Modern Shingle Style Home Balances Sleek Design and Golf Course Views

June 13, 2025

A design team crafts a sleek and sophisticated dwelling on the coast of New Hampshire.

Text by Alyssa Bird Photography by Rob Karosis

Inviting living room with layered textures, coffered wood ceiling, modern stone fireplace, and views of the water through large glass doors.

Pecky cypress adorns the living area ceiling in this New Hampshire seacoast home. A sofa from Wesley Hall, swivel chairs from Taylor King, and a custom ottoman from Vanguard Furniture rest atop a rug from Landry & Arcari Rugs and Carpeting.

Sophisticated foyer with sweeping staircase, vaulted ceiling, and double front doors framed by natural light and architectural detailing.

A compressed entry that opens to a two-story foyer with water views beyond makes for a dramatic first impression.

Stately coastal-style residence with cedar shingles, arched dormers, and manicured landscaping framed by a curved stone entry wall.

To satisfy both the homeowners’ desire for a modern house and community stipulations, the architects designed a Shingle-style residence with sleek accents and minimal moldings.

Luxe powder room featuring a curved wall covered in metallic mosaic tile, crystal chandelier, and a modern vessel sink beneath a narrow window.

Located off the foyer, the powder room is sheathed in a damask-patterned mosaic from Sicis; the sink is from Kallista and the light fixture is from Visual Comfort & Co.

Warm, transitional-style kitchen featuring a rich wood island, pendant lighting, and stainless-steel appliances with a view toward a butler’s pantry.

The secondary kitchen, which can be closed off from the main kitchen during parties, features black cabinetry, a wood island, and limestone flooring.

Bright kitchen with custom white cabinetry, a dramatic hexagonal tile backsplash, wood floors, and polished chrome barstools at the island.

he main kitchen, meanwhile, has white cabinetry and a backsplash of eglomise tiles from TileBar.

Open-concept living space with connected kitchen, dining, and sitting areas, featuring coffered ceilings and expansive water-facing windows.

The kitchen and dining and living areas are open to one another, but the tray ceilings help define each space.

Elegant dining room with patterned upholstered chairs, a rustic wood table, and a sparkling crystal chandelier, offering water views through black-framed windows.

Baker chairs covered in a Zimman’s fabric surround a dining table from Hurtado.

Romantic guest bedroom featuring a four-poster canopy bed, blush velvet bench, and soft neutral palette with elegant lighting and trim details.

A blush silk wallcovering from Walfab and a canopy bed from Oly give this guest room a romantic feel.

Light-filled primary bedroom with vaulted ceiling, custom chandelier, fireplace, and panoramic water views through black-trimmed windows.

The primary bedroom features a fireplace and a workspace in addition to water vistas.

Sleek hallway with black doors, patterned tile floor, and a view into a guest bath with white cabinetry and decorative glass inserts.

A view into one of the guest baths.

Stylish covered patio with cozy lounge seating, stone fireplace, and indoor-outdoor flow through large sliding glass doors to the home’s living area.

Given the home’s location on a golf course, both the living room and the outdoor sitting area are protected from errant golf balls via screens that can be lowered.

Elegant rear exterior at dusk with symmetrical stone chimneys, glowing interior lights, and a modern fire feature on the patio.

A pair of gas fireplaces flank an outdoor sitting area off the living room.

Shingle Style Architecture on a Golf Course

It’s funny how a site can tell an architect exactly what it needs. In the case of this waterfront lot on a golf course in Rye, New Hampshire, its size, shape, and location informed both the structure’s layout and overall aesthetic. “The clients wanted a modern house, but community stipulations prevented us from going super modern,” says TMS Architects Interiors project manager Lafe Covill of the 5,500-square-foot four-bedroom residence. “We stayed within the Shingle-style vocabulary, but the massing and fenestration have a sleek look. The shingles run up to the windows, which are painted black to mimic steel.”

As for the orientation and plan, the long, narrow site forced the architects to stretch the structure as much as possible and take advantage of the views (all but one of the bedrooms enjoy water vistas). “The neighboring houses are rather close, so we placed items like storage and countertops on the sides to maintain privacy,” he continues.

In addition, the homeowners had requested water views upon entry, so the front door has a direct relationship with the door that leads out to the rear terrace. “There’s an immediate rush to the ocean,” says Covill, who notes that this feeling is intensified thanks to the compressed entry. “You walk in under the stairs, but then it blows up into a two-story space, making the push to the water feel even more dramatic.”

Minimalist Architectural Detail with Thoughtful Functionality

As with the exterior, the interior architecture leans minimal, featuring no crown moldings or trim, baseboards that are essentially flush with the plaster walls, and windows that seem to disappear. Meanwhile, tray and vaulted ceilings throughout draw the eye up—especially in the main living areas, where they are inlaid with pecky cypress. The couple, who often entertain and host their children and grandchildren, also requested an open floor plan, with the kitchen and living/dining areas located in one large, light-filled space.

“To avoid the kitchen looking messy during parties, we created a secondary kitchen,” explains Covill. “They are organized to work together, but the secondary space can be closed off. We ended up adding a porch that’s accessible from this back kitchen, and it turned out to be a favorite spot for morning coffee.”

For large outdoor gatherings, sliding doors in the living room open onto a terrace with a pair of fireplaces and a firepit.

A Soft Color Palette and French Accents

To complement this contemporary shell, the couple called on their longtime designer, Florida-based Linda Holman, who helped select not only the furnishings but the overall materials palette as well. “The clients like clean lines, but elements like the pecky cypress help warm things up,” says Holman, noting that it coordinates well with the pre-engineered wide-plank German flooring that the owner found. “Everything blends in and flows from room to room, from the travertine in the pantry to the natural stone on the living room fireplace surround.”

These natural elements are offset by a few unexpected accents, such as the eglomise tile backsplash found in the main kitchen and bar area and the curved wall in the powder room sheathed in a damask-patterned mosaic. New furnishings with French influences and textured wallcoverings carry a soft palette that includes gray, taupe, lilac, and blush. “I wanted to make sure the interiors match the homeowners’ lifestyle,” says Holman. “It feels elegant yet comfortable.”

Project Team
Architecture: TMS Architects Interiors
Interior design: Lovelace Interiors
Builder: Houghton Builders
Landscape design: Piscataqua Landscaping & Tree Service