The Finishing Touch
An architect welcomes the chance to take a Cape Cod home he designed to a new level of elegance, creating an extra-special family getaway.
The best takes time, or at least a second look. Take this extraordinary house with its idyllic inlet/island vista, one of Cape Cod’s bountiful and beautiful blessings. Built on a gentle elevation with views of water and marsh, the house reaches out to and blends with the land and waterscape. Two of the home’s four wings encompass gardens and a swimming pool, creating a sheltered oasis billowing with colorful perennials. A gently sloping wood walkway leads to a dock, while the front facade is demure behind a privacy hedge.
Boston-based architect Thomas Catalano began building the house in 2005. For his first client, life changed, interest waned and the house was put up for sale. Though essentially finished, it didn’t yet have the lovely, livable features it has now. A fence and a concrete slab surrounded the swimming pool, and the colorful, naturalistic landscape had yet to be planted.
The new owners, in search of a vacation home that would serve as a family center, saw not only the lovely location, but also the possibilities. “My husband grew up spending summers on the Cape, and we wanted to spend family vacations there,” says the wife. “We wanted to be on the water, with a dock where we could keep a boat. We also wanted a little town nearby, somewhere to walk to. When we found this, we knew it would be perfect.”
Catalano was delighted to be called back on the job to add some finishing touches.
ARCHITECTURE
Thomas Catalano
INTERIOR DESIGN
Kuckly Associates, Inc.
LANDSCAPE
Katherine Field
Photo Galleries
The best takes time, or at least a second look. Take this extraordinary house with its idyllic inlet/island vista, one of Cape Cod’s bountiful and beautiful blessings. Built on a gentle elevation with views of water and marsh, the house reaches out to and blends with the land and waterscape. Two of the home’s four wings encompass gardens and a swimming pool, creating a sheltered oasis billowing with colorful perennials. A gently sloping wood walkway leads to a dock, while the front facade is demure behind a privacy hedge.
Boston-based architect Thomas Catalano began building the house in 2005. For his first client, life changed, interest waned and the house was put up for sale. Though essentially finished, it didn’t yet have the lovely, livable features it has now. A fence and a concrete slab surrounded the swimming pool, and the colorful, naturalistic landscape had yet to be planted.
The new owners, in search of a vacation home that would serve as a family center, saw not only the lovely location, but also the possibilities. “My husband grew up spending summers on the Cape, and we wanted to spend family vacations there,” says the wife. “We wanted to be on the water, with a dock where we could keep a boat. We also wanted a little town nearby, somewhere to walk to. When we found this, we knew it would be perfect.”
Catalano was delighted to be called back on the job to add some finishing touches.
Consider this. When a favorite song comes on we fiddle with the volume on our IPod. If guests come to dinner we dim the lights just so. We dab our favorite cologne behind our ears and slap on the aftershave. And we salt, sprinkle and drizzle to get our food to taste just right. It sometimes seems that of all our five senses, it may be our sense of touch that we most often neglect. The hardware featured here is about to change all that. Take a minute to curl your fingers over one of these doorknobs or rest your hand on one of these pulls. You’ll be touched by the details.
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