David Morey’s Charming Bucks County Retreat

The New Hope-based corporate and political strategist has worked on the campaigns of Rendell and Obama. His other project? A 1940s bungalow on the banks of the Delaware Canal.

History: I grew up in Doylestown, so I always thought the river was the coolest space. Now I’ve taken it to the extreme and actually live on the river.

Designer: The designer is Darryl Carter, I think the best designer in the country. We made the cover of Elle Decor a few months ago—it was all because of him. And Sullivan Building & Design Group did a fantastic job with all the renovations.

Chairs: They’re really nice Hitchcock chairs that we painted black to look more important.

Table: From Italy, 100 years old, a real farm table. People end up gravitating to it.

Spoon: It’s from an ancestor of mine. Following the Revolutionary War, they made this spoon out of his knee buckle.

Library: It’s filled with antique cookbooks and bar books—you can buy something called “Books by the Foot.” I was so appalled by the process that for the rest of the house, I actually went to the bookstore.

Skylights: They were put in by the previous owners in the 1970s. They didn’t go with the house, so the designers created the paned windows hanging down to make them go away.

Aesthetic: It’s a mixture of the old antiques culture that is Bucks County, my family tradition and a few modern pieces.

Flooding: The house has never flooded, knock on wood. But they told me about the Great Flood [of 1955] after I bought the house.

Why Bucks County: It’s like the Hamptons, without the attitude.