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RESPECTFUL REMODEL


A 19th-century sea captain’s home in Harwich Port retains its antique charm despite a complete renovation.

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN BY D. NEIL PARENT
CONSTRUCTION BY WILKINSON DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION
TEXT BY SCOTT DALTON
COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEVE VIERRA

From the street, this 19th-century sea captain’s house looks much the same today as it did when built 150 years ago. The Harwich Port cottage is a little less than 2,000 square feet. Its shingled exterior and varied roofline hark back to a time when the world moved a great deal slower than it does today.

So when the current owners, an environmental lawyer and a modern dancer from New York City, purchased their coastal getaway two years ago, they knew immediately that they wanted to make concessions to a more modern lifestyle, but not at the expense of the traditional charm that had attracted them from the outset.

The homeowners say their biggest consideration in renovating was “to maintain the integrity of this antique house and its architecture, but to provide a very comfortable and gracious environment for ourselves and our guests.”

The couple contacted Harwich Port architectural designer D. Neil Parent and Harwich-based Wilkinson Design & Construction to help transform their concept into reality. From the outset, the team realized a unified vision that allowed them to weave new approaches within the fabric of the existing house, all while maximizing the small space to its fullest potential.

“The house just spoke for itself,” says Parent. “The clients were just fabulous and knew exactly what they wanted. They wanted to preserve it; they wanted it to be what it is, and yet they wanted to translate it into a comfortable living space. It all just fell together.”

The project consisted of three phases, each focusing on a different aspect of the house. The first phase involved transforming the home’s two bathrooms to accommodate the owners’ needs, as well as renovating an upstairs bedroom. The living room, dining room and kitchen came next, with a focus on adding modern touches that would mesh with the existing structure. Finally, the team turned its creative talents toward the exterior of the home, incorporating landscaping features such as a new brick patio, a cedar outdoor shower stall and natural stonewall to help ensure that the interior sense of comfort is reflected on the outside as well.

A tour of the home’s interior begins with the 16- by 16-foot kitchen. Parent notes that he had a vision for the space the moment he entered it and focused on creating a room that would be both attractive and functional. “The kitchen is designed in such a way that it is easy to work in, easy to entertain in,” Parent says. “The kitchen becomes the heart of the house. Everyone wants to be in it.”

The owners concurred that they wanted a warm, welcoming kitchen that would allow for views of their backyard and nearby Nantucket Sound. They say they are quite pleased with Parent’s design and with the work of Pav Wilkinson, who along with his wife, Lyn, owns and operates Wilkinson Design & Construction. Pav explains that the old kitchen lacked the light, spacious feel of the new space. “The main design goal was the seamless integration between the interior and exterior spaces,” he says.

To accomplish this, the outside walls now feature a series of large windows that make the kitchen feel like an extension of the backyard. The sink and marble counter space look out onto the yard, while the stainless steel appliances and bead-board cabinets are situated mainly along interior walls.

The kitchen remodel presented challenges. As Pav says, “There’s always discovery during the process.” When contractors looked at the foundation, they turned up a few surprises: Built into the original foundation of the kitchen was an old cesspool. In the opposite corner was an old sink-water collection tank, which allowed the original owners to collect rainwater and then pump it out to use for cooking.

Turning their attention skyward, contractors built out the existing cathedral ceiling to allow for additional insulation. A single skylight, left over from a previous renovation, provides ample natural lighting from above. That illumination is augmented by a series of new halogen gooseneck lights, focused on key work areas.

As they pushed forward, both architect and designer saw a unique opportunity to add a small pantry area off the kitchen. The additional storage space helped minimize the need for kitchen cabinets, opening up more wall space for windows.

The clients agreed, and soon a small but useful space took shape. The resulting pantry features floating shelves, adhered by epoxy into what was once the exterior of the home’s main fireplace. The homeowners, however, decided to use the shelf for curios rather than canned goods. The pantry, which can be closed off by a pocket door, also proved an ideal space for the couple to locate a small washer and dryer. For apartment-dwelling New Yorkers, this is a big deal, the homeowners say.

The kitchen opens onto the dining room, which had its own share of surprises. Renovators peeled away at the battleship gray paint and discovered evidence of the original wallpaper pattern. Working with color consultant and decorating contractor Sue Pike of Chatham, the homeowners agreed to treat the walls with a rosin paper that captures the same hue as the original wallpaper, which dated back to the home’s construction in 1857. The textured paper helps pull both dining and living spaces together to create a small “great room” within the confines of a traditional cottage.
In fact, the original structure consisted of a very different layout. Wilkinson and Parent say structural signs point to the original dining/kitchen area as three distinct areas, with the two rooms separated by a small foyer.

The Wilkinsons and Parent decided to use lighting to help give each side of the room its own character. In addition to hanging a small chandelier over the dining room table, contractors installed a series of recessed lights, providing accent lighting for the table, as well as wall washers to highlight the new wall treatment. The lighting extends into the living area and features zoned controls. The homeowners can now emphasize one side of the room or the other, or illuminate the entire area.

A small doorway at the front of the home leads into what appears to be a petite bathroom space. In fact, the space consists of two bathrooms. The contractors split a single bathroom after the clients expressed a desire to create two separate spaces.

“The bathrooms were a challenge because of the space we had to work in,” Parent says. Specifically, the clients wanted one bathroom to serve a guest bedroom in the back of the house. Parent’s plans called for the removal of a closet to accommodate the transformation.

The new bathroom, or “lavette,” as Wilkinson refers to it, allows the clients’ parents to visit without having to sacrifice their privacy. The space is intimate and includes a toilet and lavatory.

The other bathroom space, which is connected to the lavette through a door, features a toilet, lavatory and shower. Both spaces share a tumbled marble tile floor, which carries into the shower. A pinstripe of the same marble runs through the wall of the shower enclosure, tying everything together.

Wilkinson outfitted both bathrooms with modern plumbing hardware but with an eye toward the past. Similarly, there is ample illumination thanks to tasteful recessed lighting. Cabinets in both spaces feature custom bead board that ties in with the kitchen cabinets.

To accommodate the loss of the guest bedroom’s closet space, Parent created a new closet that fits snugly into the corner of the room. Wilkinson outfitted the new closet with a period door, which had been removed from another renovation project.

Mindful that older homes are traditionally limited in terms of storage space, the designers suggested the owners add a cedar closet immediately under the stairs to the second floor. This new closet is ideal for long-term storage of clothing and other items.

The steep Cape Cod stairwell leads to a second floor that defies easy definition. To the left is a pair of very distinct spaces. The ceilings are pitched here, reflecting the gabled roofline. The antechamber consists of an office space, complete with a built-in computer desk. The second chamber serves as a yoga space.

But it is the master bedroom and adjoining bathroom that are truly the focus of this floor. “The master bedroom was designed to keep the angles and the lines intact,” Wilkinson says, referring to the home’s wonderful gable lines.

The room could have proved daunting to an inexperienced designer, but in the hands of Parent and Wilkinson, the space glows. The room is long and narrow, running the length of the back of the house. Rather than fight that layout, the designers embraced it.

As a result, the bed now faces toward the back of the house, taking advantage of the Nantucket Sound vista. In fact, it was that very view that inspired Parent to add a small Juliet balcony off the room, allowing the couple to step outside and enjoy the sights first hand.

“We changed the bedroom to fit the view,” Wilkinson says, before leading the way into what he calls “the piece de resistance”: the master bath.

When the clients purchased the home, this space was actually a combination bathroom/ laundry area. Now, with the washer and dryer ensconced in the pantry, the couple knew they had more room to craft the bathroom of their dreams.

As on the first floor, the upstairs bathroom features a tumbled marble floor in a soft rose hue. Here, however, one has to step up into the bathroom. A pair of construction issues necessitated this approach. First, the settling of the house over the last century and a half had created a floor that dipped seven inches from one side to the other. This needed to be corrected before any tiling could take place. It also allowed for the easy installation of radiant floor heating, which the clients had also requested.

At the far end of the bathroom sits a new clawfoot tub. A customized vanity, which runs the length of the adjacent wall, provides two sinks and bathroom cabinets. Electrical outlets within the cabinets ensure that appliances can be stored and powered from within, preserving the limited counter space.

The corner shower features a variety of tile treatments. As with downstairs, the tumbled marble floor carries from the bathroom into the shower. But here the brick-toned tile that rims the base of the shower gives way to a softer herringbone tile.

“We used all of today’s products, but it still looks like a new bathroom built around the old bathroom,” says Parent, who enjoys keeping the character of an existing building while providing clients with the amenities they want.

“It’s nice to be able to keep the fabric of what was there and the feel of what was there,” he says, adding that not everyone feels the same way as the owners of this home. “Many clients see these old houses and walk through them and say, ‘Let’s take it down and start over again.’ There’s almost a spirit to these houses; it’s almost like there is someone there telling you what to do. A house is like a living organism, and it’s a kick when you have a client like this who is willing to do this kind of thing.”

The clients, too, say the experience has been nothing but a joy from start to finish. “We were very fortunate to have the team that was put together for this project,” one says. “Everybody got along and actually spurred each other along to better ideas than they might have had on their own. I think we were extremely fortunate in the collaboration with Neil and the Wilkinsons. There’s no one else I would turn to. We would do it all over again.”

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