Old Meets New in a Cape Cod Timber Home

Its seaside location inspired the design of this timber-frame home, which blends traditional and custom elements to perfection. Like many homes on Cape Cod, it features clapboard siding. Unlike its conventional neighbors, the home boasts open spaces, soaring ceilings and a wall of windows. The glass helps blur the distinction between inside and out.

The 5,000-square-foot home sits 50 feet back from Sweetheart Creek overlooking Nantucket Sound to the southeast, and Lewis Bay and Hyannis Harbor to the northwest. The lot is flat, but because it is in a coastal flood zone, the house was built 11 feet above grade, posing interesting landscaping challenges. Some 2,000 cobblestones form a retaining wall.

The home has 12 rooms on two levels and a basement. Second-story decks enhance the views and prevent the home from appearing as a solid block. The home is angled on its site to take full advantage of the 320-degree water panorama.

The layout centers on the first-floor great room, which soars 26 feet, thanks to its Douglas fir frame from Davis Frame Co. of Claremont, New Hampshire. The oiled posts and beams feature wooden pegs and chamfered edges, which add a distinctive finishing touch to the timbers.

The interior features a dazzling array of wood. The floors are oak. Most of the woodwork is poplar. The bead-board wainscoting throughout the house adds an old-fashioned touch. A dense, exotic Brazilian hardwood, known as palupe, was used for the porch and the decking. Mahogany railings highlight the stairs leading to the widow's walk. The stair landing was made from well-oiled teakwood.

The corner blocks on the door and window casing are carved seashells. Besides emphasizing the home's location and the owners' love of the sea, the motif decorates the window frames, which are left exposed because the owners didn't want curtains to obscure the views.