Partners make life just a tiki bit more pleasant

SUFFOLK

The river breeze ruffles the palm thatch roof and bobbles the bamboo wind chimes as a polished surfboard bar awaits cold drinks and a hammock swings invitingly. Life is good in a tiki hut.

Two fins up to the Suffolk artisans who have brought Key West casual to dozens of homes across Hampton Roads with their custom tiki huts and bars. By day, Jason Gould helps run the family business, Rio Grande Traders in Driver. Meanwhile, Chris Nierman is a doctoral candidate and a principal with the Southeastern Cooperative Educational Programs for children with special needs at the John F. Kennedy Middle School campus in Suffolk.

But after hours, the two childhood friends unleash their talents to create custom bars and tiki huts that blend Polynesian culture with the relaxed Gulf architecture of Key West.

The look of a masterpiece

The prototype Nierman/Gould tiki hut sits on the grounds of Rio Grande Traders in Driver. The sturdy hut lost only a few palm fronds during an almost direct hit from the April tornado. Even the built-in elevated TV was unscathed, allowing the tiki builders to relax by watching "Cheers" reruns as the breeze rustles the palm thatch overhead.

Building the huts - usually 10 feet by 12 feet or 10 feet by 14 feet - can take a few days to a few weeks, depending on the design's complexity. Thatching the roof is the most time-consuming part, Gould said.

The huts can run over $3,000, but each one is unique and built to incorporate the buyer's artistic vision with Gould and Nierman's creative touch.

Previous huts have included TVs, bars hidden in whiskey barrels and hot tubs. Nierman built a rambling tiki hut treehouse for at his Crittenden home.

Plank floors, rough-hewn support posts, corrugated metal roofs and palm thatching are signature island elements in the A-roofed shelters.

But then the art takes over.

The pair fabricates and hand-shapes strips of wood into surfboard-shaped bars.

"We like the old woody surfboard shape," Nierman said.

Turning it into art

Both men enjoy painting. Nierman has a historic watermen's mural in progress at the Crittenden community hall. Gould paints his island- style creations during breaks between customers at the shop - but shrinks from being called an artist.

"No artist uses a Wendy's cup," he said as he cleaned his brush in a fast-food drink container.

He also creates replica bar signs and other island-inspired pieces using recycled wood and other found materials.

"I like to take something recognizable and turn it into art," Gould said. "Most of what I use is stuff just laying around here."

One of his favorite pieces started with a 6-foot-long plank of driftwood salvaged from the James River. On the rustic canvas he created a small wooden fish chased by a bigger fish, a "beer-a-cuda," that was covered with shiny scales fashioned from Michelob Light bottle caps.

"We do drink beer," Gould said. "And people drop off buckets of bottle caps for us to use."

A little taste of vacation

Having a retreat to enjoy a minimental vacation along with a beverage is what tiki huts are all about. Just ask the folks who own them.

The Paul Vrhovac s, who visit the Caribbean every summer, transformed their Nansemond River Estates backyard into a lush tropical oasis with banana and palm trees and a large tiki hut overlooking the pool. An illuminated flamingo, an "Iguana Joe's" metal bar sign, bamboo shades and other fun accessories accent the off-handedly casual feeling.

"It's like a quick vacation every time I sit out there," Vrhovac said.

Dr. Laura Leverone, a pediatrician, and her husband Don, asked the tiki masters to build a hut and incorporate it into the fencing surrounding their pool. The hut has twin surfboard bars and a bamboo gate that connects to the yard, which also boasts a magnificent view of the Nansemond River.

"Those guys are great," she said of Gould and Nierman. "When a storm damaged the thatched roof, they volunteered to come out and help my husband fix it - and stayed all day working on it."

Sherry Fuson and Gary Stone live in the Woodlake subdivision off Nansemond Parkway in a house overlooking a creek. They opted for a more compact tiki bar on their pool deck. A thatched room shelters the surfboard bar, which has bar stools drawn up to it. A galvanized ice tub fits into a custom opening in the under bar shelf and a pair of rustic poles overhead are cut to hold stemmed bar glasses.

Stone, who is a surfer, nailed his skimboard on the front of the bar.

The couple is planning an outdoor wedding reception next summer - island themed with a Jamaican band - centered around their tiki bar.

As a side benefit, tiki huts may also be therapeutic.

"It's hard to be upset in a tiki hut," Nierman said. "They're like Jimmy Buffet - they just make you feel good."

Phyllis Speidell, (757) 222-5556, PhyllisSpeidell@pilotonline.com