Their unmistakable passion for the ocean is evident in every nook and cranny of Jack and Virginia Lightbourn’s home in St. George’s Parish. “Shellbourne” was built 20 years ago in the traditional Bermudian style — complete with an entrance-way built in the style of a Bermuda buttery — but the couple also managed to include various subtle touches to the house which reflect their connection to the ocean.

Mr. Lightbourn is of course best known for his collection of shells, thought to be in the region of 7,700 species of which about 110 are from Bermuda. It is reputed to be the largest collection in the world, and while a substantial portion was donated to the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute, one room of the Lightbourn house was converted into a “show room” of sorts where the remainder are stored and displayed.

Mrs. Lightbourn recalls how 20 years ago the couple used to have to pass over the property to get to their boat, which was moored at Tom Moore’s Tavern.

“It was a spot he always said he wanted,” she chuckles.

As she sits in their exquisitely-decorated family room, glancing out of windows offering panoramic views of Castle Harbour, Mrs. Lightbourn summarises her love of the house in one simple sentence: “You never get lonely when you live on the water.”

Against the walls are a collection of paintings reflecting Mr. Lightbourn’s interest in “anything nautical” including a painting by Gordon Ellis depicting a scene you’d expect to see in Moby Dick.<$>

“It’s one of my favourites,” he says and points to another painting, by Deryck Foster, of the Sea Venture — a gift from the Bank of Bermuda for his 50 years of service to the company. “When I retired 15 years ago they asked me what I wanted a painting of and of course I picked the Sea Venture.”

On the table is a beautiful bronze statue of a Longtail and Mr. Lightbourn smiles when asked about it, saying that David Wingate once looked at it and remarked that it was “very accurate”. The artist lives in Pennsylvania and Mr. Lightbourn points out several other bronze pieces in his collection, some in the foyer.

It is in the foyer that Mr. Lightbourn’s eyes light up. Floor to ceiling display cabinets hold a treasure in every sense of the word — from museum-quality ships, hand-built by long-time friend and fellow shell-collector Arthur Guest, to his favourite bronze and copper artefacts, including grog-measuring cups and jugs.

The ceiling is lined with Bermuda cedar beams which were originally used in a house in St. George’s, owned by Johnny Smith.

“I was born in the upstairs apartment,” he laughs and adds that when that house was revamped and expanded many years ago, he purchased the beams.

The two windows in the foyer were saved when the Bank of Bermuda in St. George’s was rebuilt in 1966.

“Best investment ever,” he says. “I had them lying in a cellar in our former house for years and always knew I’d be able to use them some day.” These window frames are solid bronze.

One item of interest in the foyer is a tiny wooden bench, similar to a church pew, dating from the 1930s. Mr. Lightbourn explains how some years ago he saw two of these benches at Tom Moore’s Tavern.

The benches, thought to be 12 in total, were salvaged from the Cristobal Colon, a Spanish trans-Atlantic luxury liner which was wrecked on the reefs in 1936.

“I asked the Tavern owners if I could buy one, but they didn’t want to part with any, except this one which had been standing outside and was rather worn,” he explains. “The top part is the original mahogany, but I had to have the bottom restored and used some of the Bermuda cedarwood I still had.”

What makes the pew bench unique is that the back-rest can flip either forward or backward and is finished off with brass hinges.

Beneath the bench stands a strange-looking pair of bronze “shoes”.

“Arthur Guest found them in the States some years ago and used to have them hanging on his wall as a light-fitting, with a bulb inside,” he explains. “They were originally used by the ‘cowboys’ in South America as stirrups and Arthur knew I liked them so he gave them to me.”

With all the bronze, brass and copper items displayed around the house, Mr. Lightbourn says his wife and a helper have diligently been polishing it all every two weeks for the last 40 years.

Also on display in the foyer are some of his son’s bronze eagles. A rather large one with wings outstretched, which Mr. Lightbourn says will be moved outside in the near future.

The couple’s son, Robert, and his wife recently moved into an apartment the elderly couple built onto the family home.

During a tour of the property that is just over an acre in size, he points out how hard it is to tell where the house ends and the new apartment begins.

But it is on the side of the house, looking out from his office, that one of the subtle touches reflecting Mr. Lightbourn’s days in the Royal Navy can be found — a single “porthole” looking out over the garden that includes up of 28 Bermuda cedars and 16 olivewood barks.

“And absolutely no Brazilian Peppers!” he exclaims.

Being so close to the water, the property sustained substantial damage during Hurricane Fabian when the water surged right up to the back steps of the house. The couple were forced to remove 33 loads of rubbish once the water subsided, but one structure which miraculously survived Fabian is “the dock that Jack built”.

It is along the stone walkway to this wooden dock that you come across several grindstones laid into the walkway - also relics from shipwrecks. Winding off this walkway and closer to the water is a “fish pond” of sorts, linked to the ocean and brimming with Bream and one rather large lobster: “They come and go as they please, but there are fish in there that have been here for years.”

As for the little boy who used to accompany his grandfather on shell hunts and coral collecting in the shallow bays of Bermuda, Mr. Lightbourn says his greatest hunt now is for a new, permanent home for his thousands of shells.