This house’s clients (an interior designer and the former CEO and current chairman of Knoll, the classic modern furniture manufacturer) have eclectic tastes. They requested that Polhemus Savery DaSilva Architects Builders create a place that was historically rooted, as if it "had always been there," but that would also comfortably accommodate contemporary art and furnishings. They expressed their love of English country cottages as a starting point for the design, but requested a version compatible with a Cape Cod seaside setting and with their large property.

Our layout of this gracious house is half of a "butterfly plan" (a familiar device in the design of English country houses). Two wings project out at 45-degree angles from a rectangular body parallel to the waterfront. This plan type maximizes views from a site that has harbor views wrapping partly around it. The wings capture direct sunlight at ideal times of day for different spaces (eastern light for the kitchen, western light for the living room and nearby cocktail-party terrace).

The front of the house acts as a formal wall to an expansive but informal garden, through which winds a long drive. The back of the house and its wings address the expanse of the harbor and open ocean beyond, reaching out in a dynamic gesture scaled to this vast open seascape. The shingled exterior with its crisp white trim retains a sense of the Cape Cod vernacular while alluding to the great Shingle Style houses of a century or more ago.

The interior and landscape spaces and their sequence are designed with large-scale entertaining in mind. One is welcomed by an elongated entry/stair hall, lit from above by a skylight, two classic Louis Poulsen "artichoke" light fixtures, and wall-washer recessed lights. This large, bright space is intended as a display space for art work, a grand reception hall, and a circulation organizer.

At the end of the entry hall, the house opens its arms to the ocean view, with living and formal dining spaces to one side and kitchen and informal dining spaces on the other. These expansive rooms are contrasted with a cozy library at the front of the house. The second floor offers a similar arrangement of bedrooms, studies, and lounges embracing water views. On the exterior, pools and terraces framed in natural stonework offer tranquil oases for conversation and relaxation, with the great expanse of the ocean beyond.