The placid waters of the negative-edge pool reflect the surrounding trees, as does the glass on the home’s exterior. “It animates the facade,” explains Parker. The outdoor shower, with its shou sugi ban door, to the left of the TV offers views of the sound.
Silver placed a nine-piece vintage Mario Bellini sectional wrapped in charcoal linen in the cozy family room, which boasts one of the home’s three fireplace
While most of the home’s furniture and artwork is new, Silver hung a metal sculpture from the owners’ existing collection in the primary bath.
A brise soleil shields the primary bedroom’s deck from morning sun.
Looking from the foyer into the dining room, the staircase’s glass rail appears to bisect the edge of the white-oak treads; the dining room artwork is by Jonathan Smith.
Though the home maintains a quiet palette, Silver snuck in a sliver of ocean blue on the leather seats of the kitchen’s Saarinen chairs.
The kitchen’s Treefrog veneer cabinetry reminds Silver of driftwood while the countertop is Caesarstone.
Mar Silver sourced a nineteenth-century bread bowl—its contents change according to the season—as the centerpiece for the fourteen-seat dining table.
Three steps down from the foyer, the living room’s low furniture, rectilinear fireplace, and minimal light fixture don’t distract from views of the negative-edge pool and Long Island Sound beyond.
The exterior is clad in a warm white stucco and low-maintenance shou sugi ban wood; the volume on the right houses guest quarters and a gym, and there’s a garage underneath.
Architect David Scott Parker designed the pool pavilion to act as a proscenium for the view of Long Island Sound. As a symbolic tribute to painter John Frederick Kensett, who once lived on the site and whose circa 1872 painting, The Old Pine, Darien, Connecticut, is part of The Met’s permanent collection, the team went to great lengths to preserve the pine tree (not the same one that’s in the painting) that sprouts from the granite ledge on the left.
Auchincloss commissions his friend, fellow artist Devin Burgess, seen here in 2019, to create the glass shades.
A work in progress in stainless steel with polypropylene shades.
Atlas 3 chandelier in aged brass and black walnut.
Elsa 10 chandelier in polished copper with bourbon handblown glass shades.
Artist Gordon Auchincloss with his Odysseus floor lamp in stainless steel and black walnut.
Sir Fitz chandelier in stainless steel with raw leather shades.
Elsa 14 chandelier in stainless steel with ocean-green handblown glass shades.
XK5 pendant with eight-inch handblown glass shades.
Chester desk lamp in aged brass and black walnut.
Olivia 28 chandelier in antique bronze with ocean-green handblown glass shades.
Customers planning a dinner party get inspiration from a tablescape featuring wicker, Matouk linens, and locally made candles.
Smith favors exuberant fabrics from Schumacher, Thibaut, and Sister Parish for her handcrafted toss pillows and upholstered pieces.
Smith, whose family has long summered in nearby Charlestown, Rhode Island, runs her interior design business out of her shop during the summer months.
The shop is tucked into the historic district of Watch Hill, Rhode Island.
“It’s a little wicker wild right now,” says shop owner Kaitlin Smith about her trove of vintage wicker furniture and accessories. She often groups much of her merchandise into vignettes to help shoppers envision how things might look in their own home.
In the third-floor green room, dubbed The Treehouse, a Pierre Frey paper covers the walls and ceiling.
With an eye for detail, Collins adorned pillows with unique tapes and trims for added panache.
Bar stools from Circa Who Furniture sit atop a painted indoor/outdoor sisal rug by Mary Meade Evans and complement the New England Artisan Restoration bar; the antique crab grotto chair from Palm Beach Home Style was a highlight of the space.
In a spot designed for relaxation and conversation, art and decorative textiles add extra flair.
Charming details, such as a vintage turtle from Chairish, can be found throughout the space.
Iatesta Studio dining chairs sport cushions in a Manuel Canovas fabric.
The table is set with custom placemats and napkins by Leontine Linens.
Custom Billy Baldwin Studio slipper chairs in a Porter Teleo fabric flank an Iatesta Studio console and Currey & Company mirror.
Designer Honey Collins anchored one end of the terrace with a custom sectional by O. Henry House and a pair of Circlet stools by Janus et Cie. The chandelier from Currey & Company is a nod to the real-life palms just beyond.
The roof-deck’s original pavers got so hot during the summer that the space was difficult to use, especially for the kids. Bourque replaced the pavers and worked closely with Tuuci to install the exterior umbrellas via crane; everything, including the toss pillows, is weighted so it stays put for safety during life’s inevitable squalls.
In the playroom, the round rugs are actually FLOR carpet tiles; “that way they can get ruined and replaced,” Bourque says.
Designer Beth Bourque went with modular Roche Bobois sofas so the homeowners, who hadn’t moved into the space yet, had plenty of flexibility
“The original kitchen plans were very small, so we added more cabinets and extended it for a seamless look,” the designer recalls. As for the trio of eye-candy orb light fixtures, those are Melt pendants from Design Within Reach.
A Roche Bobois table and chairs bring haute style to this home’s dining space, where the custom cabinetry has an effervescent silver-leaf finish.
The platform bed’s custom upholstery and toss pillows were fabricated by Partners in Design in serene hues.
Built-ins were designed to accommodate specific pieces of art; these porcelain petals are by Valéria Nascimento and attach to the wall with magnets.
With porches and expansive patios on two of the retreat’s three levels, the homeowners have multiple options for enjoying outdoor living.
With its retractable screens, the elegant porch of this New Hampshire vacation home can be converted into an open-air, three-season outdoor room with the push of a button. The homeowners and their guests relax on hearty resin-wicker outdoor furniture while enjoying the home’s views of Lake Winnipesaukee.
Opposite the outdoor room, a smaller covered porch serves as a cozy vantage point of the lake. The owner’s hideaway home office perches above. The trim on the house is painted a custom tint of Benjamin Moore Dakota Shadow.
When the porch screens are raised, the space flows seamlessly onto the patio, which is surfaced in the same Blue Mist granite as the porch.
The porch includes a much-used outdoor grill and serving area that are close to the home’s kitchen and pantry.
The timber-framed porch has a wood-burning flagstone fireplace that makes it a year-round retreat for the owners.
To design this lakeside retreat, architect Rob Carty took his inspiration from several classic regional vernaculars—note the red cedar shingles—and included locally quarried stone to help the home blend in with its lakeside locale.
The team at Makkas Workroom fabricated most of the home’s window treatments, motorized shades, and bedding, including those seen in the rose room.
Behind the kitchen, Austin converted a back hallway into a mudroom and added a five-foot-by-five-foot powder room swathed in Christian Lacroix wallpaper.
Austin pauses in the doorway that leads from the living room to the dining room.
Nineteen steps lead from the street to the porch of designer Dane Austin’s three-story Boston home. “It looks out over the treetops, so it feels like an oasis in the sky,” Austin says.
Austin swapped the living and dining rooms to enjoy the home’s original fireplace more often. He found the Jenny Lind-style chair at an antique shop in Sandwich, Massachusetts.
In one of Austin’s favorite rooms in the house, the robin’s-egg-blue cabinetry has a 1950s vibe. The custom island recalls a provincial kitchen’s workstation.
Austin knows the story behind every artwork in the home, but the painting in the primary bath holds a special place in his heart; it was gifted to him by a beloved client who passed away, and it’s lit 24-7.
Custom-designed twin beds in the gold room flank an antique oyster chest complete with a pullout desk that Austin discovered at the Brimfield Antique Flea Market.
Austin left the original 1905 staircase unpainted and sought to emphasize the home’s origins with an art-deco-inspired chest designed by Laura Kirar for Baker. “It makes me think of the roaring twenties,” says Austin. When we were remodeling, we found old whiskey and gin bottles in the walls.”
The dining room showcases a coffered trompe l’oeil wood veneer ceiling that’s embedded with flecks of mica. “It gives off a subtle sparkle, especially during dinner by candlelight,” says Austin. The settee is upholstered in a velvet fabric by Harlequin.
The pantry features a playful oyster print from Covered Wallpaper.
A Christopher Farr wallcovering lends interest to one of the second-floor guest rooms.
The house has two primary bedrooms, and the one on the first floor contains a grasscloth accent wall in a hand-painted check pattern by Patina Designs; the pendant is from The Urban Electric Co., and the artwork is by Mary Maguire.
Architect Tom Catalano was tasked with designing a summer residence (left) for two sisters on a waterfront property located next door to their parents’ house, which Catalano conceived fifteen years ago. The existing pool and pool house (right) now serve both properties and act as a central entertaining space and social hub.
The office walls were hand-painted by Patina Designs, and both the window treatment fabric and the upholstery on the game table chairs are from Schumacher.
The side entrance opens onto the mudroom, which is lined with vintage French pack and creel baskets.
The clients tapped designer Liz Caan to decorate the interiors, which feature neutral and serene tones as seen in the great room.
The third-floor landing leads to the bunk room and two additional guest rooms.
The clients didn’t want a formal dining room, so Caan incorporated a banquette into the kitchen for casual meals; the barstools are from Hollywood at Home, and the pendants are from The Urban Electric Co.
A third-floor guest room is enveloped in a pattern by Robert Kime. The house has two primary bedrooms, and the one on the first floor contains a grasscloth accent wall in a hand-painted check pattern by Patina Designs; the pendant is from The Urban Electric Co., and the artwork is by Mary Maguire.
A light fixture from Bone Simple Design and a bench from O&G Studio liven up the foyer.
The kitchen sitting area, complete with a fireplace and a television, provides another space for the homeowners to entertain or hang out as a family.
Although the sisters’ home is a touch less traditional in style, it complements the architecture of the parents’ residence in an effort to create what feels like a cohesive compound.
The second-floor primary bedroom, with its views of Nantucket Sound, is equal in size to the one on the first floor. “Because we were designing the house for two clients, it was important that there be two identical primary suites,” explains Catalano.
The bunk room, which contains four full beds and four twin beds, features a lobster-print ceiling paper
The first-floor primary bath features mirrors from Villa & House, sconces from The Urban Electric Co., and a vintage chair.
A nook in the great room contains an unexpected bar area with custom cabinetry, hardware from Rejuvenation, sink fittings from Waterworks, and picture lights from Soane Britain.
The gardens turn meadow-like further from the house to frame the water view with a smattering of perennials and hydrangeas that plays against the strong vertical lines of ornamental grasses.
The periphery grasses are left purposefully unmown to add volume and nurture insects through late autumn when they turn a ravishing flaxen hue.
To give the pool pavilion/outdoor kitchen additional interest, architect Maryann Thompson created a crossbeam double scissor truss. A rot-resistant black-locust deck stays cool in the heat of summer when bare feet are prevalent. Informal plantings create a textural tapestry
The “seeping rock” water feature along the mini-forest path was the client’s idea; it adds a muffled gurgle to the experience.
The landscape weaves together curvaceous stone walls, conifers, and deciduous trees to vary volume and form.
From the front door, a sight line frames the waterside garden out back.
Guests are greeted by a schist-shard path winding through a central-island miniature forest in this Martha’s Vineyard circular driveway. A froth of hellebores and ferns obscures the bases of the slender birches and stewartias to give Michael Van Valkenburgh’s design even more depth.
Barton Kent Jr. treated the wicker headboards of the twin beds in a guest room to a coat of sunny yellow paint that pops against the room’s white walls.
Cowtan & Tout fabric and wallpaper make a guest room cozy.
The front door opens to a foyer that holds an old telephone closet, now repurposed for storage, still sporting its original hardware and tiny glass window.
The enclosed sleeping porch is a favorite for guests, who can open the windows to hear the ocean all night long.
The art above the bed in the primary bedroom is by Bruno Pasquier-Desvignes through Abby Yozell’s lifestyle website choixhome.com.
The Calacatta gold marble floors and vanity top give the primary bath its warmth.
The enclosed porch can be accessed from both the living room and the primary bedroom.
The living room’s three sets of double doors are opened on all but the gloomiest days to forge a connection with nature. Painter Barton Kent Jr. outfitted the floor with its wide stripes in sandy hues that further the home’s beachy vibe. Sofa and chairs wear easy-care indoor-outdoor fabrics in watery shades of blue and gray.
Milk glass pendants from O’Lampia illuminate the all-white kitchen’s oversized island crafted by Martha’s Vineyard cabinetmaker Ryan Dillon.
An upstairs guest room features a king-sized antique bobbin bed; the door to the right of the fireplace leads to the sleeping porch.
A new double-hung window brightens a corner of the living room where a game table sits below a pretty raffia pendant light from Atelier Vime.
Milk glass pendants from O’Lampia illuminate the all-white kitchen’s oversized island crafted by Martha’s Vineyard cabinetmaker Ryan Dillon.
Revamped by builder Andrew A. Flake and project manager Todd Debettencourt, the home retains its classic cedar-shingled cottage charm.
A hand-painted mural by artist Dean Barger wraps the dining room, where a Keith Fritz whitewashed dining table surrounded by cane-back chairs extends to seat eighteen.
A nineteenth-century whale carving hangs above a guest bed.
An antique Welsh cupboard from the Charles Spada showroom sets a welcoming tone in the back entry; a coir mat recessed into the floor grabs and holds sand from bare feet, keeping the custom Perennials runner clean.
The painting that hangs above the burled antique chest is by the late Holly Meade, a printmaker and illustrator.
A sweet table found in a junk shop and repainted blue anchors a simple coastal vignette.
The downstairs powder room is equal parts whimsical and nautical.
With the home’s center staircase removed, the living room is now a light-filled, wide-open space; Rylee designed the generously scaled striped rug—in two shades of the beachy blue she loves—that grounds the room.
The swan painting that dominates the wall behind the library’s RH sofa belonged to Rylee’s mother; its provenance remains a mystery. Designed for comfort, the room is grounded in a graphic rug from Indian Dhurries.
Designer Leslie Rylee’s love affair with her vacation home dates back more than twenty years, when she first started coming to the Maine coast. “It had everything I wanted: a screened porch, big yard, beach access,” she says. Six years ago, Rylee left a note for the owners, asking if they were willing to sell. She was, of course, thrilled with the reply.
Drapes fabricated from John Robshaw’s Ginger Coral linen inspired the formal dining room. Rylee repainted a table that came with the house and paired it with red Pavilion chairs from Palecek.
Rylee painted much of the wood in the house white with the exception of the paneled library. Connecticut artist Mary Maguire created the ship giclee that hangs directly above the desk.
A big yard and waterfront location were nonnegotiable for Rylee: the home’s patio sits sixty feet from the shore.
The warm palette was carried into the bar, which is painted Sherwin-Williams Habanero Chile.
Chairs from Schoolhouse adorn the pool house, which was built before the main residence so the family could enjoy summers on the property during construction.
The parents enjoy stellar views of the estuary from their bedroom, thanks to triple-pane Schüco windows that span more than six by nine feet and conceal motorized shades at the top.
Most meals are enjoyed on the heated porch, which interior designer Kristina Crestin painted a moody blue-black (Benjamin Moore Polo Blue).
The pool house is lined with sliding glass doors to accommodate a constant flow of guests, who can shelter on the covered patio or relax poolside in an RH chaise.
Hanging pendants from RH help fill the pool house’s volume and cast magical patterns on the ceiling—without upstaging the sectional, whose grass-green performance fabric is echoed in the Sallie Strand painting; the custom Ping-Pong table was designed by Crestin.
In the mudroom, custom grass-green lockers fitted with wire mesh doors keep kid stuff organized but in view and inject a burst of color.
Since the family loves sectionals, Crestin outfitted the living room with one from Lekker Home that easily seats nine; she upholstered the massive ottoman in a foot-friendly Dash & Albert rug.
There’s no shortage of seating at the kitchen’s twenty-two-foot island, which was made by B&G Cabinet.
The folksy front facade offers little hint of the home’s zero-energy design, which produces as much energy as it uses, thanks in part to solar panels on the neighboring barn.
A mammoth factory light from Rejuvenation illuminates the breakfast table in this Gloucester, Massachusetts, kitchen, which sports concrete counters and a corner pantry fashioned from steel-and-glass panels from Costa Fabrications.
“It’s a bird-watcher’s paradise,” the wife says of the estuary out back, where seals sometimes frolic between the mounds of marsh grass. The eighty-six-acre property is also home to chickens and goats, as well as an apple orchard and crops, which the children help tend as a kind of outdoor environmental classroom.
The primary suite includes a walk-in closet with sliding door panels on one side and a built-in dresser with leather handles on the other.
In the neighboring bath, white-oak vanities flank the water closet doorway; the tiles are from Marrakech Design and the lights are Hollis+Morris.
The barn includes storage and a room for processing apples, but it can also double as party space, thanks to heated floors powered by hydronic panels on the roof.
The new house sits on the same site as the old house and was designed to maximize views.
The parents enjoy stellar views of the estuary from their bedroom, thanks to triple-pane Schüco windows that span more than six by nine feet and conceal motorized shades at the top.
Most meals are enjoyed on the heated porch, which interior designer Kristina Crestin painted a moody blue-black (Benjamin Moore Polo Blue).
There’s no shortage of seating at the kitchen’s twenty-two-foot island, which was made by B&G Cabinet.
The folksy front facade offers little hint of the home’s zero-energy design, which produces as much energy as it uses, thanks in part to solar panels on the neighboring barn.
The primary suite includes a walk-in closet with sliding door panels on one side and a built-in dresser with leather handles on the other.
. In the neighboring bath, white-oak vanities flank the water closet doorway; the tiles are from Marrakech Design and the lights are Hollis+Morris.
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