A Shingle Style Home On The Rhode Island Coast

Whether washed with sunlight or aglow by firelight, the sunroom is a favorite gathering spot where the focus is on togetherness. “My younger daughter designated it a no-technology room,” says Kathy.

Homeowners Kathy and Doug chose architect Alec Tesa because of his skill at the Shingle-style. “His designs are just so well proportioned,” says Doug.

Landscape designer Brian Muoio’s plan is a low-maintenance coastal classic where masses of hydrangeas are accented with easy-care choices such as catmint and daylilies.

Furniture, like interior designer Patti Watson’s custom curved sofa, speaks to tradition without being fussy.

The home features numerous works by local artists, including the living room’s dreamy paintings by Rhode Islander Vanessa Piche.

Tesa played with woodwork details throughout, even on the ceilings; in the kitchen, that means a pretty elliptical detail that conjures gentle ocean waves.

For the family room, Watson revved up the palette, incorporating hues suggestive of a summer sunset in toss pillows and the area rug that sits atop a woven rug. “In a large open space like this, layering rugs is a way to, literally, add a layer of interest,” the designer says.

The dining room glows, thanks to the wallpaper’s metallic hints.

Doug’s second-floor office makes working from home a pleasure.

The homeowners wake up to water views in their east-facing suite; the ceiling’s millwork hides the motors that open and close the drapes and blackout shades.

A window detail in the primary bathroom mimics the elliptical patterns found elsewhere in the home.

The swimming pool sits to the side of the house, rather than the back, says Muoio, because Kathy wanted to ensure nothing man-made would interrupt the sightline to the water.

The broad back porch holds often-used dining and sitting areas.

The house in the Providence suburbs had been a fine place to raise a family, and it certainly held plenty of happy memories. But as Kathy and Doug ushered the second of their two daughters out of the nest, they wanted to look to the future, not the past. Their next house would be a place for making new memories.“We wanted to build a multigenerational home, a place we could leave to our daughters, a place that would live beyond us,” Doug says.

Envisioning a home away from the suburban bustle, they set their sights on Rhode Island’s south coast, ultimately settling on a parcel of land in the seaside town of Narragansett. The lot was especially appealing, Doug says, because it juts out from the coastline. “It probably has 270 degrees of views. We look back to the town of Narragansett, and across to Newport and Jamestown,
and out to the ocean.”

A classic house of shingle and stone seemed the perfect choice for such a special lot, and Newport architect Alec Tesa obliged, designing a Shingle-style beauty that looks like it’s been perched on this very spot since the Gilded Age. People familiar with Narragansett’s Coast Guard House (aka The Towers), built in 1888 by McKim, Mead & White, might recognize Tesa’s homage to the designers of that iconic building in the home’s entrance, where two peaked-roof projections are connected by the front door’s arched roof.

Inside, Tesa’s meticulous design continues. From the foyer’s white-paneled walls, to the rich, dark paneling in Doug’s handsome second-floor office, to the unique ceiling treatments in every room, Tesa didn’t stint on unique detailing. “We try not to have too much drywall in our houses,” the architect says. “We like details, and we have a lot of fun with them.”

Patti Watson’s interior design plan masterfully but never stereotypically plays to the home’s waterfront location. “We took cues from the location, certainly—the sand and the sea—but it’s a soothing, nature-inspired palette, rather than traditional blue and white,” she says. She also included plenty of fun details, like the dining room chandelier, a bubble-like confection crafted by local glassblowers Jennifer and David Clancy, and the sunburst motif of a mirror and a pair of sconces in the living room, chosen as a nod to the home’s name: Sun’s Race.

The name, taken from the title of a poem the eldest daughter wrote in the fifth grade, is more than appropriate. With its perfect siting, the home is flooded with sunlight from dawn to dusk.

That the girls were single when Kathy and Doug began planning the house didn’t stop the couple from imagining future sons-in-law joining in family dinners and laughing grandchildren playing on the lawn. Kathy recalls that she and Watson talked about how perfect the grand staircase would be for wedding pictures one day. “And sure enough,” she relates, “our older daughter got married, and we have some beautiful wedding photos taken there.”

The arrival of a grandson early last year is a sweet next step toward the fulfillment of their dreams for a home to be enjoyed for generations. “We just love it,” Kathy says. “We can’t wait to make more memories.”

Project Team
Architecture: Alec Tesa, A. Tesa Architecture
Interior design: Patti Watson, Taste
Builder: Mark Horan, Horan Building Company
Landscape design: Brian Muoio, Briden Nursery