Virginia Beach—Nearly a century ago, small cottages were built near the ocean in the young resort town of Virginia Beach. In 2021, a string of bungalows on Cypress Avenue caught the attention of Katie Denton.
“Houses with character,” she describes them.
Denton was shopping for a new project after remodeling two vacation cottages in the Outer Banks. She owns Bees Nees, a company that specializes in vacation getaways and intimate events.
She bought the Cypress Avenue properties and converted them—three houses, an old garage and a shed into The Pink Bungalows, rentals that play up the historic charm of the neighborhood with an eclectic look and personalized experience.
Denton, who prides herself on preserving and not tearing down, saw potential in the houses and renovated them using inspiration from her childhood vacation experiences. Even the name of her business was inspired by her roots: Her family home on Maryland’s Gibson Island, in the Chesapeake Bay, was called The Bees Nees. (In the 1920s, “the bee’s knees” became a popular colloquialism for something outstanding.)
Denton, who is from Baltimore, moved to Hampton Roads as a young child, and she often visited her grandparents in Key West, Florida. The tropical atmosphere and the inviting spirit she remembers from those trips work their way into her projects.
