Cranberry- Renovation+Expansion of a half Cape in Chatham

The house on Cranberry Lane began with a reproduction of a historic “half Cape” cottage that was built as a retirement home for one person in 1980.  Nearly  thirty years later, the next generation of the family asked me to incorporate the original house into a design that would accommodate the extended family for vacations and holidays, yet keep the look and feel of the original cottage from the street.  While they wanted a traditional exterior, my clients also asked for a house that would feel more spacious than it looked, and be filled with natural light.

Inside the house, the materials and details are traditional, but the spaces are not.  Coming in from the farmer’s porch,  the vaulted entry comes as a surprise, with light streaming in from skylights above the stair.  The open kitchen and dining area is long and low, with windows looking out over the gardens planted after the original cottage was built.  A door at the far end of the room leads to a screened porch that serves as a hub of family life in the summer.  The living room is compact in plan, but open to the main ridge and the loft space above.  The doghouse dormers on the front roof bring light into both the loft and living room, and also provide a view for anyone sitting at the 20 foot long cherry desktop that runs along the low wall at the edge of the loft.  The loft space connects the two upstairs bedrooms, and serves as a combination home office, sitting room, and overflow sleeping area.

All the interior trim, millwork, cabinets, stairs and railings were built on site, providing character to the house with a modern spin on traditional New England craftsmanship.