Historic Nantucket Georgian Colonial Decorated with Layered Interiors

The custom mural by Moth is the focal point on the second-floor landing. “I wanted it to feel like a Nantucket scene with local flora,” says interior designer Kaitlin McQuaide.

The living room is an oasis of comfort with an upholstered sofa, chairs, and oversized ottoman; the moody blues of the nubby raffia wallcovering and wood trim ground the space.

Peacock Blue Raffia Palm wallpaper by Thibaut is a dramatic backdrop for the De Ster Gelderland circa-1950 wood-and-rattan chair in the living room.

Three centuries of design meet in the powder room with the placement of a French seventeenth-century shell-shaped sink, midcentury-style mirror, and contemporary Voutsa wallpaper on the ceiling and fabric on the shade.

The circa-1880 fireplace surround was stripped, refurbished, and fitted with stone embedded with shell fossils; the Martha Freud wall art references games like Tetris when illuminated by flashing internal lights.

A gallery of nautically inspired art sets the tone in the sitting area off the kitchen.

Opposite the dining area, the kitchen backsplash grabs all the attention with its mix of navy and white Zellige and hand-painted Delft tiles in a quilt-like pattern. McQuaide painted all the cabinets and added new hardware. To the left is one of two swinging doors that “add a bit of fun,” says the homeowner.

Next to a second swinging door, a window nook offers a built-in banquette as casual seating around a French antique vendange table with a tilt top.

Soothing gray trim and Flat Vernacular’s Meadow botanical wallpaper and shade fabric enhance a light, bright bedroom.

Shutters provide privacy in the primary bathroom.

Pierre Frey wallpaper inspired the yellow theme that makes this room with matching double beds “sunny and fun,” says McQuaide.

Historic Nantucket Home in Old Town

There’s a lot to love about Nantucket. The island thirty miles off the coast of Cape Cod offers sandy beaches and the warm waters of the Atlantic’s Gulf Stream. There are winding trails through carefully conserved bogs, marshes, and farms. The out-of-the-way villages of Siasconset and Madaket are picture-postcard icons. But for one homeowner, the beating heart of the place is the historic downtown district, renowned for its extraordinary preservation of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century buildings, cobblestone streets, whaling-era history, yacht-filled marina, and vibrant shopping and dining scenes.

“My family has been going to the island for more than twenty years,” she says from her year-round residence in New York. She and her husband had owned a house on “the outskirts,” but “I always dreamed of having an antique house in town.”

That dream came true with the recent purchase of a 4,750-square-foot 1750 Georgian colonial in what visitors call Old Town. But while the exterior was true to the home’s provenance, the interior decor left her wanting. “It was a white box, which is not my style,” she says. “A house should be of a place. I had a Nantucket aesthetic in mind.”

Layered Interior Design with Pattern and Color

She and Brooklyn-based interior designer Kaitlin McQuaide saw the house as a blank slate they could mold to their liking. “We wanted the house to
feel layered with pattern, color, and history,” says McQuaide. “The goal was to restore its old soul.”

To that end, they added millwork, modified the staircase, “repainted everything,” and installed bold wallpapers throughout. “Our styles aligned, and it made the project so much fun,” says McQuaide.

“We wanted cool and interesting with an eye toward use by a gang of kids [the family includes three young adult children]. And a dog.”

Everything about the interiors feels personal and curated. “We wanted it to feel like an old country house,” says McQuaide.

Nantucket Home Designed for Family Gatherings

The kitchen, one big room with multiple gathering spots, has the sensibility of a traditional English pub. In one corner, McQuaide built a banquette around a nineteenth-century French vendange (wine tasting) table with a tilting top. Next to it is one of two swinging doors added to separate the “back-of-the-house” pantry, powder room, laundry, and mudroom from the public spaces.

In the adjacent dining area, a circa-1880 English mantel is juxtaposed with the owner’s contemporary Oly pedestal table with a wood base fashioned as a tree trunk. On the wall hangs a dynamic piece of art by British artist Martha Freud in which a grid of lights play out like a Tetris game. With four bedrooms, each decorated with vivacious, colorful wallpaper, the house is a true family getaway. “We love being in town,” says the owner. “When the kids are here with friends or we have guests, we don’t have to worry about driving or parking.” “

A vacation house gives you freedom to express yourself,” says McQuaide. And, for this family, a chance to connect with a place they love.

Project Team
Interior design: McQuaide Co.
Builder: Daily Construction