Shingle-style Near the Thimble Islands

Landscape designer Edwina von Gal planted trees, grasses, and native bushes around a coastal home perched on a natural ledge overlooking the Thimble Islands, reharmonizing a once denuded site with its surrounding environment.

Guests feel as though they are passing through a forest to get to the front entry of the house, thanks to von Gal’s thoughtful placement of ground cover, beds, bushes, and trees.

A lowered ceiling and reduced fireplace transform the living room from baronial to convivial.

The design team reduced a too-tall kitchen-and-living-room ceiling to a more proportional height, which made room for this second-floor office with sweeping views of Long Island Sound.

The kitchen’s limed-oak cabinetry and honed-Basaltina countertops reflect interior designer Lorraine Letendre’s mastery of materials.

Architect David Scott Parker opened up the dining room and kitchen, in part by exposing the sweep of the home’s spiral staircase; the varied hues of the chairs match those in a wall-sized painting by Larry Poons.

Like the wheelhouse of a classic sailing vessel, this masculine and nautically themed office commands a view of the property’s boathouse and dock—and the sea beyond.

A belvedere porch extends from the primary bedroom, delivering water views in three directions.

The timbered ceiling in the primary bedroom creates some minor stylistic contrast to the rest of the house, but the pediment’s limed-oak paneling is on theme; sedate tones keep the focus on the view.

The team used matching river rock to build landscape walls, veneer the chimney, and construct a stairway to the boathouse, one of the property’s original structures. Parker shingled it to match the updated main house.

The new swimming pool reflects the serenity of the home’s redesign while referencing its spectacular coastal setting. Installing the pool required extensive blasting of the granite ledge.

Set on a windswept point with a commanding view of Long Island Sound, this island home seems to naturally spring up from its rugged coastal perch. The fact that virtually nothing greeting the eye is original to the site is a testimony to an inspired collaboration between architect, landscape designer, and interior designer on a project of reinvention and restoration that touches on everything from turret to bedrock.

Spectacular location aside, architect David Scott Parker was decidedly underwhelmed with the existing structure the owners tasked him to reimagine. Set on an imposing granite ledge, the house was long, boxy, too horizontal, and architecturally “confused,” says Parker. Disparate elements included bulky formal columns, a vaguely French-looking tower, hipped rooflines, and eyebrow windows.

Rather than being daunted, Parker leaned into the chaos, redesigning the exterior in a location-appropriate Shingle style. “Shingle-style houses are always asymmetrical and playful,” explains Parker, who built upon some of the unique elements of the home—the conical tower containing the main interior staircase, for example—while working to unify the exterior appearance.

“We toned down a lot of the classicism and contrast,” says Parker. That included rounding off and singling the staid columns supporting a screened porch facing the sound. A pergola installed along the rear length of the home helps break up the linearity of the existing building, and a new second-story belvedere extending from the primary bedroom adds angularity as well as a perfect spot for the homeowners to take their morning coffee.

The original developer “had completely denuded the site,” save for a couple of trees at the very tip of the island, says Parker, presenting both a challenge and opportunity for landscape designer Edwina von Gal. As is her reputation, the award-winning designer took her cues from the natural environment.

“We had to listen to the ledge,” says von Gal, who advised the client: “This is built on a rock outcropping, so let’s let it be that way.” Rather than trying to create lawns on an island swept by harsh salt breezes and little water for irrigation, von Gal chose hardy and native plants and ornamentals. New river-stone walls were built to retain soil; plantings at the front of the house include bearberry for ground cover and low–maintenance Gro-Low Sumac. Trees like American beech, tupelo, Eastern red cedar, and oaks were installed across the property.

“I looked at the Thimble Islands and said, ‘What grows here?’ ” says von Gal. “We built a bit of a garden in front so you’re not looking out on cars and pavement but nothing too colorful because we didn’t want to overwhelm the house or the view.”

Interior designer Lorraine Letendre, who passed away earlier this year, “was all about creating a sense of calm,” says Parker. “It’s a large home, but we wanted to create a comfortable space.” Materials like hand-slaked plaster walls and limed-oak floors softened the interior of the home, while walls were removed to create a more open floor plan, notably where the spiral staircase flows into the formal dining room.

Central to the home is the client’s office. Located on the ground floor, it features shelves adorned with sailing trophies and a curved bank of windows overlooking the von Gal-designed stone stairway leading to the boathouse and dock.

“Metaphorically, he’s the captain of the ship,” says Parker.

Project  Team 
Architecture: David Scott Parker Architects
Builder: BJG Construction
Landscape design: Edwina von Gal + Co.
Interior design: Lorraine Letendre Design