For many, the experience of being at the shore is defined by beach houses, whether that means the excitement of finding the perfect rental, the warmth of piling relatives into the old family home or simply walking the shoreline to admire strangers’ oceanfronts.

Nothing could be truer for architect Gym Wilson of Cedar Bonnet Island. As the longest-practicing architect on LBI, Wilson has dedicated himself to constructing hundreds of beautiful, serene homes by the water since 1978, and to him,…