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Summer Retreat
Architectural Design in Orleans creates a lake front getaway
by Laurel Kornhiser • Photography
by Randall Perry
Cape Cod & Islands Home Summer 1999
Because prime home sites are becoming
increasingly scarce on Cape Cod, more people choose lots with
homes on them, intending to renovate what’s there or demolish
the original structure and rebuild. Norm and Polly, whose primary
home is in Pennsylvania, started with the first intention but
ended up following through on the second.
Norm had known Cape Cod as a vacation spot all his life, regularly
visiting the lower Cape area with his parents, who were from
New Bedford. Originally from the South, Polly came to know Cape
Cod through Norm. They eventually fell in love with a pond in
the area where they rented a cottage. Renting gave the couple
a taste of what was possible, but they knew they wanted a more
permanent relationship with the place. While Norm fished from
their dinghy, the Lou Tess, Polly daydreamed about the properties
rimming the water. Her dreams eventually focused on one side
of the pond—the side that soaked up the southern sun; while
scouring real estate ads one day, she spotted a fishing cottage
on that sunny side.
 The
drawback? The cottage was a mess. “You felt if you leaned
against a wall, it would cave in,” Polly jokes. The place
had a campy feeling, reinforced by small bedrooms, a boxed-in
kitchen, and low ceilings. The bathroom ceiling in particular
had a pronounced slant. “Though everything was wrong, I
liked the layout,” Polly explains. “The living room
and dining room faced the lake. I thought we could do minor
renovations.”
When Norm came home that evening, discouraged from a bad day
of fishing, Polly greeted him by saying, “You know I’ve
been thinking….”
She brought Norm to see the cottage, and they bought it on the
spot. Although the selling price was reasonable, they consulted
Architectural Design Incorporated (AD) in Orleans and discovered
how expensive renovation could be. John Ingwersen of AD offered
to do two schemes: one would be a renovation plan, and the other
was a new home designed by AD’s Peter Haig. Surprisingly,
the new home plan cost only ten percent more than renovating
the original. Ingwersen explains, the original house was not
only poorly constructed, it didn’t have the spatial qualities
hoped for, and the desired improvements were only the tip of
a rebuilding iceberg. Reworking a wall, he warns, can entail
replacing windows, rewiring, even reshingling. While the homeowners
may save some on materials by renovating, higher labor costs
can offset any gain.
The couple was convinced by the architectural firm’s thinking
and gave the go ahead on the new home plan. Norm recalls, “We
left here early one September day, and the house was gone twelve
hours later—it was a hole in the ground.” Over the
next year the couple maintained their busy schedules outside
of Philadelphia while Architectural Design kept them abreast
of their new home’s construction via pictures and faxes.
 While
the couple’s Pennsylvania home is formally decorated, Norm
and Polly sought cozy simplicity for their Cape home. The new
place would serve as a base for Norm’s fishing and as a
comfortable nook to accommodate Polly’s love of reading.
Ingwersen says, “They wanted it to be cottage-like. They
didn’t want an architectural statement; they were very
clear about that. They wanted it like the rambling old house.”
Norm says the objective was “to be a good neighbor and
have the house look like it had been there a long time.”
To that end, AD based their design on the way a farmhouse develops:
building one section, then adding on another to make a T shape,
including a third section, and adding a second floor and raised
dormers. The resulting roofscape is “more interesting,”
says Ingwersen. A multi-faceted chimney resurrects the English
influence on the Cape’s character.
For trim inspiration, Ingwersen and his partners toured the
area, paying close attention to historic sea captains’
and turn-of-the-century homes. They settled on a trim design
that protrudes and creates shadow lines, which in turn add coziness
to the facade.
The couple also had a number of requirements for the home’s
interior. A critical element was a great room for entertaining.
A gourmet cook, Polly wanted to be able to prepare meals for
visiting family and guests while enjoying their company at the
same time. She also wanted a view while she cooked.
In designing the great room within the footprint of the original
fishing cottage, difficult decisions had to be made. “You
can’t stretch the whole house along the view,” Ingwersen
says. “You have to decide which spaces are most important
to the view, and in this case, it was the living room and master
bedroom. The kitchen and dining room have secondary views.”
The house is built on a slope, which eases away from a fairly
busy road down to the pond. While Polly wanted to see the water,
she was adamant about not seeing the road from the kitchen.
To occlude that view, the architects designed narrow slit windows
between the upper cabinets and the counters providing natural
light without losing cabinet space. Looking out of the kitchen
windows, Polly sees gardens on the ascending slope rather than
the tar at the top of the hill. Skylights also brighten this
north-facing space.
With its wall of windows facing the lake, the living room takes
the full brunt of the day’s sun. Netted shades mellow the
effect in summer, while a stone fireplace adds warmth on those
January days the couple spends at their retreat. The room’s
cathedral ceiling is rendered less imposing by exposed structural
beams, which add interest and contrast. Above the fireplace
hangs a John Whorf painting of
Provincetown; the couple also own two paintings by Whorf’s
daughter, Carol Whorf Westcott.
Polly wanted their vacation home to embody Shaker values: simplicity
and functionality. To add a bit of understated sophistication,
she chose creamy white walls and natural-stained woods. However,
given the couple’s energy and humor, it is no surprise
they wanted color in their new home. To rectify the situation,
Norm purchased a striking red bookshelf he and Polly found at
a Brewster antiques shop; its vibrant color is echoed in a quilt
hanging from a nearby balcony.
The balcony borders a reading nook on the second floor. Bathed
in natural light, the area offers a built-in bench seat—one
example of builder Bruce Hirschberg’s attention to detail.
Among the couple’s other design requirements were large
guest bedrooms on the second floor. Norm explains, “The
place is designed as a grandchild magnet.” The two rooms
share a bathroom, though for convenience each has its own vanity.
This active retired couple wanted to insure their privacy. To
that end, the master bedroom is its own first-floor wing, tucked
away but facing the lake with windows on three sides. Even the
glass shower stall and whirlpool tub take advantage of the scenery.
The master bedroom further asserts it independence with a private
deck and cathedral ceiling; with no rooms above them, Polly
and Norm don’t have to worry about being disturbed by the
early morning pitter patter of small feet.
 The
house was designed not only to be child friendly, but dog friendly.
Bill, a rambunctious five-year-old retriever reigns supreme.
In fact, when designing the entryway Polly joked to interior
designer Susan Tuttle, “I need tile to work with dog hair.”
The resulting entryway tile not only conceals shades of blonde,
but also resists wear from sand brought up from the private
beach below. The berber carpeting on the stairs resists sand
and drips from bathing suits.
Like the interior, the home’s exterior offers separate
spaces for viewing the lake and relaxing. A farmer’s porch
faces front gardens and blue stone walkways. For those needing
to clean up before entering the house, an outdoor cedar-lined
shower nestled between the home and garage serves nicely. It
affords views out to the pond and privacy thanks to louvers
and discreet positioning in relation to the home’s upper
windows.
The courtyard outside the master bedroom, as well as the screened-in
porch and deck off the great room, extend the living areas to
the outside. As these last two spaces catch the prevailing breeze,
the couple often enjoy lunch on the deck and dinner on the porch.
Here they can not only take in their southern view of the lake,
but the sights and scents of roses, Clematis, azalea, rhododendrons,
barberry, and forsythia. The old apple tree stood watch as the
old fishing cottage gave way to a new year-round retreat.
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