exteriors

The owners wanted the house to serve as a resort for their large extended family—and even included a skating rink, visible behind the grill house.

The second floor is tucked under the roofline and the perimeter is ringed with porches to help diminish the home’s scale.

Commissioned to renovate this landmarked townhouse in Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood, Hickox Williams Architects had to adhere to regulations preventing design changes that are visible from the street.

An enchanting lighting design by UK designer Trent O’Connor, controlled with smart home technology from InnerSpace Electronics, gives the home its magical nighttime glow.

Landscape architect Abigail Adams used giant boulders uncovered during the excavation of the foundation to form a defining wall framing stone steps leading to the rear of the house. Meeting the low-maintenance mandate, architect Julia Metcalf used Hardie Plank Lap Siding, a cement product, for exterior cladding.

An outdated home from the 1980s was demolished to make way for this new Shingle-style house designed by Arthur Hanlon, Bayard Cutting, and Matthew Lopes of Shope Reno Wharton.

A rear view of the exterior highlights the new terrace, which provides the second-floor bedrooms with their own outdoor deck.

Architectural designer Jennifer Birnstiel modeled posts and brackets on the front porch after Felsted, the 1897 Maine summer home built for Frederick Law Olmsted.

Landscape architect Ryan Wampler says the backyard was “about creating a series of intimately scaled ‘rooms’ that support the family’s needs for a flexible indoor-outdoor lifestyle with a garden that acts as plinth for the restored home to stand prominently upon.”

“In a project of this scope, sometimes the minor details that were rebuilt to match the originals get overlooked,” says builder Jim Youngblood. He points to the facade’s ornate copper leader heads as an example.

In 1931, Connecticut architect Walter Crabtree designed this Tudor Revival to look much older by using irregular bricks and intentionally cracked and slipped roof slates.

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.

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.

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 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 garage with its upper-level guest quarters (center) and the pool house (right) were part of the remodel, which took nearly three years to complete.

The center section of the twenty-year-old house was razed and rebuilt atop its old foundation in a mix of Federal and Dutch Colonial styles that suggest additions made over time.

“It’s an exaggerated version of a traditional entry,” says architect John DaSilva of the fanciful entrance he designed for the new central section of this Lower Cape home. Tiny shuttered dormers crown the roof, which features a widow’s walk bracketed by chimneys and adorned with arches that echo throughout the home.

Architect Brian Mac took his design cues from an adjacent farm and Vermont’s classic vernacular. As seen from the shore of the lake, this side of the house includes a door that opens to the main corridor and a terrace, complete with a firepit, off the kitchen and living room wing.

Carpenter & MacNeille transformed what was a modest 1950s reproduction of an eighteenth-century colonial, tearing down a portion of the original home and more than doubling its size.

The home, a 2022 PRISM gold award for Best High Performance/High Energy Home, comprises the main house, foreground, attached guesthouse, and stand-alone garage with a second-floor guest suite. Builder Chris Dio clad the house and guesthouse in white-cedar shingles, then crafted sliding shutters of Alaskan yellow cedar to protect the triple-glazed windows from blowing salt and sand.

The glass breezeway that connects the main house (left) and the guesthouse can be closed off for privacy when the couple’s children visit.

Set back from both the road and bluff, the house blends into surroundings consisting of existing flora that landscape designer Nat Taylor supplemented with native plantings.

“When houses are painted out in one color you notice a lot more of the detail and texture,” says Elms, who mixed bluestone and wood steps to break up the ascent to the high-gloss green door.

The team at Kathryn Herman Design lined the front of the house and its gravel parking area with ilex crenata and cyananthus; the fastigiate hornbeam on the left was transplanted from a different spot in the yard.

Alisberg Parker Architects designed a colonial-inspired house to blend with the surrounding neighborhood, but thoughtful exterior details—including a sloped overhang and a dark entry—announce the property’s distinctive contemporary flair.

The architects utilized the small corner lot to its full potential, providing outdoor space above the garage as well as in the form of a terrace off the main floor.

Smith, husband Matthew, and their young kids gather near their front door, which is painted Sherwin-Williams Coral Bells.

The home’s upper level utilizes wood-fiber-and-resin composite Trespa panels for a lofty feeling. “The Trespa panels are used across a wide array of construction genres, but this was our first experience using the product in a residential application,” says builder Ken Hough. “Our craftsmen found that working with the Trespa was straightforward and required the same skills and tooling that are needed to work with hardwood and large sheet stock.”

A ledge outcropping on the site dictated the positioning of the house, says architect JT Loomis. The lower level parallels the ledge, while the acute angle of the upper level visually connects the ledge to the water and takes advantage of a gap in the trees to maximize coastal views from the primary bedroom

On the second floor, opposite the primary bedroom, the office juts out into the forest. “When you’re in that room, it feels like you’re floating in the trees,” says Davis. Below, the garage door is clad in stained cedar.

Tittmann tweaked the exterior—which originally merged both Greek Revival and New England farmhouse elements—to be more consistent with the Greek Revival style.

The homeowners chose a deep aubergine to complement the home’s new look.

The pool sits perpendicular to the house, freeing vistas across the yard. Subtle terracing adds visual interest and creates a surface on grade with the first floor to accommodate a patio and a niche for grilling, which the landscape architects masked behind shrubs.

The center-entrance colonial resembles its 1920s predecessor but takes its cues from nineteenth-century architecture, with additions that look like they were added over time.

The stamped concrete driveway, a dead ringer for brick, offers a sight line from the front door of the main house

The home’s slope-side location necessitated numerous retaining walls, which were made from board-formed concrete. The skillful placement of native plants, grasses, and small trees softens the angles of the walls.

The three-story home’s modern exterior is an artful composition of terraces, patios, picture windows, and vertical cladding that work together to break up the mass of the structure.

Taking their cue from the lush surroundings, the designers at Wagner Hodgson Landscape Architecture created a bluestone pathway through a perennial garden of native plants that helps soften the modern lines of the ground-floor entryway. Grayish-brown Trespa siding mimics the color of tree bark.

Designer Grace Rosenstein added two dormers, a front porch, and a cedar roof to the original Cape Cod-style residence.

“It was really important to these clients that the home settled naturally into the woods,” Quinn says of the house that’s surrounded by maple, hemlock, and white birch trees.

Multiple outdoor gathering spaces allow guests to take in the landscape from all angles.

The home’s pigmented concrete walkway leads to a showstopping front door, created from one of the property’s spalted-maple trees.

Multiple rooflines, dormers, and decks give the rear facade of the house plenty of character. Gathering around the firepit is a favorite activity, even on the chilliest of days.

“I never thought I’d live in a brick house,” jokes interior designer Michael Booth as he leans in the front doorway of his recently renovated home on Providence’s East Side.

We have great appreciation for the history and craftsmanship of old buildings,” notes SR Fine Home Builders’ Nick Vanasse when discussing the perks and challenges of rehabbing an older home like this.

The dilapidated rear wall of this South End brownstone was demolished and then rebuilt using the original bricks. New folding French doors enhance the flow to the patio.

Sudbury Design Group landscaped the motor court, preserving a spectacular thirty-year-old magnolia at its center.

Homeowners Karen and Richard Calo envision hosting parties that flow from the living room out to the welcoming front porch.

Repeat clients called on Boothby to reimagine the interiors of this classic 1906 residence occupying five acres in Fairfield County.

The design team was tasked with seamlessly blending several additions with the original Cotswold-style structure. “It’s really important to me and my firm to be involved in unique and interesting projects like this one,” says builder Bill Manderville.

This east side view shows the angular offset of the three-bay garage (right) from the main house (left); a coat of Benjamin Moore Amherst Gray stain ties it all together.

Lichen covers the terra-cotta tile roof. Cradock crafted the front door to resemble the original one.

Hydrangeas hug a porch near one of the lawns; the clients were committed to eco-friendly details, from beneficial plants to hardscaping to planters.

According to Dean, the shingled structure is meant to “recall the simplicity of Nantucket design, with deliberately spare details.”

The pool house is divided into two structures: one with a kitchen, outdoor shower, and guest suite, and the other with a game room, laundry room, and another guest suite.

To take advantage of this site’s expansive views of Nantucket Harbor, architect Robert Dean designed an “upside-down” house for longtime clients. In this floor plan, the bedrooms are on the ground level and the communal areas, such as the living room, dining room, and kitchen, occupy the second story.

Inspired by plants native to the site, LeBlanc Jones Landscape Architects embraced the rugged beauty of Nantucket and incorporated species such as bayberry, summersweet, arrowwood viburnum, scrub oak, little bluestem, and switchgrass.

Large swaths of durable grasses, including little bluestem and tufted hairgrass, help to hide the spa and frame the ocean.

STIMSON, the landscape designers of this Rockport, Massachusetts, property, incorporated an existing crab apple into the front garden and grouped nepeta, gaura, pennisetum, and calamintha to form plump borders.

Scale was critical when designing the low-slung house. “This is one of the most unique places in the world,” says Imber. “We wanted to integrate the architecture into the surroundings and make it a part of the spirit of the landscape.”

Painted Benjamin Moore English Ochre, the front door of an otherwise traditionally hued Cape Cod home hints at the bold use of color found within.

“This house doesn’t have a back,” says architect Paul MacNeely. This “front” faces the pool and the main house. Stone from the excavated hillside covers the foundation and extends into a graceful radial wall toward the main house. Landscape architect Doug Jones cleared brush and understory to reveal a commanding dawn redwood that shades the side of the guesthouse.

The residence occupies the only substantial area of sandy beach on the lake.

The main entrance features a grand porte cochere with Douglas fir timber framing. Architect Don Knerr designed the home in keeping.

For the landscape, Pellettieri Associates saved as many specimen trees as possible and then introduced a variety of native plantings.

Architect Don Knerr designed the home in keeping with the traditional New England lake-house vernacular, incorporating materials like cedar shingles and siding, local stone, and timber beams.

When this three-and-a-half-acre site on a New Hampshire lake became available just down the road from their summer home, the homeowners couldn’t pass up the opportunity to build their dream house. The couple tapped a team of seasoned design pros to create a comfortable yet stylish oasis where they could spend time with their children and extended family.

Archie, the resident English springer spaniel, greets visitors in the gravel court. The facade’s double-height window wall marks the present-day living room; the natural light was ideal for the artist who lived here in the 1930s.

Dan Gordon and Patrick Taylor devised an informal, understated landscape, with low-growing native plants that can withstand the salty air.

Archie, the resident English springer spaniel, greets visitors in the gravel court. The facade’s double-height window wall marks the present-day living room; the natural light was ideal for the artist who lived here in the 1930s.

The residence occupies the only substantial area of sandy beach on the lake.

For the landscape, Pellettieri Associates saved as many specimen trees as possible and then introduced a variety of native plantings. RIGHT: The main entrance features a grand porte cochere with Douglas fir timber framing.

For the landscape, Pellettieri Associates saved as many specimen trees as possible and then introduced a variety of native plantings

When this three-and-a-half-acre site on a New Hampshire lake became available just down the road from their summer home, the homeowners couldn’t pass up the opportunity to build their dream house. The couple tapped a team of seasoned design pros to create a comfortable yet stylish oasis where they could spend time with their children and extended family.

Landscape architect David Hawk thoughtfully designed the grounds as a sequence of spaces that encourages wandering and discovering various casual and formal groves, gardens, and lawns, such as this one by the pool.

Shingles, slats, and a sloped roof combine to create an intriguing design that mixes California coastal cool with Cape Cod coziness.

In order to make the most of a tight building envelope, architect Matthew MacEachern rotated the entire house five degrees, enabling him to build two extensions on each side of the original residence. The project also included adding a new pool and terrace between the main house and the pool house.

An entrance off the side lane leads to a courtyard created by the carriage house (left) and the main house ahead and to the right.

The main house’s fieldstone chimney is actually a thick stone veneer, while the house is clad in white cedar shakes and clapboard and topped by a red cedar roof.

The home’s waterside showcases Corten steel, Rheinzink, and, of course, an abundance of glass. Landscape designers Horiuchi Solien removed the site’s overgrown invasive species to make way for native plants, and a stone wall on the street-side parking court was designed to allow passage to wildlife. “We left feeling like we made the site and property better than it was before,” says architect Douglas Dick.

The site’s largest glacial boulder, which can be seen behind the stand of trees, acts as both a sculptural piece and a privacy screen for the lake house’s living area. Elevated boardwalks connect the main house and guest house, while lacy ferns soften the hard surfaces.

In keeping with the summer-camp vibe, a swing hangs from the perforated-metal walkway that connects the two roof-decks. That’s an office space and mudroom illuminated inside the house.

A mowed path through the pasture leads to the pondside firepit.

The concrete cladding architect Elizabeth Herrmann used for the addition is a modern take on the barn’s traditional clapboard siding. The elements of the custom weathervane represent sports that the owners’ children played: ice hockey, field hockey, rugby, and lacrosse.

Large sliders on the end of the addition spill out to the play lawn. Most of the landscape was in place long before the addition was built.

A pared-down connector that runs from the front of the house to the back links the existing barn structure at the left with the addition at the right.

Architect Patrick Ahearn reworked aspects of the exterior, replacing the windows in the stairwell turret and introducing new stay and railing details to the front entry to enhance the gracious Shingle-style home.

Pilasters replaced more decorative quoins at the home’s corners. Architect Jan Gleysteen also changed the house color to a subdued gray with white trim.

The 1850s Victorian house features roofline and dormer brackets, a front piazza, and the original central double door.

With such a pretty setting, it’s no wonder the homeowners are in no rush to leave the house where they raised their family. The stone section with its copper-roofed bay window was built in 1898. The white two-story structure, where most of the living spaces are located, is a gracious center-hall colonial that was added in the 1920s.

Landscape designer Alice Cooke imagined the parking area and lush plantings in front of the remodeled colonial.

The classic look of a center-hall colonial inspired the father-and-son architect team of Jim and James Schettino.

Copious use of reclaimed granite fieldstone for steps, walls, and the greenhouse’s foundation and attached shed helps the new structures blend beautifully with the old.

The blue door was originally the home’s front entrance; thanks to a new arrival and parking pattern, it’s now the back door.

At the front of the house, sixty-eight linear feet of glass opens interior common rooms—kitchen, dining room, and living room—to the lawn, which landscape architect Soren deNiord punctuated with lava-stone spheres. DeNiord had to regrade the land to compensate for a three- to four-foot elevation change along the glass facade.

Plenty of glass optimizes passive solar in winter, while generous overhangs protect the home from overheating in summer.

“It’s very English countryside, in a way,” says architect John Meyer of this Weston, Massachusetts, home’s dignified exterior. “They have to drive through their porte cochere to get into a service court to get into the garage, so even when they’re going out to get groceries, everybody has to have that experience of coming by the formal part of the house.”

Since this newly built 5,000-square-foot shingled home sits on the foundation of the previous house, Haynes inherited the existing half-step strategy. “The goal was to reference the traditional Vermont vernacular while integrating more contemporary details, such as steel windows,” notes the architect.

On the exterior, under the standing-seam metal roof, Allee alternated areas of western red cedar shakes with ten-inch shiplap board. He also increased the size and number of windows to take advantage of rolling farmland surrounding the house.

Pretty parterre gardens add a formal touch.

Architect Jeffrey Mose has shepherded the home from its initial design and construction to this third iteration for current homeowners Kimberly and Chris. The Juliet balcony on the third floor offers Kimberly a breath of fresh air from her new two-story closet and dressing room.

Adding a three-story addition to this New Hampshire home gave its owners the organizational and recreational spaces they needed to accommodate their expanding, multigenerational family. The home receives a lot of traffic throughout the year, so designers included storage spaces for outdoor equipment along with rooms dedicated to indoor activities.

As part of this year-round vacation home’s addition, a covered porch offers two entry points. The door on the left leads directly into the main part of the home, while the door on the right opens to a newly constructed mudroom.

A wraparound porch—and a cute pooch—reinforces the house’s storybook charm.

The team at Robert Dean Architects pared down any ornate detailing and added new windows and a wood roof; the front door got a welcoming coat of Fine Paints of Europe’s North Sea Blue.

The former carriage house-turned family home sits on a beautiful swath of land in Greenwich. “Architecturally,” says Robert Dean, “it comes across as very English in terms of both massing and the treatment of the exterior.”

Local brickmakers are experts at sourcing replicas of original bricks, says builder Jack Sullivan, but matching mortar is even more important to disguising new features and additions on an older home.

Maintaining an appropriate scale when adding on preserves the remodeled house’s vintage appearance, says architect Patrick Ahearn: “It’s the collection of smaller moves that all of a sudden changes the way a house lives.”

The charming stone turret off the living room holds a reading nook; builder Carl Wise crafted the stair railing from weathered barn board so it would fade into the landscaping.

Looking up at the house from the shore, the private left wing contains the primary suites, while the right side comprises the kitchen, living/dining areas, office, and guest room.

“One of the nice things about the site are the diagonal views captured at various vantage points around the property,” says Elliott Architects’s JT Loomis about the Maine retreat

The flat-roof connector widens the living and dining rooms; the cantilevered deck with a covered porch and glass rail is a scenic spot for morning coffee.

A deck off the office boasts beautiful views; the boardwalk leads out to a firepit, and the flat-roof connector, which does double duty as a gallery, links to the living room and kitchen.

The old backyard was nothing more than a sloping expanse of lawn. Mark Hicks regraded the property to create a series of terraces that step down to the swimming pool. Hick’s colleague Agnes Kacperczyk selected all the JANUS et Cie outdoor furniture.

The geometric design of the firepit area echoes the geometry of the house. Hicks used the grass and flowering plants to soften the straight lines.

A facelift returned the front facade to a more authentic, symmetrical colonial style. Architect Hannah Robertson added the dormers to the new cedar-shingled roof and traded a fussy portico for a simplified version. Landscape architect Mark Hicks reworked the driveway and front yard to give the home a gracious approach befitting its new look.

“One of the nice things about the site are the diagonal views captured at various vantage points around the property,” says Elliott Architects’s JT Loomis about the Maine retreat

Looking up at the house from the shore, the private left wing contains the primary suites, while the right side comprises the kitchen, living/dining areas, office, and guest room.

A deck off the office boasts beautiful views; the boardwalk leads out to a firepit, and the flat-roof connector, which does double duty as a gallery, links to the living room and kitchen.

The flat-roof connector widens the living and dining rooms; the cantilevered deck with a covered porch and glass rail is a scenic spot for morning coffee.

Designed by Marcus Gleysteen Architects, this contemporary Lake Sunapee, New Hampshire, retreat throws off traditional notions of what a lake house should look like.

Passing boaters see no sign of the rooftop solar panels that supply the house with electricity. The lake-facing pergola, meanwhile, lets homeowners engage with passersby—or not. “You can hang out and wave to the boats, or turn your back, keep your shades on, and focus on your book,” says Gleysteen.

The renovation of the 100-plus-year-old English manor-style home included new landscaping by Symbio Design.

A spa is tucked into a stone terrace beside the straight run of stairs on the back of the house. The curved stairs lead down from the deck that is shaped like the bow of a boat. “We take all our photos up there with the lake in the background,” Gottlieb says.

Oversized windows showcase the sculptural floating stair that is illuminated from within.

On the rocky shores of Newport, Rhode Island, hydrangeas hug a vacation house that was renovated by Paul Weber Architecture. One of the homeowners grew up spending summers in the house next door.

Architect Chip Webster extended the porch, which now wraps around to the front facade, designed a new second-floor balcony off the primary bedroom, and added a three-season porch off the living area.

The granite chimney on the harbor side of Maggie White and Jan Smith’s Martha’s Vineyard home graciously arranges itself out of the occupant’s line of sight while providing a structural focus to the back of the house.

The front exterior plays off historic Shingle-style details of old Newport cottages.

Architecture firm Workshop/APD conceived a series of simple forms for the main residence and a detached garage with an upper-level guest suite, both of which are clad in cedar. Situated between the newly built structures are two mature poplar trees that the homeowners wanted to preserve on the beachside property.

“It’s a house of parts that seem to have a casual relationship” is how architect Jacob Albert describes the rambling coastal home. The house minimizes its carbon footprint with solar power and a geothermal heating and cooling system.

Overhangs nearly three feet deep, seen here outside the main bedroom, help reduce cooling demand by shading windows from the high summer sun.

A cupola that can be opened to release humidity is the only clue to the presence of the pool on the left side of the traditional Dutch Colonial-style home.

The new house, built on the footprint of the old, nods to traditional Cape Cod style but with a clean, transitional feel.

This guest house has versatile indoor and outdoor spaces, including a covered patio for lounging close to the in-ground pool in front. Parapets keep the rooftop solar panels unobtrusive, maintaining the building’s clean, Scandinavian-inspired lines.

The home was built in 1790, but the wings were added in the 1920s.

Architect Michael Smith brought symmetry and consistency to the front of the house with simple two-over-two windows flanked with shutters. Removing the porch railing exposed the attractive stonework skirting; Brunetti replaced the overgrown shrubbery with dwarf boxwoods and low-growing perennials.

Minimal custom bronze railings, which complement the home and gardens, lead the transition from house to pool and through the landscape’s many layers.

The ipe boardwalk floats just inches above the soil to create long linear paths throughout the property; plants, such as rosa rugosa and lowbush blueberry, add subtle color throughout the seasons.

A view from the magnificent courtyard looks into the same living area with sliding glass walls on either end. “The connection to the garden is very immediate,” says Jana Bryan, senior landscape architect at JMMDS and project lead.

At the entry, granite pavers, which can be driven on, were laid to complement the house’s geometric cladding, which is stained cedar, lead-coated copper, and stone veneer. Ferns, mosses, juniper, and a Japanese maple add a lush, visual softness to the space. Coe Studios created the lanterns that rest on custom bases.

For a property on the southern coast of Maine at the convergence of a tidal river and the ocean, Julie Moir Messervy Design Studio used native and other hearty plantings that could withstand salty air and high winds. Selections near a screened porch work to create privacy while highlighting harbor views. Local boulders set throughout the landscape enhance the natural setting.

The home’s transformation will be featured in Collected by Sarah Richardson: Colour + Neutral (Simon & Schuster), due out in April.

It was the homeowners’ idea to add the tall, arched window that frames the stairway.

Architect Robert Butscher of Wadia Associates incorporated a wealth of detail to every elevation of the Shingle-style home, even the back and sides. Painting the house white gave the classic design a contemporary feel.

The front entrance is warm and welcoming, but understated; Butscher used Alaskan yellow cedar shingles to top the multiple rooflines.

The timber-frame house is nestled snugly into the sloping lot; the basement level is clad with stone veneer.

“There’s nothing more timeless than a white house,” says Carroll about the shingled main house.

A metal roof tops the breezeway that leads from the dining room to the screened three-season living room. Todd Richardson’s landscape design incorporates native plantings that help the house sit unobtrusively on its riverfront site.

For the gravel parking court, Sanni installed a smart fieldstone inlay echoing the stone borders for the foundation beds.

Landscape designer Rosalia Sanni chose herbs such as yarrow, salvia, and catmint to front the original house while a smart yew hedge accents the new construction.

The front door is purposely understated, says architect Vincent Falotico.

Tiered porches make the most of water views; the second-floor porch belongs to a casual family room.

Maher sought to expand his small Vermont weekend/ski-vacation home while keeping true to the classic Vermont vernacular.

The street view of a house designed and built by Polhemus Savery DaSilva Architects Builders features a welcoming front porch and large-scale windows and columns that give it a cottage-like feel. The one-and-a-half-story facade belies the house’s three stories, which include a walk-out lower level on the waterfront.

A few years back, the owners installed a deck with a spiral staircase that leads down to the lawn. “I love the yin and yang of mixing the old with the new,” the owner notes of the juxtaposed architectural styles.

Left to right are architect Lisa Botticelli, designer Amy Thebault, and local garden designer Julie Jordin of The Garden Design Company, who helps the owners cultivate their pretty and appropriate garden.

: A classic moon gate enhances the entry from the street. Billowy hydrangeas of all kinds are a Nantucket staple.

renovation that gives the cottage a chicness all its own. The exterior was clad in reclaimed cypress, and the deck was rebuilt out of strong, weather-resistant Ipe.

The home’s L-shaped footprint was the only thing that stayed the same; the exterior was transformed with reclaimed cypress siding, a new roof, and new windows and doors.

For the ocean-facing side of the home, Dan Gordon Landscape Architects engineered wheel blocks into the walkway for quick and easy parking of bicycles. The “Tory chimney” is a nod to the Colonial era when Crown sympathizers communicated their political leanings to passersby.

The main house is divided into distinct, layered volumes; the top floor holds a guest suite and a kitchenette.

The screen house addition at the back of the house was built in a semicircle in order to minimize disruption of the lake views from the rest of the house.

The main house is centered on a long drive and sits at the apex of curved stone walls, enhancing the sense of arrival.

With the ocean on one side and the blue bay on the other, the location of this Maine vacation home couldn’t be more heavenly. Multiple decks celebrate the spectacular location and offer bonus living space. “I was worried about building,” says the wife. “But our builder was wonderful. Everything went smoothly.” The well-worn path is a direct route to the sea.

The landscape plan starts at the curb, continues into a circular arrival court, up to a carpet-like front entrance, and into the yard.

Sloping gables, dormers, and a curving roofline help to break down the mass of the house.

The home’s exterior, with its twin gables and cedar-shingle siding, reflects the island’s vernacular.

While the interior underwent a complete transformation, Silver kept the front facade of the home true to its 1800 origins.

The ocean-facing side of the house; to the far left is the guest suite inspired by the previous owner’s sculpture studio.

Renovated by architect Robert Orr, the smooth (as opposed to clapboard) facade was restored to what was originally there; he also designed the Greek Revival-style porch.

Even the small details, such as the latches and hinges on doors like this one at a back entry, are salvaged from old buildings, whenever possible.

The eighteenth-century barn that started it all is joined by the “new” (1825) barn that holds the kitchen and family room and a master bedroom wing built with salvaged materials.

A new entryway of glass and steel, fabricated by Jared Baldyga of Greenwich Construction and Development, gives the old barn-turned-home a contemporary touch.

The primary residence (left) connects via a breezeway to a second barn, which the homeowners dubbed the “party barn” and use for entertaining.

The main entry’s updated, large-scale glass panels and angled handrail draw the eye through the interior to the water beyond.

A plaque on the house identifies it as the the Christopher H. Drowne House, built 1862–1863.

The home’s iconic colonial facade stayed the same, while virtually everything was refreshed on the inside.

Columns, cupolas, and gabled dormers give the front of the home a sense of formality belied by the casual elegance of the interior.

The porte cochère showcases the curves that are possible with shingles and typical of the classic Shingle-style.

A large brick chimney was on the clients’ must-have list. The paneled design leaves it up to viewers to decide what they see: the openings or the grid.

Twin gambrels flank an entry porch bracketed by beefy columns. The porte cochère connects the house to the garage. Architect John DaSilva put the garage doors at the back, so the building looks more like a charming guest house.

Exterior details like the eyebrow windows have a classic look while providing volume inside the house.

Japanese tree lilacs mark the path to the gabled front entry.

Classic beach house elements like clapboard get a contemporary update with such features as the tan-trimmed windows and steel cable railings.