Cotchpinicut Cape

A solidly built but uninspired existing Cape built in the 1980s was transformed through the addition of a wraparound front porch with robust but traditional columns, expanded second floor dormers, a new deck and screened-in porch facing the backyard, an expanded and open kitchen/breakfast/family room, a new mud room/laundry room/powder room suite, and a new bedroom suite in what had previously been attic space. What was banal is now special. The underlying Cape form still remains but is now expanded to have character, scale and presence befitting its rural seaside neighborhood of mostly large and elegant homes. What had been functionally obsolete is now well-suited to comfortable daily living.

New windows, doors, roofing and siding help transform the exterior, and new mechanical systems, plumbing fixtures, lighting fixtures, paneling, fireplace surrounds, tile, cabinetry, appliances etc. help transform the interior. Newly located windows, and in some cases larger windows than had been existing, improve natural light and open the rooms to views of the large property of gently rolling terrain. The bright spaces and new cherry lined study are appropriate settings for the owner’s elegant furniture, antiques and art work. A simple but elegant new wainscot rings the entry/stair hall, follows the stair up to the second floor, and goes around the second-floor hallway. A new large arch-topped window above the stair admits abundant light into both the vertical space of the stair and the circulation balcony around it and, together with a new sloped ceiling and the wainscot, defines the stair hall as an important central space at the core of the house.