Town Hill
A sloping in-town corner lot with an existing ranch house on it was the site for this year-round home for a young family. The existing house was replaced with a Cape Cod Cottage and attached wing. The gambrel roofed Cape with individual shuttered windows projects the image of a modest vernacular home high on a hill facing toward the primary street while the larger hipped roof wing faces the secondary street.
| Project Category | Neighborhood |
|---|---|
| Scope of Work | Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Construction |
| Finished Space Above Grade | 2,774 |
| Photography | Brian Vanden Brink |
The house is a friendly presence in a historic village.
The main Cape and rear wing are visually distinct because of roof shapes and small jogs in the perimeter walls, while at the interior they are seamlessly integrated into a compact footprint, necessary to fit the program onto the small village property. Three levels of living space accommodate the program efficiently. The upper level is within the roof shapes to minimize bulk and maintain the traditional Cape form, while the lowest level is within the slope except for the garage, which occurs in a vertical board base for the shingled walls above.
The back of the house has a very different character from the front and side—a small hip-roofed cottage centered on a small yard.
The primary bedroom is above. The entry hall is small but has a well-defined center due to the ceiling shape. The column on the small front porch folds around the corner. In mannerist fashion, it is both a column and a segment of a wall.
Windows throughout the house are generous in both number and size, especially in the main living spaces which have east, south, and west exposures maximizing light throughout the day.
A breakfast table sits within the bay window projecting east for morning light. Interior spaces are straightforward, but a stair tower pushes out one side to create one tall, dramatic space. Windows facing multiple directions flood the stair with light. The upper-level primary suite is located for maximum privacy.
Fanciful brackets appear to hold up a simple bay window over the garage.
It gives prominence to the side façade, but not so much to compete with the main entry façade that includes a small but symbolically-important entry porch connected to the street by stone steps and a gently curving walk. The wing’s windows are ganged together to better provide light and view from the major living spaces.
