East to Avalon
East to Avalon presents itself as a grand, broad-gabled, shingle style cottage. Its welcoming front porch, expansive roof overhangs, over-sized windows, large roof rake boards, and flat stout columns play with proportions, using scale (relative size) to suggest that the house has less mass than it actually does. At the same time, they create a robust and endearing character for a classic summer home.
| Project Category | Harborfront |
|---|---|
| Scope of Work | Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Construction |
| Finished Space Above Grade | 4,082 |
| Photography | Read McKendree, Dan Cutrona |
The playful scale manipulation, and the door location (off-center because of the depth necessary for the garage hidden behind the façade), de-formalize the otherwise symmetrical façade.
It indicates that the house doesn’t take itself too seriously. Here, functional plan accommodation and symbolic façade manipulation work hand-in-hand.
While the contemporary shingle style exterior grounds the house in coastal New England tradition, the casually elegant interiors, with their open, bright, contemporary living spaces, provide the homeowners with a sophisticated but relaxed retreat—the best of both worlds.
The main living area, screened-in porch, and first-floor primary suite all have direct access to the terrace and the view. An open staircase leads to three bedrooms on the second floor, including a second primary suite with a vaulted ceiling fabric clad by interior designer Lisa Tharp to evoke the thrill of sleeping in a tent by the beach. Windows here provide views in three directions. Elsewhere in the house, beds in nooks and built-in cabinetry provide cozy retreats within the retreat, while large scale wraparound windows provide long distant outlook on the nautical world.
On the salt pond waterfront side, what appears to be a one-and-a-half story house at the front grows to two full stories.
With ganged windows, raised terrace, infinity-edge pool, and lawn sloping gently to the edge of the coastal bank, here the house takes full advantage of the natural contours of the property and the beautiful views beyond. Despite a relatively tight site, the connection to the land and sea feels comfortable and appropriate.
