Cape Cod Retreat Designed for Family Life

Cedar shingles are classic Cape vernacular, but a varied roofline lets the house deviate from the norm. The structure was essentially built around the owners’ existing in-ground swimming pool.

Hydrangea and other plantings by Bernice Wahler Landscapes frame the front of the house, with a gravel path creating a sense of arrival and mitigating the home’s perpendicular orientation to the street.

A glass-walled passage connects the living spaces to the garage and includes a changing area and coat closets designed and built by carpenter John Russo.

Kuba woven seagrass pendants in the living room sway in the breeze when the French doors are open in the summer. Durable carpets, sturdy furniture, and copious use of stone and wood combine to make the space both stylish and comfortable.

The curved second-floor balcony adds warm elegance to the home’s otherwise linear design.

Exposed rafters serve a dual purpose, nodding to the area’s traditional coastal architecture and allowing warm sunlight into an outdoor shower. The adjacent sunroom is a favorite three-season space for morning coffee.

The large kitchen island is more than a dining and food prep area: it’s also the locus for family gatherings and parties—and has even served as an impromptu dance floor. The tray ceiling helps delineate the kitchen space and provides continuity with the rest of the home.

In the dining room, Russo’s custom wet bar complements the rustic table by Arhaus. The owner sourced most of the furnishings and fixtures from secondhand shops.

A double lot allowed for the construction of a larger replacement house, but nearby neighbors in the downtown setting necessitated the thoughtful placement of windows and landscape screening to maintain privacy.

Expanding a home to Accommodate Family and Friends

Val and Doug have had a second home in downtown Falmouth for years, but as their children grew into teens and young adults and their circle of friends expanded, the family’s formerly cozy home began to feel increasingly cramped.

Val, with her background in interior design, enlisted Salt Architecture and its founders, Alissa Hike Harris and Chris Harris, to devise a new home. She says she gravitated toward the firm based on its expertise in creating beautiful but uncomplicated spaces. “With a visually clean slate, I added unexpected and unusual finishes, lighting, and furnishings, and voilà, dream house!” says Val.

Cape Cod Architecture Built for Storm Resilience

In truth, the project wasn’t quite that straightforward. For one thing, building in a flood zone eliminated the possibility of anything below grade. Salt Architecture and builder S.G. Custom Homes also had to work around an existing swimming pool, and the lot demanded an unusual orientation of the much larger new home relative to the street.

But the collaboration between owners and contractors yielded a residence that gels both physically and aesthetically with its Cape Cod environment. “It’s an established neighborhood, and while the house is architecturally different, it definitely fits in,” says Scott Goldstein of S.G. Custom Homes.

Clever elements, such as the tall oak ceilings on the first floor and exposed rafters on the exterior, add personality to a structure that otherwise prizes flow and functionality over flair. An arced second-floor balcony overlooking the living room is perhaps the most visually dramatic moment in the home. “There aren’t a lot of curves in the house, so this was a place to bring one in,” explains Hike Harris.

The larger bulk of the house is mitigated by a varied roofline and a glass-walled mudroom between the living area and garage, the latter of which includes a second-floor home office. Common spaces like the kitchen, living room, family room, and screened porch are scaled for entertaining and situated in proximity to pool and patio, with outside views informed by the family’s familiarity with the location.

Yet, “Some of our favorite spaces are the ones we didn’t plan for,” says Val, like a small kitchen nook that “gives us a different perspective of both the backyard and of the kitchen.”

For the family, the new home supports their long-term goal of spending more time on the Cape. “It’s a home that is beautiful but not precious,”
says Val. “We put it to the test all year long, and it performs perfectly every time.”

Project Team
Architecture: Salt Architecture
Builder: S.G. Custom Homes
Landscape design: Bernice Wahler Landscapes