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Champlains Bluff PSD 0 Mobile

Champlain’s Bluff

This house’s clients requested 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.

Champlains Bluff PSD View
Harborfront
Scope of Work Architecture, Construction
Finished Space Above Grade 6,900
Photography Brian Vanden Brink
Champlains Bluff PSD 1 Exterior

Our layout of this gracious house is half of a “butterfly plan,” where 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 garden, through which winds a long drive.

Champlains Bluff PSD 3 L Exterior
Champlains Bluff PSD 3 R Exterior
Champlains Bluff PSD 4 L Exterior
Champlains Bluff PSD 4 R Exterior

The back of the house and its wings reach out in a dynamic gesture scaled to the vast open seascape. The interior and landscape spaces and their sequence are designed with large-scale entertaining in mind.

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.

Champlains Bluff PSD 2 Exterior

One is welcomed by an elongated entry/stair hall. 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 an arrangement of bedrooms, studies, and lounges embracing water views.

Champlains Bluff PSD 5 R Entry
Champlains Bluff PSD 6 Hall
Champlains Bluff PSD 7 Kitchen
Champlains Bluff PSD 8 Kitchen
Champlains Bluff PSD 9 Living Room
Champlains Bluff PSD 10 L Dining
Champlains Bluff PSD 10 R Study
Champlains Bluff PSD 11 L Bedroom
Champlains Bluff PSD Bedroom
Champlains Bluff PSD 11 R Exterior

As Seen In...


PSD Design New England July Aug 2016 Champlains Bluff Guest House Car Barn Feature
Design New England

No Mini-Me, by Larry Lindner, July/August 2016.

PSD Unique Homes Ultimate Issue 2015 One Mans Mansion is Anothers Bungalow
Unique Homes

One Man's Mansion is Another's Bungalow, by Camilla McLaughlin, Annual 2015.

PSD US Harbors Life on the Coast 2014 New England Edition House on Champlains Bluff Feature
US Harbors Life on the Coast

Perfection on the Outer Cape, by Janet Mendelsohn, New England Edition 2014.