The mid-century modern residence built in the 1960s is an expansive one-story house that sits askew on the large, landscaped property. Located on Adams Point, the house overlooks a wide meadow to the west leading to Barrington Cove. The homeowners who recently purchased the home from the original owner fell in love with both the location of the home and the beautifully landscaped grounds and gardens. However, the interior of the home needed rethinking since many of the rooms remained unchanged from when the home was first built.

Through careful study, the underlying spatial order of the house emerged: a pin-wheel arrangement with rooms expanding outward from a central room naturally lit from above by a large skylight. The overall massing of the house consisted of three hipped-roof volumes with high ceilings (bedroom wing, living room, and garage) interconnected by a low ceiling flat-roof area (kitchen, dining, gallery, den, studio). Although clear in concept, its execution in built form lacked clarity and the house felt like a labyrinth with long narrow halls connecting isolated rooms.

The design approach embraces and enhances the underlying order of the house.

The dining room was relocated to the center room of the house where the heirloom dining table is bathed in light. The room doubles as a gallery displaying the owners’ collection of both fine and folk art. The white floor tile was removed and replaced with rift sawn white oak flooring that extends throughout the house. The direction of the wood flooring rotates to align with each orientation of the pin-wheel.

The previous kitchen was small and isolated from the rest of the house with tired finishes and old appliances. The kitchen area was expanded by removing a wall and taking over the room used for the dining area. A large central island and three freestanding walls of cabinets are arranged to have no enclosed corners to allow openings to all adjacent rooms. The enlarged window to the south and a corner breakfast area have views to the bay beyond. The rift sawn white oak slab cabinets with white quartz counters and alcoves contrast with the natural cleft black slate flooring.

The previous primary bedroom required one to pass through the closet before reaching a dark bedroom which had no windows towards the view. Shifting the location improved access to the room and provided a separate walk-in closet. The addition of a wide window brings light to the room with views of the meadow.

A wall between the existing primary bathroom and a closet was removed to give the bathroom more space and the room was reconceived with a new palette of materials. The fully enclosed cave-like tile shower was replaced with a low-iron frameless glass shower enclosure that visually enlarges the room through its transparency and reflectivity. The Formica single bowl vanity was replaced with a floating teak double vanity with white quartz counter surface. Quartz lined alcoves inlaid with glass tile are located over the sink and in the shower. Fluorescent light fixtures were replaced with a skylight adding natural lighting.

The property already had a fairly extensive number of mature plantings that had originally attracted the owners to purchase the house, but there were several issues the owners wished to address. The entire frontage along the road had been paved to be a very large curvilinear parking area that was out of scale with the home. Much of the asphalt driveway was removed and a new smaller parking area for guests was created with a stacked wall of bluestone treads capped with metal panel cut with the backlit house number. A smaller parking area remains at the side entry and the space between the two parking areas planted with new trees.

The existing main entry was concealed by several overgrown trees and visitors would always use the side door without being able to locate the front entry. A network of two types of paths were established to suggest how to move across the site. One more direct leading to the house entries made of tightly spaced rectilinear bluestone slabs and the other a meandering crushed bluestone path that passes through the garden and by the collection of outdoor sculptures.

There was very little outdoor space for entertaining and the interior lacked connection to the yard since the floor level was two feet above grade. The elevated decks at the side and rear entries were reduced in size and a series of cascading terraces were created of bluestone slabs. These terraces are of differing sizes and relationship to grade and serve as the steps from the house to grade. The higher terrace is for outdoor dining and the lower terrace with a firepit is for gatherings with friends overlooking the rear yard.