If ever there was a house that begged to be embraced, it is the unassuming cottage on a small coastal pond in Edgartown, on the southern edge of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.

Measuring just 1,700 square feet, the three-bedroom house, situated on a compact piece of property, is a year-round refuge that demonstrates how carefully rendered principles of art and science can converge to give homeowners everything they need, while showcasing spectacular views, rugged natural materials, local artisanry, and sustainability.

Finding the right partner to realize the homeowner’s vision was effortless. “They knew about us and followed our work, so they just approached us and announced, ‘We’re ready to do our house,’” recalls Gregory Ehrman, partner at Hutker Architects. “It was the most natural pairing ever.”

Ehrman and Sean Dougherty, principal at Hutker Architects, saw both the beauty and the challenges of the site right away. Where a small decaying house had stood, they knew it would be paramount to weave the design with the natural setting and the Vineyard’s artistic culture to create a house that matched the homeowners’ vision. Today, the property is a joy: at once simple, dramatic, and right at home.

Approaching the residence from the parking court, a ramp gently slopes upward to take visitors to the glass front entry. The door reveals the first scenic look of the pond and ocean, which appear through generous windows on the water side of the house. The structure’s core, topped by a gabled copper roof, is its sturdy center. Adjoining are five flat-roofed cubes, built on helical piers, that appear to float on seagrass. The cubes house the more personal spaces, including a bedroom and bath and an office, appearing to float on seagrass. Says Dougherty, “The home is very simply settled on the land.” The easygoing comfort of the exterior belies the exacting science that went into its design.

“Behind the challenges of the design are very familiar forms,” Dougherty explains. “The center gable is classic New England style while the more contemporary structures are clad in shingles.” At the heart of the design are sustainability principles, where much of Doughtery’s work continues to be focused at Hutker Architects. Because of its proximity to the water, the size of the house was contained to a point just beyond the previous home’s footprint. The upward-sloping walkway that leads to the raised entrance and dwelling is carefully lined with gardens, creating the subtle elevation necessary for rising sea levels.

With a primary focus on resiliency, Dougherty pushed the envelope to create a certified passive, net-zero–energy building by PHIUS + Source Zero. The home generates more energy than it consumes. The foundation and landscape elements are encased in Cor-Ten steel, which has a naturally weathered patina that grows more striking through the years.

Inside, rooms are filled with natural materials and personal artistic stamps of the homeowners, who are longtime islanders and involved in the arts. The central cathedral space, with an exposed structural steel frame and white oak ceiling, defines the dining area and the interior circulation that connects the primary social space with the private, more contemporary spaces. The more modern elements radiate from the central gable form and are tied together with a white oak floor, which changes slightly in pattern where the two types of spaces meet.

Rich details abound. On the side of the kitchen island are symbols dear to the homeowners, cut from a sheet of bronze. The leftover sheet hangs in the breakfast bar. A hutch in the dining area is topped with a wave pattern by Hutker and is reminiscent of a quilting pattern designed by one of the homeowners. Kitchen cabinets are clad in rough-sawn wood.

The work of local artisans and artists appears in almost every room, including work by the artist Allen Whiting. “The origin of the house and all that is within was inspired by our sense of place,” says Dougherty, who lives in Oak Bluffs.

Dougherty and Ehrman reveled in bringing the house to life, especially its sensibility and scale. “It was a wonderful project,” Dougherty says. “The clients are lovely people who are immersed in the local culture. It’s fitting that their home be an heirloom that will be enjoyed for generations.”

This home is featured in Hutker Architects’ latest book, New England Coastal: Homes that Tell a Story, which will be released June 12.

“New England Coastal: Homes That Tell a Story”

Hutker Architects is presenting this spring the firm’s third book, New England Coastal: Homes That Tell a Story. The book, including 200 original photographs, will be released June 12.

“Every house in this book is a residential heirloom,” says Mark Hutker, the founder of Hutker Architects, an award-winning firm in Falmouth, Mass. “Each design is deeply rooted in New England vernacular but with a modern sensibility.”

Several of the 13 houses that appear in the book have been covered in publications, including Ocean Home, Architectural Digest, and Veranda. Others have not been previously published.

New England Coastal: Homes That Tell a Story is available for preorder on Amazon. A collector’s edition will be available for purchase at book signings scheduled to begin in May and run through September. For event dates, visit hutkerarchitects.com.

Henry and Savannah Helgeson fell hard for Nantucket decades ago. As seasonal residents for many years, they were delighted to form a deeper relationship with the quintessential island located off Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Right away, the Helgesons deeply understood the world of beauty here, especially the island’s spectacular ocean setting and its burnished place in history.

The couple, who have two young sons, saw more than the setting’s natural beauty, though. Their affection for the close-knit bonds fostered by the island community also flourished. So, when the Helgesons found a house perched on a large property on Swain’s Point in the pastoral village of Polpis, they happily established their forever roots. 

The existing house, a shingled gambrel, was lovely but outdated, and didn’t fully allow accessibility to the outdoors. As Savannah Helgeson explains, “We loved the bones of the house but wanted a more modern, casual, beachy vibe.” She and her husband turned to their go-to designer, Nicole Hogarty, principal of her namesake Boston interior design firm. 

Working with a team, including Steve Cheney of Cheney Custom Home on Nantucket and architect Mark Cutone, Hogarty embraced the creation of a new interior for the house, perched on a 63-acre property. The main intention, Hogarty says, was a cohesive melding of comfort, style, and openness to accommodate indoor-outdoor living. “We wanted it to be something new, something personal,” says Hogarty.

In the redesign, Hogarty leaned on a strong network of Cape and Islands tradespeople, including carpenters, plasterers, artisans, and others. Today, the home’s interior, after a gut renovation, shines with the results of collaborative help. The main entrance area introduces a pleasing scheme of organic textures and color palettes.

Beautiful details abound, made all the more special by a limited scope of building materials: marble, metal, white oak, leather, bouclé, and linen. “Using a limited number of materials, threaded throughout the home, created a subtle flow,” Hogarty says. 

The consistently understated palette of color and materials provides a continuous thread among the kitchen, dining room, and great room, which has a special loft with a wraparound porch. Stained white oak flooring forms a base for rich-toned neutrals, with comfortable seating and intriguing touches, many by island artists, including local photographer Jessica Jenkins. The shared living space, which occupies most of the first floor, is surrounded by water and wonderful views. 

A wood-burning fireplace and nearby sculptural flexible chairs, which open into chaises, form a perfect seating space. To the right of the fireplace is a metal surfboard by sculptor Bates Wilson, one of the many artistic points of interest throughout the house. “It’s a dialogue of West Coast meets East Coast,” Hogarty says. “They’re a young, active family, so pieces were chosen for durability, with performance-grade fabrics.”

Alongside, there are pieces reflecting a quiet sense of fine art: a leg detail on the coffee table, a wall hanging in textured resin behind the sectional sofa. “The rich tones and textures are not what you would expect.” The nearby staircase has another surprise: a handrail wrapped in leather. The stairs’ metal balusters are by Blublk, a metal fabricator in Sandwich on Cape Cod. Leather is also found in the kitchen dining area in the way of leather chairs.

In the loft, a hallway transforms into an intimate nook, with a custom-made daybed and a pair of tables in reclaimed wood, set against a soft-white wall. “I love to find spaces within a space,” Hogarty says. The same curated effect of natural materials appears in a second-floor guest bedroom, which features a freestanding headboard with wood detailing on a “floating” bed. The walls and ceiling are wrapped in a deep-navy-blue paint, New Hope by Benjamin Moore. 

“We wanted it to feel cocooned,” Hogarty says. Near the home are more spaces for guests, including a new guesthouse, plus a cabana and pool. A few steps away is the family’s vegetable garden and paths just right for exploration. The first-floor primary bedroom suite is the crowning jewel of the house, an indoor-outdoor refuge for the couple and the place the Helgesons go to reconnect, catch up, and take in the spectacular views. 

The suite is a stylist’s dream, with a seating area featuring custom facing sofas and walls of Phillip Jeffries grass cloth. Vertigo pendants by Petite Friture reference propellers from Henry Helgeson’s love of piloting.

The primary bath area is a beauty, with black Calacatta marble-slab countertops, a shower fabricated by BluBlk, and a tub of dark charcoal concrete by Native Trails. “From the beginning, our goal was to design a quiet retreat with a few unexpected elements,” Hogarty says of the primary suite. The mood was achieved with a subtle palette, rich textures, and dark stone accents. “For the Helgesons, it’s the perfect balance.”

When a Boston couple built their modern Shingle-style second home on Martha’s Vineyard, they wanted their retreat to be as elegant as it is down to earth.

The residence, which was designed by Chuck Sullivan, AIA, principal of Sullivan + Associates Architects, and features interiors by Mika Durrell, founder of West Tisbury-based Able Moraine, is perched on a bluff presiding over Edgartown Harbor. Described by Durrell as “peacefully designed with efficient programming,” the weekend and holiday getaway is reached via a picturesque, meandering driveway and is nestled into the landscape to give top billing to the spectacular water views.

Using natural, reclaimed, and organic elements, Durrell created interior spaces that are rustic yet refined and reflective of the lifestyle of the couple and their twin college-age daughters. “The theme of this project was inspired, in large part, by the selection of the flooring, which the owners had used in a previous house,” Durrell says.

“Reclaimed oak with a blended variety of blonde and chocolate tones, it has a textural raked finish that looks like a saw blade was run across it. It became the base for a color palette of cream, tobacco, cognac, and burnt caramel.” In Durrell’s hands this strong base point grew like a plant trained on a wire. “It looks organic, but it’s all intentional,” she says, adding that “this project magically came together in a sophisticated way.”

The overall design, which Durrell calls “a balancing act that’s a nice blend of custom, retail, and specialty items,” makes the house “feel at ease” even though there’s a “sense of formality.” On this sedate scheme, Durrell layered natural materials—stone, copper, leather, rustic woods, wool, linen, cashmere, and alpaca—that add texture and a cozy warmth. “We had a simple recipe for the design,” she says. “Leather, wood, with a shard of metal and a little linen.”

Durrell’s collective of local artisans, including Whetstone Workshop for architectural metalwork, Jeff Soderbergh for reclaimed-wood furnishings, materials, and millwork, and artisan leather worker Jay Teske, created custom elements ranging from the ladder-like leather and wood towel rack in the primary suite to the copper fireplace mantel topper in the great room.

“Every piece is a work of art, and all of the natural elements and materials have character and history,” Durrell says. “The custom furniture, including a set of consoles and the sink counter in the guest bath, is inspired by the wood itself.”

The entry, which is defined by a simple wooden bench made from a slab of reclaimed wood and a mirror framed in forged copper, sets the tone for the home.

In the great room, a pair of curved sofas, upholstered in white linen, embrace the fireplace, and exposed ceiling beams, made of reclaimed wood, heighten the connection to the outdoor scenery framed by banks of windows. Geometric lamps provide soft illumination.

The dining room is a triumph in restrained craftsmanship, with each detail conveying, in a subtle manner, the work of the hand. The custom dining table, made of reclaimed wood, has a sleek, clean look. It’s softened by the chairs, which are wrapped in suede right down to the end of their legs.

The leather straps on the Roman valance that cleverly hides the automatic solar shades are repeated in the brass pendants that feature bloom-like porcelain globes and in the primary suite ottoman reposing at the foot of the bed. The primary suite highlights Durrell’s affinity for texture. The tactile room is grounded by an alpaca rug with a chocolate-color checkerboard design that is so soft and supple that one might be tempted to use it as a blanket.

“The room is a balance between light and dark, masculine and feminine,” she says.

One of the more unusual and amusing details in this highly crafted house is the handrail of the central staircase: It was braided by hand by Teske. Hand-crafted Moroccan Zellige tile ties the spaces together, the slight variations of each piece adding to the overall interest. Durrell used it to panel the window wall and stove wall in the kitchen and on the walls of the baths.

Each room is in a different complementary hue. Beveled and rounded edges on the walls, what Durrell calls a slight detail, are another distinctive ode to craftsmanship: They soften the spaces, providing a feeling of utmost comfort. “This house reflects my core values and the collective nature of my work,” Durrell says. “The objects that are made by the specialty fabricators bring the home to life because they are unique.”

“The thing about living with a genius is that I get no credit whatsoever,” Rick Miller says with a laugh. “When people walk into our home, they say, ‘You’re so lucky to live with Oren,’ as if I have no taste.”

Oren is Oren Sherman, an artist, a Rhode Island School of Design professor, and a design specialist at Elkus Manfredi Architects, a high-profile commercial architecture firm in Boston. Miller, a psychotherapist and the founder of the nonprofit organization Gay Sons and Mothers, is his husband. The couple, who met as young men in Provincetown, Massachusetts, have been together for 30 years. As Sherman points out, Miller has been exposed to a lot of design. “The truth is, the house is very much a combination of the two of us,” Sherman says.

The couple are the second owners of this 1,600-square-foot midcentury modern house in Truro, a tiny town on Cape Cod. They are intent on respecting its modernist roots. When erected in 1957, it was about 800 square feet; the original owners eventually enclosed the screened porch (now the dining room) and added the primary bedroom. “It was built as a modest summer home; we didn’t want to turn it into a fancy house,” Sherman says. Still, there was room for improvement. 

They invited their friend Thomas Henry Egan III, a principal in Evolve Residential, to have a look. Egan defined a proper entry, redesigned the galley kitchen, and enlarged the windows to enhance the indoor-outdoor connection. Waking up surrounded by greenery and gazing into woods bathed in late afternoon light are among the greatest rewards of living here. “In four minutes, Tom told us what we needed,” Miller says. “His advice made this place what it is.” 

Sherman’s creations don’t hurt either. His wallpaper patterns, manufactured by Astec Wallcoverings, grace the kitchen (exploded paisley) and bedroom (a metallic faux bois) and will soon go up in the office bath. “It’s a mylar wallpaper like the kind I used to help my mother put up in her friends’ houses,” Miller says, amused. A geometric rug design of Sherman’s, manufactured by Brintons, the British company that supplies carpets for Buckingham Palace, adds pattern in the living room. 

And then there’s Sherman’s fine artwork, along with works by local artists, friends, and colleagues. A print of a Cape beach shack he painted hangs over the fireplace, surrounded by landscapes and streetscapes purchased at local auctions. Another of Sherman’s pieces—of a midcentury modern house in Los Angeles designed by Pierre Koenig—hangs in the bedroom. “It’s like I imagined we’d live in a modernist house someday,” he says. 

Everything in the home has meaning. “We came to this house wanting it to be authentically us,” Sherman says. The last thing either wants is a self-consciously stylish place devoid of character. That the interiors tell their story, as a couple and as individuals, is important. Cherished family pieces mingle with pieces they acquired together. “A house should have a sense of history, reflect the way you live now, and hold a piece of the future,” Sherman says, expanding on a quote from prominent interior designer Charlotte Moss.

In the entry, funky midcentury pottery fills a traditional antique hutch inherited from Miller’s gay great-uncle. They use his dishes and silver, too. Sherman’s most prized possession, a Lalique bowl that was a wedding present to his parents in 1944, is displayed on the midcentury modern credenza that Miller’s mom found. “I normally say that if something gets broken, don’t cry over anything that can’t cry over you, but this is irreplaceable,” he says. He feels the same about the silver candlesticks that his late mother, a silversmith and landscape designer, made in the 1950s. “I coveted them my entire life,” he says.

In the living room the pair get a kick out of their curvy vintage sofa, which reminds them of sofas their Jewish grandmothers might have had and thrown out. Soon, the sofa will sport a new look: spring-green mohair. Sherman fell hard for the fabric when specifying 1,000 yards of it in deep red for seats in a theater that Elkus Manfredi is designing. “I want to be wrapped up and buried in this mohair,” he says. 

Like the sofa, the marble-topped dining table designed by Eero Saarinen for Knoll in 1956, was a splurge. “I’d loved it for 40 years, since I worked at Design Research the summer before I went to RISD,” Sherman says, referencing the legendary Harvard Square store. It was under the tutelage of owners Ben and Jane Thompson that Sherman first saw and came to appreciate Charles and Ray Eames, Marcel Breuer, and Mies van de Rohe furniture, along with Marimekko patterns and color. 

“Overall, we didn’t spend a ton of money, but this home reflects our lives together and our personal histories,” Sherman says.

For more information, visit orensherman.com

Concealed behind a hydrangea and rose-clad stucco wall on Wianno Head is a compound that’s so confident of its status that it makes itself one with its natural surroundings.

“This is one of the most magnificent properties in Osterville,” says landscape architect Dan K. Gordon, the founder and principal of the firm that bears his name. “It has water views on three sides; it’s wonderful to work on a site that has spaces with multiple water views.”

The fact that the property is so exposed created constraints and opportunity, adds Peter Stephens, project manager and principal at Dan Gordon Landscape Architects. “We had to come up with ways to preserve the views while mitigating the prevailing winds.”

At the owners’ request, the outdated Mediterranean-style stucco house was renovated and modernized by Daniel H. Reynolds Design Collaborative in a classic New England shingle style, setting the groundwork for landscaping by the Gordon team.

“It’s a landmark property,” Gordon says. “The owners really wanted to develop the character of the house, and the property, into a seaside shingle vernacular. To that end, the landscape improvements were transformational.”

Gordon and his team exploited the spectacular water views, overhauling the gardens on the 2.5-acre property to develop a design that incorporates spaces for maximum active enjoyment of the landscape.

The property, at the termination of a dead-end street, was pretty much a blank slate: A grassy back lawn opens to a vegetated dune that separates the maintained landscape from the seawall and ocean.

To protect the property from storm damage, the seawall was rebuilt and heightened, invasive vines were removed, and the dune was restored with native plantings. A deteriorating sunken garden at the rear of the house was removed and replaced with a pool and pool garden.

“There were mature trees growing throughout the property,” Stephens says. “We worked to preserve the trees and plantings, transplanting hundreds of shrubs–it was like re-arranging the furniture in a house.”

The edited plantings are bolstered by hundreds of new ones, creating layers of flowering shrubs and perennials, including hydrangeas, roses of Sharon and rhododendrons, ornamental grasses such as feather reed and fountain grass, and groundcovers, notably liriope.

The Gordon team reimagined the space as three hubs of activity: a firepit terrace, a pool terrace, and a dining terrace.

The redesign started with the driveway, whose looped parking court, deposited visitors at the guesthouse first before branching off to the main residence. The drive itself was redone, lined with cobblestones and filled with pea stone. Parking at the main house was screened by hedges and perennial plantings.

The drive’s layout was reworked, and an entry gate installed at the street. 

“The compound is very hidden from the street, and there’s a planted buffer between neighboring houses,” Stephens says. “If you didn’t know it was there, you would not see it, which makes it intriguing.”

The stucco guest house, which was re-roofed to match the revamped main residence and which has its own kitchen, parking court, terrace, outdoor shower and dock, is now appropriately set back from the main drive.

The separation is emphasized by a privet hedge and plantings of Oakleaf and Limelight hydrangeas and Hayscented ferns as well as a secondary drive. 

Next to the main parking court, Gordon’s team added a potting shed and vegetable garden for the family’s enjoyment. It’s enclosed with a cedar and wire fence that keeps rabbits out and creates a clean architectural edge to the parking court.

One of the key changes to the property was adding an infinity-edge pool at the rear of the house where the sunken garden had been. 

“It’s a central feature of the landscape,” Gordon says, adding that there was no existing pool. “It’s slightly elevated from the lawn space to create a seamless connection between the main family living space and the adjacent solarium. The elevated nature of the pool garden allows for shorter fences to be used for security around the pool while preserving the views.”

The new firepit terrace, with a cabana that has been rebuilt as a beach bar, also is at the back of the house. A custom pergola, complete with motorized screens at the bar, and glass fences at the dining terrace and pool help reduce wind in key areas.

The dining terrace, another family gathering spot, is off the kitchen. It has a built-in grill and custom cabinetry and supports a private chef and serving staff for the family’s frequent entertaining.   

“Our design is casual yet deliberate and transforms an outdated property into a refined family compound with modern amenities for contemporary living,” Stephens says. “We took what was there that was good and made it more usable. We developed spaces for people to enjoy outside.” 

For more information, visit dangordon.com

“I used to ride my bike by this house when I was kid and loved that it was contemporary,” says the owner of this beachfront home in Cohasset. Decades later, in 2006, he and his partner drove by during an open house. Soon, it was theirs.

Although the house served the couple well for many years, they imagined how it could be better. They sketched iterations with larger windows—the home has direct views of the Atlantic Ocean to the east and a salt pond to the west—and a larger living space. A few years ago, they hired William Ruhl and Sandra Jahnes of Ruhl | Jahnes, knowing they could propel the home to its full potential.

The architects reimagined the home from every angle. “We added visual energy to the original white box by cutting out corners, reworking windows, and introducing other materials, including iron spot brick, ipe, and zinc,” Ruhl says.

The site needed intervention too. Landscape architect Kara Lam addressed environmental concerns, beautified the property, and made it more functional. “We directed the ocean water that washes over the road during storms to the pond on the other side of the house,” Lam explains. Plantings, including the spectacular purple butterfly garden, are resilient to the harsh, salty conditions. “The landscape design accents the modern form of the house,” Lam adds.

To make it easier to navigate the sloped site, Lam wrapped the hill on the driveway end of the house with a bluestone paver stair. The offset pavers start at the bottom of the driveway, where the garage and the outdoor shower and changing area are located, and lead to the deck and lawn on the other side of the house. Should visitors arrive on foot, there’s also a path to the deck from the top of the driveway.

The ocean-facing deck along the east is the primary outdoor living space. However, the narrow deck that overlooks the new entry path and gardens on the hillside gets plenty of use. “We extended it so it has both views, and the low walls shelter it from the wind,” Ruhl says. As for the façade, the architect covered it in a three-story high ipe screen. “The screen knits together the randomly placed existing windows and provides vertical drama,” he says.

Inside, the team expanded the main living space by creating a 10-by-25-foot bay window cantilevered over the garage. The move gave the couple a dedicated dining area while simultaneously presenting pond views. A sculptural dining table elegantly grounds what’s essentially a glass box, while brushed brass cylindrical pendants that the couple spotted on a visit to Iceland hang above. 

Quarter-sawn oak slats run over a portion of these windows, helping to define a cozy area for watching television or napping on the leather sofa. “We talked about it being completely glass, but the wood wall adds warmth and a sense of privacy,” the owner says. “We love how the in-floor uplighting washes over it at night.” A linear gas fireplace anchors the adjacent seating area with a B&B Italia sofa, a midcentury-modern rosewood bar, and a 13-foot expanse of picture windows.

A marble-topped center island dominates the kitchen on the other end of the open plan. The couple worked with Casa Design in Boston on the layout and wood and white scheme of the Arclinea cabinetry. Across from the island, the architects replaced a less than satisfactory standard-sized door with 13-foot-wide sliders that grant an easy flow to the gracious deck and down to the lawn. 

The stair to the bedrooms offers a view of sedums planted on the roof of the dining room extension, accentuating the home’s indoor/outdoor relationship. The guest room overlooking the pond also gets this glimpse of green. In the oceanside guest bedroom, a new wood-lined bay window is a perfect perch for gazing down the craggy coastline. On the exterior, the protrusion is wrapped in zinc, tying it to the trim at top of the house. 

The primary bedroom is modeled after a boutique hotel suite. Here, the architects cut into the corner of the house to carve out a balcony. A 10-foot-long band of glass welcomes the ocean into the room in front of the bed. Meanwhile, a wide opening unites the bedroom with the marble bath, where the soaking tub and walk-in shower enjoy ocean views.

The family room on the top level accesses the 900-square-foot roof deck. Prior to the renovation, the roof was often too hot to use. Now there’s ipe decking, an area that’s under cover, and galvanized steel rails that provide views of the pond and ocean on either side. Friends often gather around the gas fire table with cocktails at the end of a day, no matter the season.

“As nice as ocean views are, sunsets on the back are equally appealing,” the owner says. It’s nice to have choices. 

Learn more about the project team

Architect: Ruhl | Jahnes
Structural Engineer: RSE Associates
Contractor: The Holland Companies
Landscape Architect: Skyline Landscapes

(Above) A plunge pool and terraced landscaping tie Eagle’s Nest to the waterside as the fanciful copper weathervane eagle heads skyward with his catch.

Longtime Duxbury, Massachusetts, residents Bill and Lynn Rice knew they wanted to live by the water when they downsized from their in-town residence. Fortune smiled on them when the ideal solution became available: a property right next to their son’s home on Eagle’s Nest Cove in South Duxbury. “It was all about location, location, location,” recalls Bill. “Three out of four sides have spectacular views of cove, bay, and marsh.”

Their next move was building a home that suited their newly pared-down lifestyle and the neighborhood’s character: Eagle’s Nest is a vintage summer colony, reachable only by boat or bridge. “We had our eye on Polhemus Savery DaSilva for a while; their homes are always so creative, so clever,” says Lynn. “I fell in love with the interesting roofline on one of their projects and knew I wanted something similar. We also wanted our living spaces centered on one floor,” she adds.

“Our clients envisioned a special home that was thoughtfully designed to fit their needs and the exceptional waterfront site,” recalls Aaron Polhemus, owner and CEO of Polhemus Savery DaSilva Architects Builders (PSD), which handled the architecture, landscape architecture, and overall project construction. “Our charge was to deliver a home that was classic in its design but with distinct features and detailing.”

A backyard of tidal cove delivered all of the coastal atmosphere desired; however, the site had its challenges in terms of setbacks and permitting. “There wasn’t a lot of buildable upland,” says PSD design principal John DaSilva. DaSilva’s response was a compact rectangular layout that presents as a one-story home on the street side and then expands up to two stories of view-embracing windows on the two water sides.

“For the most part, the home is a simple rectangle, but it packs a lot in,” continues the architect, whose inspired design strokes always defy banality. The roof purposefully peels up toward the water, making room for the emerging second story. A fish-snagging eagle weathervane—an homage to the location, designed by PSD and custom crafted out of copper—tops the cupola. “It’s oversized,” DaSilva notes. “We scaled it more to the bay than the home, so you can actually see its profile from a distance.”  

A unique barrel dormer over the front door generates the wow factor the Rices desired in their home’s entry sequence. Outside, the dormer breaks up the cedar roof expanse; inside, it’s a dramatic vaulted space with grooved paneling and decorative ribs. “We got the idea from the Grill Room in the New York Yacht Club, which looks like the inverted hull of a ship,” says Bill. “When you’re inside looking out, the semicircle window frames additional marsh views in the distance.”

To the right of the entry is the garage, set within the home’s mass but hidden from public view on the non-water side. To the left is the master suite. A central corridor between these two wings culminates in the home’s headliner axis: the main living spaces stretching across the water side in one long, open, modern arrangement.

Under the guidance of interior designer Barbara O’Rourke, the interior is light and bright, with mostly new furnishings plus some favored antiques carried over from their previous residence. “It’s a little eclectic, a little nautical, but mostly we call it ‘modern Cape,’ ” describes Lynn. “It’s the complete opposite of our 1803 sea captain’s house and we love the different feel.”

A gourmet who loves to cook and entertain, Lynn opted for a clean white kitchen designed by Hyannis-based Classic Kitchens & Interiors. Contemporary features, including a steam oven in the island (steamed oysters are now the norm), blend with traditional details like a built-in hutch. On the way to the mudroom behind the kitchen is a butler’s pantry/wet bar with a wine fridge and a backsplash of mercury glass. 

To differentiate each destination in the expanse, DaSilva incorporated unique ceiling shapes, the largest of which is the living room’s checkerboard grid. “The paneling alternates so there is no dominant directionality,” says the architect. “It’s a little more interesting than having all the grooves arranged in one direction.” A storage and display built-in on the room’s TV wall showcases PSD’s millwork capabilities, with each reveal and curve carefully scaled and executed. The corner gas fireplace—a request of Lynn’s—shares its warmth with the adjoining dining room. 

The Rices’ master bedroom receives natural light from three directions thanks to strategically positioned windows. Light is always a foremost consideration on DaSilva’s mind: “The more directions of direct sunlight you can introduce into a room, the nicer that space will feel,” he contends. Marble tile gives the master bath a luxurious, spa-like vibe, and a dedicated makeup counter with an upholstered bench adds to the glamour and functionality. An office with his and hers desks plus a dressing room complete the expansive suite.

With two guest bedrooms on the second floor, the Rices have plenty of room for visitors, but when it’s just the two of them, they don’t have to leave the ground floor. They often find themselves by the terrace’s fire pit, sipping cognac while the sun sets. Lynn loves her kitchen, of course, but also her plunge pool.

There’s a lot to love about their new home: it’s on the water, right next to family, and perfectly sized with modern conveniences. Bill and Lynn have lived in Duxbury for 48 years—now they’re enjoying their hometown from a whole new angle. 

For more information, visit psdab.com, ckdcapecod.com, classictile-stone.com.

The Cape Cod town of Brewster, Massachusetts, has always held a special place in my heart. My parents would take my family to this bayside oasis every summer as children. We would fly kites on the Brewster flats, pick wild blueberries in the woodlands, buy penny candy at the Brewster General Store, and go to summer festivals on the lawn of La Salette House, a 1907 Italianate mansion run by La Salette Missionaries from 1944 to the 1980s. The grand villa was built by wealthy merchant Roland Nickerson and has been a Brewster landmark for decades.

I treasure the memories of running on the grand lawn of the estate with my brothers—and we once sneaked inside. A grand staircase, carved mahogany walls, and decorative plaster ceilings, and marble fireplaces welcomed us, the nuns not so much. We were in awe of the beauty of this commanding house, and I would imagine, as a little girl, coming and dining in one of these opulent rooms. 

This past May, I got my wish when I took my mother back to this beautiful spot—now the Ocean Edge Resort. We ate lunch in the formal Roscommon Room in the original mansion before we checked in. We chose a seat in an open window to look out over the vast beauty of the bay. The sea air mingled with the wood-burning fireplace—intoxicating.

Today this iconic estate still caters to the discerning guest as it did at the turn of the last century. Ocean Edge is a luxury resort that offers all the summer pastime activities of childhood and so much more. Situated on 429 acres, the resort boasts Brewster’s only 18-hole, Jack Nicklaus–designed golf course, the private Bay Pines Beach, nine tennis courts, multiple indoor and outdoor pools, a fitness center, and the Beach House Spa, as well as award-winning dining. 

The rooms in the mansion are the ultimate in comfort; many offer balconies with bay views. The down bedding and soaking tubs are the perfect touch of luxury. Opt to book at the Mansion or the Presidential Bay Collection Villas to ensure you have access to the private beach with its own bar and food service. Cabana runners take care of your every seaside whim—from setting up beach chairs and umbrellas to delivering a fruity cocktail right to your beach towel.

The Presidential Bay Villas are made up of two- and three-bedroom townhouses that accommodate up to eight guests and offer all the creature comforts of home, including a kitchen, dining area, large living space, and walkout deck to enjoy this seaside paradise during the best months on Cape Cod.

The resort offers a plethora of Cape Cod summertime activities—beachside bonfires, croquet on the lawn, seasonal oyster bed tours, kayak and paddle board rental, bike rentals, and a kid’s program for when parents need a little down time. And the perfect spot for some pampering is the Beach House Spa—this tranquil space offers the ultimate in luxurious facials, massages, and mani/pedis to help you ease into vacation mode.

If you golf, don’t miss lunch at Linx Tavern. The chef is doing elevated apps and sandwiches that offer deliciously unexpected flavors. The fried sea scallops and whole belly clams with smoked tomato salt are out of this world, as is the roasted local zucchini “guacamole.” The evening dining options are just as enjoyable. Head to the Ocean Terrace, the resort’s signature fine dining restaurant overseen by executive chef Philip Flath. Indulge in Brewster oysters and champagne while watching the sun sink into the bay.  I was happy to make these new memories at Ocean Edge where the salty air, warm breezes, and magnificent sunsets will keep me coming back year after year.  

What To Do and See

Watch for Whales
Observe some of the ocean’s most majestic creatures on these 3- to 4-hour tours with Hyannis Whale Watcher Cruises.  

See the Seals
Monomoy Island Excursions, based out of Harwich Port, is a family-owned business that has ferried sightseers to watch Monomoy’s seal population for over a decade.  

Ride a Bike
Less than two miles from Ocean Edge, this 1,900-acre state park offers fishing, hiking, and freshwater swimming, and biking on the rail trail. 

Take a Hike
Go on a birding walk, take a beekeeping class, and learn about Massachusetts’ natural environment at the Cape Cod Natural History Museum—Ocean Edge Resort guests receive complimentary admission. 

Support the Arts
Explore seven galleries featuring artwork from Cape Cod’s best artists and celebrating the unique artistic identity of the region at the Cape Cod Museum of Arts—Ocean Edge Resort guests receive complimentary admission. 

Climb the Tower
Along with the Provincetown Museum, this soaring Pilgrim monument commemorates the landing of the Mayflower. You can climb to the top to take in endless views of the bay and beyond.

For more information, visit oceanedge.com.

If Designer Matt MacEachern has learned anything about creating homes on Nantucket Island, it’s to respect history—and the rules of the architectural review board.

He’s been practicing there since first visiting in 2000. He fell in love with the place—and promptly bought some land. “I quit my job to build a house there,” he says. “While I was building, I was doing some residential design work to help pay the bills.”

Later, he would learn first-hand about the review board when he served on it from 2002 to 2004. “It was a great experience because I came to understand the board from a regulatory point of view,” he says. “Any time you’re in a creative process and involved with a committee that’s part of the design team, you have to get used to it.”

So when his recent clients, a Florida-based couple with two college-age children, interviewed him about designing a home overlooking Nantucket Harbor, they knew they’d found their architect. Their home was to be in the Shingle style favored by the town—and MacEachern knew it well, inside and out.

“We looked at a number of his homes, and we liked what he’d designed previously, and his use of interior spaces,” his client says. “He added the roofline and the design of exterior spaces too.”

The big idea? To maximize the water views in the home’s public spaces. “There are good views from the first floor, but they’re spectacular from the second floor,” MacEachern says. “There are views of the Atlantic there.”

The home’s ground-floor footprint is 2,700 square feet, with the same amount above and below. “There are seven bedrooms altogether, with two in the basement—one’s a bunkroom for future grandkids,” the client says. “There’s a master that flows out to an outdoor porch on the ground floor.”

Outside, the siding is the island’s required white cedar shingles, which eventually will turn silvery gray with age. Gutters and window casings are primed cedar, as are doors that were custom-made locally.

Inside are more natural finishes to keep it coastal, like rattan, and layers of linens, metals, and wood selected by interior designer Valerie Grant. “The great room side tables are beautiful oak,” she says. “The dining room table is teak—the owner selected it because its base creates two “X’s” to complement artwork that has an ‘X” in its detail.”

This was a client with ideas of his own, and one who sought to be hands-on in certain areas—like the roof walk and the interior staircase, sans risers. He wanted a home that was light and open—with a modern flair that wasn’t too stark. “You come in the front door, and light from the front of the house goes through the staircase,” he says. “Matt was very thoughtful about the ambient light—the floating staircase allows it to flow throughout the home.”

The residence is sited on an idyllic part of the island that’s private and secluded, but still near the water. “We’re boaters, and we paddleboard on the harbor,” he says. “There’s the ease of being able to walk down there.”

The site was not without its challenges. First, an existing cottage-style home from the 1950s had to be demo’d. Then the client acquired a neighboring lot next door, added 15,000 square feet of it to his site, and sold the remainder. That gave his architect room for a home, a pool, a guest house, and a pool house.

Then there’s the uphill shift from Monomoy Road to the highest point on the property—a six-to-seven-foot ascent. “Navigating that elevation change was a challenge, so we worked with a landscape architect on that,” MacEachern says. “To the back, it drops down again and creates a valley—we had to deal with how the exterior living area was integrated with the inside of the home.”

Executed improperly, the outdoor living spaces would have been disconnected from the home’s interiors. “We dealt with it with elevated decks and pergolas,” the architect says. “The guest house is level with the pool area that’s four to five feet lower than the main house.”

As MacEachern designed this house, he applied everything he’d soaked up about Nantucket design over the past 20 years. “I learned by working here and learning the language in such a tight paradigm—and obsessing over the details,” he says. “Nantucket might look all the same, but different parts of the island are just phenomenal.”

Nothing, he says, looks like it doesn’t belong. “You respect and admire that,” he says. “Some of the older neoclassical work is the most beautiful—it’s well-proportioned, with trim detail done by the builder, because there was no architect at the time.”

Now there’s one who can work with the island’s rules and precedents—and make them sing.

For more information, visit emeritusltd.com; ahernllc.com; valeriegrantinteriors.com; elisahallendesign.com

Address: 192 & 187 Mishaum Point Road, Dartmouth, Massachusetts
Price: $25,000,000
Area: 17,000 square feet
Bedrooms: 8
Bathrooms: 10 full, 4 half

On the tip of Mishaum Point in Dartmouth, stretching out into Buzzards Bay near Cape Cod, Massachusetts, sits Seapoint, a 17,000 square-foot shingle style home by renowned architect Robert A.M. Stern. The waterfront home sits on ten acres of land surrounded by water on three sides, offering over 1,500 feet of water frontage. And the home is just as impressive as the property.

The property boasts eight bedrooms and fourteen bathrooms. Five of the bedrooms are in the main house, and a spacious guesthouse adds three more bedrooms. Amenities include a state-of-the-art wine cellar, a cozy library with a vaulted mahogany ceiling, a private office, and a deep-water dock. The home is accessible with an elevator in the foyer allowing access to all floors.

Breathtaking architectural features like a stone-and-driftwood fireplace and a custom chair rail pepper the home, while no small detail was overlooked—keep your eyes peeled for bulls-eye glass windows and intricate motifs on the hand-finished wood flooring. The home is perfect for entertaining, with commercially operated bowling lanes, a billiards room, and a bar made from a hand-carved wooden ship’s hull. In the warmer months, the spectacular outdoor living space includes a cabana with a stone fireplace and an infinity edge pool. But fear not for the colder months—the pool is heated.

The home perfectly blends modern luxuries with tasteful, traditional style. The white crown molding and dark wood elements evoke a classic New England coastal aesthetic, while sweeping ocean views from every room complete the vibe with a sense of serenity.

For more information, visit robertpaul.com/real-estate/192—187-mishaum-point-road-dartmouth-ma.