A Coastal Retreat Blends California Style with Classic Rhode Island Charm

Designer Rachel Reider says the U-shaped sectional, with a low back to keep water views center stage, is “warm, like a big hug.”

At ten feet in diameter, the round oak dining table by Massachusetts woodworker Erik Rueda seats fourteen guests. The brass and etched-glass chandelier from Apparatus Studio has multiple pendants, ensuring light is evenly cast across the large table.

The foyer’s wooden table made to look like stacked beach stones sets the home’s intention of honoring its coastal location in subtle ways. The Talisman sconce from Apparatus Studio is made with aged brass, leather, and agates.

In the mudroom, a ceiling of tongue-in-groove white oak holds a Brightbound light fixture of handblown glass bulbs hanging from knotted ropes by San Francisco artist Windy Chien.

Designed by Venegas and Company, the kitchen holds two islands, one for prepping and one for dining. The second island, with its navy blue fluted base by Erik Rueda, eases the transition from kitchen to dining area, Reider explains.

The catering kitchen has the moody feel of the ocean on a cloudy day with its light gray subway tile and deep navy cabinetry and countertops.

The breakfast table’s resin top with a wavy underside is a distinct nod to the ocean outside the metal-framed windows. Sweenor Builders crafted the floating banquette.

DiMauro Architects designed a house with all the classic coastal-cottage features, including gables, dormers, and a wraparound porch, but with clean lines that hint at the more contemporary interior.

Channels in the soffits of the outdoor room hold screens and, for more protection, Isinglass windows.

he husband is a passionate surfer, and so is architect Ron DiMauro, so the two had fun designing the “surf shop,” with racks to hold eight surfboards and hooks for hanging wetsuits.

In the second-floor primary suite (one of two primary suites in the home), Reider kept furnishings, like the Nathan Anthony lounge chairs and the light-as-air linen-shaded pendants, neutral.

A guest bath has Shaker-style cabinetry with grasscloth insets.

A playful Bocci chandelier hangs above the makeup vanity in a primary bath.

The first-floor primary suite’s dressing room holds white-oak built-ins with mirrored closet doors.

A shimmery wallcovering by Phillip Jeffries adorns the headboard wall in a primary bedroom.

The elevator’s interior sports a whimsical wallpaper by Emma Hayes.

The bath for one of the home’s three en suite guest rooms wears a Phillip Jeffries wallpaper with a watery look.

The wife loves her office, a peaceful oasis populated with unique pieces such as the cushy swivel chairs and a custom desk by New England Artisan Restoration.

Coastal Rhode Island Roots Inspire a Dream Oceanfront Home

Those of us lucky enough to have grown up in Rhode Island know the pull the tiny state has on its native sons and daughters. So it was with the owner of this Narragansett house. Soon after graduating from the University of Rhode Island, he hightailed it out to California for a career in high tech. He met his wife there, and the couple raised three children on the West Coast.

Childhood memories of happy times with a passel of cousins at his family’s Rhode Island beach cottage meant frequent visits to the Ocean State over the years. Finally, with the kids grown and retirement on the horizon, the time was right to build a house to nurture summer memories for future generations.

The husband did some reconnaissance and discovered the perfect lot. “He found it without my knowing he was looking,” his wife says. “Not too many spots like this—right on the ocean—open up.”

The old house on the lot would come down to make way for the couple’s dream home: a dwelling with all the charm of a seaside cottage, minus the beachy clichés.

Balancing Modern Design with New England Coastal Architecture

Architect Ron DiMauro is accustomed to designing waterfront houses that meet stringent requirements for setbacks and local codes. The larger challenge in this case, he says, was aesthetic. “Our clients came from California, where they were used to more of a midcentury, contemporary look,” he says. “Our challenge was to try to blend that with the New England coastal vernacular.”

The house speaks to its location with such classic materials as red-cedar roof shingles, white-cedar second-floor shingles, and a standing-seam metal roof above the wraparound porch, but its clean lines hint at the more contemporary interior. The first floor is clad in white nickel-gap horizontal boards of AZEK—a sturdy PVC that will stand up to the wind, rain, and salt air for years to come.

The interior architecture, too, blends classic and contemporary. In the open kitchen/dining/living area, white-oak tray ceilings add warmth while defining the spaces. The master craftspeople at Sweenor Builders brought their skill to every inch of the home. “It’s by far the most customized home we’ve ever done,” says president and CEO Jeff Sweenor. “In terms of complexity and every room having its signature treatment, it really showcases the skill set of our cabinetry and carpentry team.”

Take, for instance, the elevator that runs from the basement to the second floor. It’s first-floor door, just off the dining area, is wrapped in Plyboo, a sound-absorbing bamboo product. The outdoor room features openings on three sides that can be closed off from the elements with either screens or panels of
Isinglass. “With the windows down, it can be 70 degrees in there on a zero-degree day,” says Sweenor.

Refined Coastal Design

Designer Rachel Reider gave the interior a sophisticated, elevated feel filled with special moments. Every room holds unique pieces chosen to reflect the home’s location as well as its inhabitants’ refined, stylish sensibility.

In the dining area, for example, Reider paired a round table with Bernhardt chairs featuring a nautical rope detail. A sculptural coffee table and ottomans the color of driftwood in the living area reference the sea. And the foyer showcases a table that looks like stacked slabs of stone. “It has an organic feel that we wove throughout the house,” Reider says. “It evokes beach stones but in a very nonliteral way.”

The palette, too, a warm, soothing mix of neutrals in shades of sand, stone, and gray with touches of deeper blues and greens, subtly conjures the sea. “I feel like I’m in a different land when I’m here,” the wife says. “Summers in Rhode Island are so special.”

Project Team
Architecture: DiMauro Architects
Interior design: Reider + Co
Builder: Sweenor Builders
Landscape design: Mather & Page Landscape Architects

Styled by Matthew Gleason