Just Off Shore - Cape Cod, MA - Custom Home
As the moon rises and the sun sets; as the moon sets and the sun rises; and at all the other times of day as well, Just Off Shore is a jewel in the necklace of harbor front homes on Cape Cod. The umbrella gambrel roof (three facets on each side of a gable where the bottom facet flares out), large roof overhangs, and a broad front porch, create a classic New England summer cottage—orderly but relaxed. Craftsman style posts and brackets hold up the roof of the porch. They are robust, to be in scale with the house and the landscape; and simple, to be friendly as well as elegant. Contributing to the welcoming nature of the projecting central bay of the façade, a simple gridded Palladian window is on center with the front door. It punctuates without being too grand or formal. Shed roofed dormers flank the central gambrel to provide comfortable second floor space without overwhelming the one-and-one-half story scale of the front.
A perfectly flat front yard accommodates a circular drive that is also centered on the front door. No trees or large plantings of any kind sit between the house and the street. While Just Off Shore is not the largest, or grandest, house in the neighborhood, its central location on the loop road that serves it, combined with the evocative character of the architecture and landscape design, make it a defining icon for the small neighborhood. The site faces due east with views over harbor, outer beach, and ocean. As the harbor here is an active fishing port and popular pleasure boating area, dynamic activity is nearby but separated from the house by yard, face of bluff, and private beach below.
On the sides and back, bay windows abound to bring in light from multiple directions and to expand the view out. Twin towers at both back corners also expand the view, capitalizing on interesting and beautiful views up and down the coast in addition to straight out. Inside, lighthouse cut-outs in the stair balustrade is a whimsical reference to the historic and much beloved light house nearby. The light perpetually sweeps over the neighborhood.
PSD has an amazingly satisfying and productive long-term relationship with the client who commissioned the house. It is the fifth major project for the client—three historic houses renovated and expanded, an in-town condominium, and, with Just Off Shore, a ground-up new house.
A perfectly flat front yard accommodates a circular drive that is also centered on the front door. No trees or large plantings of any kind sit between the house and the street. While Just Off Shore is not the largest, or grandest, house in the neighborhood, its central location on the loop road that serves it, combined with the evocative character of the architecture and landscape design, make it a defining icon for the small neighborhood. The site faces due east with views over harbor, outer beach, and ocean. As the harbor here is an active fishing port and popular pleasure boating area, dynamic activity is nearby but separated from the house by yard, face of bluff, and private beach below.
On the sides and back, bay windows abound to bring in light from multiple directions and to expand the view out. Twin towers at both back corners also expand the view, capitalizing on interesting and beautiful views up and down the coast in addition to straight out. Inside, lighthouse cut-outs in the stair balustrade is a whimsical reference to the historic and much beloved light house nearby. The light perpetually sweeps over the neighborhood.
PSD has an amazingly satisfying and productive long-term relationship with the client who commissioned the house. It is the fifth major project for the client—three historic houses renovated and expanded, an in-town condominium, and, with Just Off Shore, a ground-up new house.
