With retirement on the horizon, the owners resolved to settle full time at their long time summer residence. The current house, set in a depression, was not compliant with the flood plain regulations and did not meet their future needs. After razing the current house, we set about creating a collection of spaces, lifted above the flood zone and connecting them with a south facing deck of varied levels. A fieldstone walled garden disguises the level change at the north formal entry. The main building is two stories with the kitchen, dining and living room at the first floor and three bedrooms and baths at the second floor. An angled wall, clad with white oak slats cuts through the first floor and separates the great room from the stair, mudroom and utility room. This angle continues in the tapered white oak desk that flanks the living room along the north wall. Salvaged oak beams overhead visually divide the great room and the kitchen and frame the fireplace and bookshelf wall. Adjacent to the glass and fully clad white oak entry hall is a separate study and guest bedroom. From the exterior, this reads as an independent space with it’s opposing gable form. Upstairs, the main bedroom offers the best views of the Atlantic Ocean and a punched and cantilevered balcony provides for an exterior lookout.

The screen house was given more importance by detaching it from the main building and letting it read as an independent structure. This is accessed off the living room by the deck and under a connecting trellis. The slatted shutters are strategically spaced to provide privacy from neighbors, as needed. The deck continues with outdoor seating and grilling and continues to meander along the south face of the house as it descends to grade. The outdoor shower is set half way down and the final steps lead down to the garage level and the front yard.

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Gale Goff Architect

Martha Moore, Landscape Architect

Ed Lacross, Builder

Anthony Crisafulli, Photographer