Tree-House Effect
August 19, 2014
Cape-like, but oh, so modern, this unusual home responds to the hilly woods in Truro with unexpected horizontal notes.
Text by Maria LaPiana   Photography by Brian Vanden Brink
You canât help but do a double takeâthe Outer Cape house is a study in contrasts. It looks traditional, even vernacular,
in its use of weathered shingles, but it feels decidedly modern. Although inspired by the hilly woodlands that surround it, the rather succinct house is clearly of the ocean as well.
Ask architect John DaSilva to sum it up and heâll tell you that this Truro hills home has a ârustic contemporary design that is ordinary enough to be familiar, but unique enough to be special in this location.â
A lot of thought went into the project, says DaSilva, a principal in the integrated architecture and construction firm of Polhemus Savery DaSilva Architects Builders, in Chatham, Massachusetts. While he was the self-described âcreative thinker,â he credits his firm with the overall design.
His clients already owned the house next door, but decided they wanted another for visiting family and friends. âBoth the existing house and this house, completed two summers ago, are sort of eclectic,â says DaSilva. âTheyâre contemporary homes, but not strictly modernist.â
Relatively small in scale at just under 2,500 square feet, the house was designed with an âupside-downâ plan that places the common living spaces on the second floor and the bedrooms below. Itâs just one of many ways the site informed the design. Situated well inland, the property is on one of the highest points of the Cape. âIt looks into a valley, and there are views of both the bay and ocean. Theyâre distant views,â says DaSilva, but the clients wanted to maximize them. âWhen youâre up on this high ground, above the trees, you really feel like youâre on top of the world,â he adds. âThe connection to the land, sea, and sky is nearly magical.â
An unfussy landscape plan underlines the link between the natural and built environments, thanks to landscape architect Michael Bushey of Adorn Enterprises of Easton, Massachusetts.
In addition to being âupended,â the house was built from the inside out, if you will, with a sort of telescoping effect. The open-plan heart of the house comprises the kitchen, dining area, TV room, and a statement staircase (more on that later). Slightly narrower extensions, holding the living room and a screened-in porch, jut out at both ends.
Because the second-floor footprint is larger than that of the first and cantilevers over it, the architect devised a bracketed design that satisfies on many levels. Whimsical âwavesâ that are actually part of the structure appear to support it. âThe bracket and cutout scenario is a form that I like very much,â says DaSilva. âThereâs an ambiguity about it. Theyâre both brackets and segments of the wall of the house.â
Along with the roofâs pitch and overhangs, the brackets direct attention side-to-side, giving the house a horizontal feel even as it parallels a tall ridge. âThe brackets are a naturalistic form,â says DaSilva. âYou could give them multiple meanings: waves, tree branches, leaves…so as a symbolic image, they work to make this both a seaside and a hilltop home.â
Uninterrupted rows of picture windows celebrate the all-important views, so much so that DaSilva says he had to throttle back a bit to give the clients some wall space inside. âWith no walls, there are no places to hang pictures or stack draperies,â he says. âYou also lose structure, so you have to add more support, which is more expensive.â
On the inside, architectural details were kept to a minimumâfor the most part. The exception is the wide, open staircase with multiple, gradual landings.
âStairs, by their nature, have a lot of detail because they have a lot of small parts,â says DaSilva. âWhen you have an upside-down house, the stairs are even more important than usual. They become the principal circulation route.â
This staircase was designed to be savored. Itâs modern, with oak handrails and stainless-steel horizontal bars. But the painted newel postsâtall, dynamic, and curvaceousâsteal the show. âTheyâre funky, but not outrageous,â says DaSilva. âWe wanted something unique. Having a whimsical component is very important to me as a designer. Iâm very serious about doing work that doesnât take itself too seriously.â â˘
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