster painting hanging in the center of the bar area was created by her grandmother, with her oyster plates framing the bar. “The inspiration for everything in this entire house is from that painting,” says Laura.
The kitchen’s focal point — a copper hood — was something Laura just knew she couldn’t pass up. “We found an artisan on HGTV,” she says. “Our next-door neighbor moved to Laurel when we were in Fairhope. We were watching as they designed her home in Laurel. And she had this beautiful copper hood. I was like, ‘I’ve got to have that!’ Doug said, ‘You can’t have it,’ and I said, ‘I’ve got to have it!’” Laura called Erin Napier’s resource group, who gave her the name of the artisan in Laurel. “He’s a fireman and a metal worker,” says Laura. “He made it for us and would send us different patinas. I would send those to Suzie, and she goes, ‘We need more,’ so he’d do more and voila!”
Perfectly planned for entertaining and with enough space for all, Oyster Glass is always open for neighbors to stop in or drop by. “Our neighbors are wonderful,” says Laura. “We have a mahjong group here on Wednesday nights. We do small group here whenever we can. And we’ll get texts that’ll say, ‘Wharf party at 6 p.m.’ or ‘Pick us up over here, we’re going to Jesse’s.’ There’s something always going on with our fun group.” There have already been a plethora of wonderful memories made, despite the short time the Glassburns have lived in the house.
“We had a jubilee here pretty soon after we moved in,” says Laura. “The neighbors yelled, ‘Jubilee!’ and we’re like, ‘What? We just got here!’” For Laura, it was exciting. For Doug, it was baptism by fire. “We jump up and he goes, ‘What do I wear?’ and I go, ‘It doesn’t matter!’” she says. “All the neighbors are out in our front yard because we have the beach, so everybody’s got their gigs. I gave Doug one and he goes out there. He’s stabbing these things over and over and one of the guys was so nice. He says, ‘Hey man, it would be easier if you take the tip off the gig.’” The couple breaks into a peal of laughter. “And then Doug reaches under one he gigged, and he was like, ‘I got an albino.’ Turns out it was the underside. Welcome to Alabama!”
Thanks to jubilees and generous neighbors with seafood to spare, the Glassburns have ample opportunity to make their favorite dishes for get-togethers. “I’m trying to get the daughters to make them all again,” she says, poring over printed out pages of red fish on the half shell and fried corn. “Some of these weren’t necessarily recipes; they were just in my head.” She takes out a page. “This is crabmeat Aubergine. Mother’s restaurant in Fairhope was Aubergine, it was her recipe, and we served it at the restaurant.” She notes that, despite the name, it does not contain eggplant. Grilled crabs are another one of her favorites. “They do them like this in Louisiana,” she says. “We boil crabs all the time over here and everybody I ask says, ‘No, we haven’t ever grilled crabs here.’ But they’re really good.”
With most of Doug’s family still up north and Laura’s children scattered around, the house has become an abode for extended stays. “For the Fourth of July this year, we want to get everybody — grandkids, children, family — over here,” says Laura. “The neighbors get together and they’ll have all their families over. We’ve been challenged to a Fourth of July competition with our neighbors. There’s cornhole and I don’t know all the other things that we’re supposed to be doing, but it’ll be fun.”
A bedroom with a triple bunk bed and another bed besides is tailormade for grandchildren. The coastal Alabama theme is evident, with the blue bunk frame and sailboat decor. Wool swimsuits from the 1930s hang over one of the beds. The guest rooms should be filled come this fall. “One of the youngest in the family is engaged and they’ve been saving up for this wedding,” says Laura. “They were saying it would be 2027 or 2028 before they could get married, so we talked to them and said, ‘Have it here.’ And they are. In October, we’ll have everybody back, so we’re now the family venue. And it’s perfect.”
For the most part, the Glassburns keep it lowkey. “Entertaining with the big dining room and that kind of hosting, we don’t do it very much anymore,” says Laura. “We’ve moved from that to being more casual. Now it’s porches and piers.” There’s nothing that brings more joy to the Glassburns than watching their loved ones enjoy the beach, have conversations on the porch or sit down to a family meal together. “It doesn’t mean anything to us, this house, if we can’t share it and make memories,” says Laura. “We don’t need anything else. We just want to share it with family and friends. We want to leave a legacy here and it’s meant so much to have this dream come true.”
Fourth of July Recipes from the Glassburns
Gearing up for the holiday weekend? Try your hand at one of the Glassburns’ go-to summer recipes.
Fresh Fried Corn
SERVES 12
8-12 ears of corn
1 1/2 pounds Conecuh bacon, chopped
1/2 cup red bell pepper
1 stick butter
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 cup milk, if needed
With a small paring knife, cut corn kernels off of the cob. Using the back of the knife, run blade down cob to get all the “corn milk.”
In a large cast iron skillet, saute bacon until crispy. Add bell pepper and stir until tender. Add corn, butter, salt and pepper.
Cook for 10 minutes or until corn is tender and butter is melted. Add milk if corn mixture becomes dry.
Open Faced BLT
MAKES 12
3/4 cup Duke’s mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning
1 tablespoon lemon juice
12 slices white bread
3 fresh tomatoes
Salt and pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons cooked bacon pieces
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
Mix mayo, seasoning and lemon juice together. Cut bread with large round cookie cutter. Slice tomatoes and dry out on paper towels.
To assemble, spread mayo mixture on bread. Add tomato, salt and pepper. Sprinkle with bacon pieces and basil.
Grilled Fresh Crabs
SERVES 4 – 6
8-10 cleaned, uncooked crabs
Marinade
1/2 cup zesty Italian dressing
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon liquid crab boil
Baste
1 stick butter
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
Dash liquid crab boil
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
Crack the claws for ease of eating. Mix together all marinade ingredients. Marinate crabs for 15 minutes in a shallow dish. Set aside.
For baste, melt butter in saucepan then add parsley, lemon juice, garlic and crab boil.
Heat grill. Add crabs and cook, basting, 5-7 minutes on one side ,then turn and continue to baste. Once the crabs are fully cooked, sprinkle with Parmesan. Remove from grill and serve.
Baked Crabmeat Aubergine
SERVES 4-6
3 tablespoons chopped shallots
3 tablespoons chopped red bell pepper
2 tablespoons chopped celery
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
Dash cayenne pepper
1 pound fresh lump or jumbo lump crabmeat, drained
3 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons Panko
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet over low heat, saute shallots, bell pepper and celery in butter until tender. Add cream, lemon juice, Cajun seasoning and cayenne pepper. Fold in crabmeat, mixing well.
Spoon mixture into greased individual baking shells or ramekins and set aside. Mix Parmesan, panko and parsley. Sprinkle over crabmeat.
Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes until heated.
Pecan Meringue Pie
SERVES 8
23 butter crackers
3 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pint whipping cream
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Berries or peaches for serving
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Crush crackers in a plastic bag until about 1/4-inch in size.
In a mixer, beat egg whites until stiff peaks. Fold in sugar. Do not overmix. Fold in crackers, pecans and vanilla.
Pour into greased pie pan. Bake for 15-18 minutes until light brown on the edges. Cool.
In a mixer, beat whipping cream until hard peaks. Add confectioners’ sugar and vanilla.
Top your pie with whipping cream and add fresh berries or fresh peaches.
Grilled Red Fish on the Half Shell
SERVES 7
7 large Redfish fillets with skin and scales still on
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 stick butter
2-3 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
1 lemon, juiced
Dash Worcestershire sauce
Coat fish with vegetable oil. Set aside. In a small saucepan, melt butter with all seasonings.
Place fish on preheated grill with scales down. Baste fish with butter mixture on an uncovered grill. Let the fish cook until it begins to flake. Do not to over-cook.
Gently remove from grill onto platter and finish basting before serving.
