A Riverfront Retreat in Westport, Massachusetts

“The site feels like a big outdoor room, with the surrounding woodlands creating these walls and the ceiling open to the sky,” explains landscape architect Dennis Staton. “It’s very dramatic.”

The exterior is a combination of shingles and horizontal and vertical boards—all of which are red cedar. “The knotty red cedar paneling lends so much visual interest to the house,” says Victoria Talbot of Jacob Talbot Fine Homebuilders. “We installed it with the rough side out, which has a lovely textured finish.”

A covered passageway connects the carport and the main living areas.

Brushed-granite and cherry countertops and glazed terra-cotta backsplash tiles join oak accents and blue cabinetry in the kitchen; the pendant lights are from Design Within Reach.

The living room features oak beams and flooring as well as floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the meadow.

A soaking tub from Badeloft overlooks the meadow in the primary bath, which features turquoise zellige tiles, a honed-limestone floor, and a white-oak vanity topped with Danby marble countertops.

Situated on a ten-acre riverfront property that’s been in the owner’s family for decades, this Westport, Massachusetts, residence represents a true meeting of the minds. When designing the structure, Studio Hearth Architecture + Design met with the couple who would be living in the new home, as well as the husband’s mother, who resides in a farmhouse on the rear of the property.

“The residence needed to fit into the greater family complex,” says architect Joe Combs, who, along with the firm’s Erin Hunter, combined the most critical mandates to satisfy the entire family. “The husband likes the modern, flat-roof style that was popular in Sea Ranch, California, during the 1970s, while the wife prefers traditional New England colonials, so we manipulated various architectural elements until it started to gel.”

One feature all three wanted, notes Hunter, was a large gable, which relates to the barns on the site. Somewhat surprisingly, the family eschewed a traditional garage. Instead, the architects dreamed up a slatted carport inspired by tobacco-drying barns.

The resulting 3,500-square-foot home—sited on an open meadow near the woodland edge—features a cruciform-shape plan with three outdoor spaces and a covered passage between the carport and living areas.

“There’s no front door and no front or back side,” explains Combs of the cedar building. “The carport and passageway that light up like a lantern, in addition to the stone pathways, are architectural clues that help visitors find their way into the house.”

The surrounding landscape is just as critical, especially given that the husband is a beekeeper and specifically requested pollinator plantings. Fieldstone and granite walkways are kept simple, as are the bluestone terraces that flank the kitchen, while native plantings lend interest.

“The goal was to make the landscape feel like an inevitable response to the house,” says landscape architect Tim Brown of Design Outside, who worked on the site with his business partner, Dennis Staton.

Inside, a free-flowing floor plan makes for easy entertaining. Ancillary spaces, such as the guest room, office, music room, and gym, are located upstairs, while the primary suite is on the first floor. Perhaps the most popular place to perch, however, is the living room, with its floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the meadow. “Even when it’s gloomy outside,” notes Combs,“this house makes you feel cozy and nestled in.”

Project Team
Architecture and interior design: Studio Hearth Architecture + Design
Builder: Jacob Talbot Fine Homebuilders
Landscape design: Design Outside

Styled by Frances Bailey