Patience
Captain’s Row is on a village street lined with the homes of prominent 19th Century seafarers. Patience, built early in the street’s development, is one of the simpler homes in the village. It was named after Patia (Patience) Howes, the wife in the couple who built it in 1837. At the time, New England vernacular houses were commonly Greek or Gothic Revival, or Cape Cod Cottages. This home is a relatively modest, but still stately and refined Greek Revival.
The site is upon a small ridge that runs along the side of the street. In the colonial era, and before, there were few trees in the area and a view of a large salt pond was visible from the site. A classical precinct—a modern day Acropolis—is a fitting architectural image for such a nearly-sacred site. With its Greek temple-inspired historical form, its more modest but similarly proportioned guest house, and substantial stone walls, steps, and columnar trees in the landscape, a mini-Acropolis has been created.
| Project Category | Renovation |
|---|---|
| Scope of Work | Architecture, Construction |
| Finished Space Above Grade | 3,399 |
| Guest House Finished Space Above Grade | 2,006 |
| Photography | Brian Vanden Brink, Robert Benson Photography |
PSD’s work involved restoring the exterior of the historic house, removing unsympathetic additions, adding a large new addition and swimming pool, and replacing an adjacent house (deemed non-contributing to the historic district) with a new guest house and gardening shed.
The addition and guest house were designed to be compatible with the historic house but not to be replicative. Like the best vernacular architecture, they fit comfortably into their context but are also of their own time. The main house was completed first, and the guest house years later when the client purchased the property next door and saw an opportunity to create a family compound by connecting the two properties.
When our firm began the renovation of the main home, it was very important to the homeowners that they preserve the historical character inside and outside, while creating a more open and modern floor plan in the addition.
The existing house and new addition had to be clearly separate in exterior aesthetic, while also complementing each other. The existing home was lifted and placed back on an entirely new brick clad foundation which allowed for the new addition to perfectly align. The existing windows and doors were stripped, repaired and re-used; trim moldings were also re-used and replicated where missing. The existing wood floors were salvaged, re-installed and re-finished in the original home. The “old feel” of the original home was instrumental in the finishes and details.
The new living and dining spaces of the main house are in one space that occupies the entire back of the house and has continuous windows around three sides. A simple ceiling shape helps make the space special.
From the dining/family space, one looks across the kitchen to the den in the historic house. The antique firebox was rebuilt, and the mantel and surround were restored. The small window above the breakfast table looks into one of the hyphens between addition and historic wing. An added benefit is extra light from an additional exposure for the kitchen. On the second-floor, the primary bedroom suite has wraparound windows. Despite the in-town location, wooded land behind the property enhances privacy. The bed sits on a freestanding bed wall that is treated as a built-in headboard on one side and a dressing console on the other. The walk-in closet is immediately adjacent and creates a dressing suite in a compact space.
While primary site circulation is between the side doors from addition to guest house, even the guest house has a traditional front door location to greet visitors from the street, as has the main house for close to two centuries.
At the rear of the guest house, continuous bands of windows and French doors connect interior and exterior.
The guest house living space is like the main house but more compact. The kitchen, dining, and living spaces occupy the back, yard facing, side.
The daily entry in the main house addition is visible in the distance from the guest house living space. As in the main house, this space has wrap-around windows facing the yard, and a shaped ceiling. Panel sizes and bands defined by reveals diminish slightly in width as they ascend, making the modest change in height seem greater.
The built-in beds in the guest house bunkroom suite are a temple within the temple that rises up into the space under the roof.
The guest house includes three bedroom suites in addition to the main living spaces.
The property is deeper behind the main house, and just wide enough for outdoor living, fire pit, and swimming pool. A large back yard playing field serves both houses and is separated from the parking and street beyond by small trees, bushes, and a fence.
As Seen In...
Patience Made Perfect, by Carol K. Dumas, Spring/Summer 2023.