Summer Mooring

Summer Mooring’s owners bought their property over a decade ago, loving the land but not the banal house that sat on it. Its location in an environmentally-sensitive area—on a peninsula surrounded by a salt pond—presented challenges when deciding to rebuild. Regulatory requirements dictated that the new house use the footprint and height of the original. Being in a flood plain, a finished basement was not allowed. New flood vents now permit water to enter and flow through without causing structural damage.

The clients requested a welcoming, nautically inspired home for social and family gathering. PSD designed and built the house with twin gables and a centered front door. A fan light screen wall—traditional in concept but flattened and oversized—symbolizes welcome and announces entry at a grand scale. The home’s exterior is clad in white cedar wall shingles and red cedar roof shingles. Emphatically linear trim and decorative shutters with anchor cutouts are painted crisp white, contrasting, in typical Cape Cod fashion, the grey shingles. Windows on the front are divided into six lights, while those on the rear open to the view with larger panes. A large terrace and outdoor kitchen provide for outdoor living between the interior and the lawn that sweeps down to the water’s edge.

Entering the home is like walking onto a classic yacht with its playfully nautical interiors. An entry/stair hall soars up to a ceiling that is curved and ribbed like the hull of a boat. “Greek” details are contemporary in their abstraction, but classical enough to suggest 19th Century revivalism. Just beyond, over the central dining area, the ceiling is vaulted like a yacht’s cabin to make the most of restricted ceiling heights. To one side of the dining space is kitchen, and to the other is living space which features a whale’s tail mantel carved from black granite. Other whimsical details include a back-lit star patterned panel above a curvaceous window seat, and a built-in wooden canopy over the primary bed. Mahogany beams stand out against white woodwork, curves and swooping arches define spaces, and meticulously-crafted cabinetry can be found throughout. The client chose “Summer Mooring” as a name, saying the home represents relaxed summer days, and that it is seamlessly “moored” in their special coastal location.

The bunk room received a BRICC Award from the Home Builders & Remodelers Association of Cape Cod. This room is accessible from the living space as well as via a hidden door off the stairs. Inside, one can climb a pair of ship’s ladders to travel between two levels. Special details like waves and a tugboat carved into the walls, and real ship’s portholes, delight, entertain, and reinforce the fantastical nature of the place.