Traveling by boat down the Pamlico River from Washington, you can’t miss it. Sitting high on a hill above the river, the house draws the eye like no other — perched atop Maules Point, its wall of 15 windows fronting the great room reflect sky and water. It simultaneously stands out and blends into its surroundings.

Built in 2001, this home of Dr. Kent Denton is relatively new, but his history with the land goes much further back in time, to the 74-year-old’s own childhood on the river. Denton’s grandfather, Hiram Anthony Swindell, a 6-foot, 4-inch man people called “Tiny,” once owned property from Blounts Creek to Nevil Creek on the south side of the river.

“In the late ’30s and ’40s, he owned that property, and when he died, he had a five daughters and a son. One was my mother,” Denton said.

When he was in high school, Denton’s mother asked if he had any interest in one day owning the property. He said no, not knowing the reversal he’d have on the idea decades later. His mother’s share of the property was sold to the Boy Scouts in 1961 and is now the site of Camp Bodie.

“I never saw the potential. Of course, when you’re in high school, you don’t see the potential of much,” Denton laughed.

Fast forward 35 years, Denton has a successful dental practice in LaGrange, and he just happens to see a “for sale” sign on a piece of the property once owned by “Tiny” Swindell. He ended up buying the property back from several different owners.

“I bought the property in 1996 and put a house on it in 2001,” Denton said.

Since, it’s been a home away from home for Denton.

“When I cross that Blounts Creek bridge, when I come across that bridge I just feel like I’m home. I really do,” he said. “I just kind of have a connection to the water.”

The connection is old. Denton recalls family gatherings of his childhood: an uncle sitting on the big porch of his grandfather’s house, simply watching boats sail down the river from a vantage point unlike any other — high above the widening of a river where Blounts and Broad creeks join the Pamlico.

When he built the 4,163-square-foot home, it was with that view in mind. The entire house — great room, open-floor-plan living/dining/kitchen area, a pool house turned guest cottage, porches, stone deck and in-ground pool — is oriented toward an unending vista of river and its shores.

“It’s really a captivating view,” Denton said. “When a storm comes you can see it coming all the way down the river from Washington.”

Denton, his wife Cecilia, and children Kent Jr., Jeff, Kyle, Cissi, Catherine and Koleman, have spent many past summers and Christmases on Maules Point, but with other vacation homes in Atlantic Beach and Myrtle Beach, Denton’s ready to scale down.

“We have really enjoyed it. I’m 74 now, and we own more places to spend the night than I need,” Denton said. “We’re trying to consolidate and simplify.”

He loves the house. Little touches make it unique to Denton, such as the repurposed, 200-year-old heart-of-pine floors; custom baseboards and molding hewn from red oak; and cabinets of hickory. The wood adds warmth to a house with décor that also radiates summer.

“If I could, I’d switch this property down to Morehead. I think that’s what I’d like to do,” he laughed.

However, it’s the experience of life on the river that has had the most impact for Denton: being able to watch his children and grandchildren play in the water; fishermen set up at the end of his pier as it’s the “best place in the world to catch rockfish,” the boats that would pull up on Maules Point for a beach party — a weekly summertime occurrence that Denton fondly referred to as the Pamlico’s “Redneck Riviera.”

“I loved all them showing up (to the beach). They were never too loud; they never bothered us,” Denton said. “That water has been a particularly good life for a lot of people.”

Denton, who was born in Durham and grew up in Washington, is a self-made man — a football scholarship led to college, college led to dental school, dental school led to a thriving practice where Denton still works four days a week.

“The Lord has been very good to me. I have been blessed; I grew up poor as could be,” he said.

But these days, he’s looking forward to a future that includes traveling and spending more time with his family. In the meantime, the house at Maules Point is for sale, and Denton has one requirement for any potential buyer: “I would certainly like to pass this property on to someone who appreciates the river, appreciates Washington, Blounts Creek.”