Sometimes, good things can be born from tragedy. For ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff, it was surviving a 2006 roadside bomb attack during the Iraq War that inspired him to build his dream home.

Three years after suffering a traumatic brain injury and struggling through a tough recovery, Bob and his wife, Lee Woodruff, a bestselling author and contributing reporter to CBS This Morning, bought a half-acre waterfront plot in tranquil Rye, NY, a suburb of NYC.

bob woodruff and lee woodruff

Bob and Lee at the 2014 Stand Up For Heroes event in NYC.

“We had a greater sense of family after everything that happened, so we wanted to build a scaled-down home that felt tied into nature,” Lee, 55, shares with Closer. The result? A four-bedroom, three-bath house for the couple and their four kids — Mack, 23, Cathryn, 21, and twins Claire and Nora, 15.

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“Just being outdoors and looking at the water, trees and things that grow is very soothing and healing,” says Bob, 53. “There’s a different view every day, whether it’s wildlife or sky or clouds. It’s been a very calming place to be.”

bob woodruff and lee woodruff at the christopher reeve foundation

Bob and Lee in November of 2007.

The home itself feels like an extension of nature, with wooden decks that extend from the family’s bedrooms and an outdoor pool they love. Bob and Lee also made it a priority to create as many views of the Long Island Sound as possible. “If you’re lucky enough to construct a house on the water, you should open it up with as much glass as you possibly can,” Bob enthuses. “There are parts of the
house upstairs where you almost feel like you could be on a boat. Downstairs, you feel more
grounded with the greens.”

The home’s design and materials even brought a bit of the outdoors indoors, from the wide-open spaces to the reclaimed barn wood flooring. When it came time to decorate the 3,800-square-foot space, Bob was happy to let Lee take the reins. “I don’t care!” he says with a laugh.

To read the full story on Bob and Lee, pick up the new issue of ‘Closer Weekly,’ on newsstands now!