Summer School

Summer School is an extensive renovation of an expanded Cape, originally built in 1989. The existing house was well built and worth saving, but did not meet the spatial, functional and aesthetic needs of a new owner. PSD re-worked much of the floor plan and added additions for a sun room and a breakfast room. A large new primary suite includes a sitting area with a fireplace and a new bunk room provides nautically inspired built-in bunks for multiple grandchildren. The house is set-up for multi-generational extended family visits centered on playful togetherness, but it also allows for restful retreat.

Outdoor living around a new swimming pool and patio complex is connected to the family room, mudroom and a new guest house. Fanciful garden gates announce entry into the zone of fun centered on the pool. The guest house is large enough to accommodate visiting family members, but cozy enough to be enjoyed by just one. It is only steps away from the pool and main house, but provides a completely different vantage point of the newly landscaped and manicured property.

On the main house, a new classical entry porch including a broad arch is in scale with the expansive front facade and is an elegant announcement of welcome in a neighborhood of mostly large and in some cases formal homes. A new cupola above reinforces the entry as the centerpiece of the property as it faces the public view. The guest house is, in contrast, asymmetrical but balanced. Its corner entry faces the pool and main house rather than the street.