About Our Family

About The Rodney Dunes Management And Our Family

About Rodney Dunes And Our Family

Come on in and stay awhile!
We just wanted to let you know about The Rodney Dunes Pier 12 Management and a little something
about our family. We are a family owned and operated business. We purchased the building in 2001
from my husband's parents who had owned it 34 years having purchased it in 1967. We completely
redid everything from the ground up and continue to make improvements every year to make this
a cozy comfortable place to be able to relax and enjoy your vacation.

My husband, Larry, is a Delaware native having lived in Smyrna all his life and I am originally from
Augusta, Ga, the Home of the MASTERS GOLF TOURNAMENT. We were married for 54 years
in March of 2025 and have three children; our daughter, Jeryl, her husband Marc, and our two
granddaughters, Taylor Renee and Sydney Leigh; our son Chuck and his wife April, and our two
granddaughters, Elayna Grace and Ava Marie; and our son Todd and his wife Renee.
We also have two German Short Hair Pointers, Molly and Morgan, as well as four
granddogs, Luke and Loki and Annie and Chi Chi.

Between all of us and the wonderful cleaning crew we have, we do most of the work
that is required to run Rodney Dunes Pier 12 Beach Apartments.

This is our family with my husband's grandmother in the center. We lost her right after her 104th birthday
in March of 2009. We lost my husband's mother in January of 2010, and my father in law September 2012

Larry & Dell Tush

Since I am a mother, I felt each apartment needed a full size kitchen complete with dishwashers because I feel that mothers
are on vacation as well as their families. Moms do everything for their families so it should be as easy as possible.
And let's face it, none of us like to do dishes.

We have tried to make the apartments as inviting as possible and are always open to suggestions. The addition of the balcony
to Apt C was very well received and everyone seems to love it. We wanted to put a balcony off Apt B
as well but due to set back codes with the county that is not allowed.

Without the help and cooperation of our son in law and daughter, Marc and Jeryl Moore, and our son and daughter in law,
Chuck and April Tush this would never have been possible. Our son Todd had just started his towing business so anytime
we needed something big picked up or had other problems he would always be on call. They devoted every weekend
to the remodeling of this building. This was a major undertaking and everything had to be done. We completely gutted
Apartment B and C and started over. Once finished these apartments are now available for year round use.

Apartment A is the original cottage and we have gradually made changes to make it one of the largest three bedroom units all on one floor in Dewey Beach. The living room has real boards of wormy chestnut as the walls so of course we wanted to leave that intact. This apartment also has hardwood floors. Some of the things we did do include a new updated kitchen with granite counter tops and a European feel and updated bathroom, wall paper, and paint. We enclosed the screened porch to make a beautiful dining room and Florida room with a unique shell wall. We also added a third bedroom, 1/2 bath, and a laundry center. We put laminate flooring in the dining room, Florida Room, and kitchen. We also upgraded the Flordia room furniture and TV as well as the addition of two beautiful wood and iron beds in the double bedroom.

One of the biggest accomplishments was the replacement of all the windows and the addition of vinyl siding. We also added a pitched roof to the porch area and over the front door of Apt A. Due to Hurricane Ian folding our roof back onto itself, we now have a new metal roof as well as having to redo everything from the insulation to new floors in the Living room in Apartment B and C. Both of these units had to have the kitchen and living room gutted right down to the studs. We also replaced the appliances in both kitchens.

We also updated our backyard with new picnic tables, new grills, new fire pit, new wicker furntiure and lots of plants. Our guests just love it.

I also would like to add that in 2001, our friend Wayne James deserves a big hand for all the help and support he gave. Had he not come and brought four of his workers with him, the outside landscaping would not have gotten done. They put in all the pilings and helped move the outside building so that we could open up the back yard for a picnic area. We now have two very nice outside showers with hot and cold water. Everyone that uses them wants to build one at home because they enjoy them that much.

Some our tenants have been coming here for over thirty five years and still continue to come now that we have bought the place. Our hope is that anyone that rents from us will want to come back each year because they enjoyed their stay that much.

Ours is a family building and as such we feel each and everyone is special and we hope they will become a part of our extended family.

The real reason behind our purchase of the property is we wanted our grandchildren to be able
to enjoy growing up with summers at the beach the way our children did!! Taylor is now 27
and Sydney is now 26 years old. When we first bought the property
they were the only two grand children we had and were four and five years pld.
Taylor graduated from Montclaire University majoring in television and communicatiom. The Major League Baseball network sought her out just before graduation and offered her a job as a production manager for their Major League Baseball Network. She won an Emmy her first year there because they were voted the best sports television show. After awhile she applied at CBS which she interned at during her Junior year of college and loved it. She is now a production manager for the Morning News Gail King Show and just won her second Emmy for the best morning news show. They beat out the Today Show. She married Joe Harvey in 2021 and they moved to Los Angeles in 2022. CBS allowed her to tranfer and she still works for the Morning News Gail King Show

Sydney is now 26 years old and graduated from Salem College. She is a very talented artist and does art work for other people. She can do wonderful portraits from just a photograph. She also does fantastic stage makeup that is so realistic it is hard to believe it is not real.

Elayna is now 21 and is in her second year of college. She is studying to become an Occupational Physical Therapist.
Updated picture to follow.

Ava, our youngest grandaughter, is now 16. She has always been active in sports and student government.
She has not decided what she wants to pursue as a career as of now. She still has plenty of time.
Updated picture to follow.

We hope you will want to spend your vacation with us and become part of the Rodney Dunes Family.

Since I was born and raised in the South, I hope that we can pass our Southern Hospitality along to you.

YA'LL COME BACK NOW, YA HEAR!!
WE'D LOVE TO HAVE YOU!!

As you can see, we had everyone working.

Rodney Dunes Pier 12 Apartments
12 Rodney Ave. Dewey Beach, Delaware 19971
Office 302-270-2894 | Reservations 302-270-2894 or
Email: at beachlady@deweyrental.com
Dell and Larry Tush, Owners/Managers

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