All the sun and space he needs

Val Nunnenkamp Jr. is speed-walking through his Voorhees townhouse, showing off the place he's lived in since 2006. Audrey and Lizzy, his two feline companions, fly underfoot as he makes his way to the family room.

"I made sure I bought a place with southern exposure," he says, waving toward soaring windows that give sweeping views of a glistening lake. "Bright sunlight is in my house all day."

Lucky for Nunnenkamp, 57, he can usually assess a structure's vibe immediately. He's a Realtor who has worked at premier companies for more than 30 years. And though he could probably live anywhere in his native South Jersey, Nunnenkamp opts to stay in this sophisticated home in the Lakes at Alluvium development.

"Probably, my destiny was to be in real estate. When I was in my 20s, I did have a fortune teller tell me that I should be in real estate," he says. As a kid, he remembers, he rode his bike to new housing developments, picked up the design brochures, and pored over them for hours. "I was just fascinated by the scales and the drawings."

In 1994, Nunnenkamp was living nearby, in a 4,000-square-foot house. A year later, he bought the 2,200-square-foot townhouse as an investment property and rented it for about 10 years. Lakes at Alluvium, a community of condominiums and single-family homes, sits on 26 acres dotted with tennis courts and walking trails.

In 2006, he listed his larger house - "It was gone in a day" - selling it for nearly double his $320,000 purchase price.

"It was also very fortunate for me that my tenant moved out of my condominium at the same time I sold my house," says Nunnenkamp, who leads a team of 10 sales associates at Prudential Fox & Roach Realtors' Marlton/Voorhees Office.

Part of the appeal of living in a smaller space, he says, is that it's an easier life: very little maintenance, and it takes less effort to clean. Plus, he likes the lower utility bills.

"Compared to my big house, I save a couple of hundred dollars each month," Nunnenkamp says.

The townhouse's well-designed floor plan allows for generous spacing throughout. Besides the family room, with its mosaic-tiled fireplace and simple furnishings, the first floor includes a living room with two tufted chairs done in blue-and-white stripes and a white sofa, all situated around a blonde coffee table that holds books, a plant, and a bronzed Roman soldier. Dominating the doorway is a console with cherished photos of loved ones.

Guests eat at the round table in the adjacent dining room, where a sideboard is set up with aperitifs, wines, and liquors for the frequent entertaining Nunnenkamp carries on with family, friends and work colleagues.

"I have people over a lot," he says.

Vases and glass lamps sit on occasional tables throughout the first level, and wall art is abundant.

Immediately after moving in, Nunnenkamp updated the kitchen. He replaced outdated cabinets with espresso-hued contemporary styles, and put in a marble backsplash. New stainless-steel appliances add some sparkle.

A petite powder room was totally redone, with cherry hardwood flooring laid over the plain white ceiling, reversing use of the material to stunning effect.

More windows and an outdoor patio cater to that splendid waterfront view, where residents of the community canoe and kayak on warmer days.

A metal and crystal chandelier illuminates the turned staircase that leads to three bedrooms on the second floor.

The master bedroom has a Juliet balcony with more lake views. Last year, a full renovation was done to the en suite marble bath, and new heating and air-conditioning systems were installed. Visitors from across the country frequently fill the two guest bedrooms.

A work station is set up in a loft space, where a glass curio holds some of Nunnenkamp's autographed sports memorabilia. A passionate fan of Philadelphia's pro teams, he has footballs from Randall Cunningham and Brian Westbrook and a baseball from Chase Utley.

Nunnenkamp has homes in Florida and the Bahamas, and his penchant for the tropics is obvious - only a small amount of wall space in his Voorhees abode is painted outside the palette of warm blues, greens and yellows.

"I thought I'd only be in here two years," he says. "And look at me . . . still here after almost seven."