2021 RDAA | Custom Period or Vernacular House | Bayberry Point | Peter Zimmerman Architects

This timeless piece of coastal land had been in the clients’ family for several generations, and when it came time to build on it, they requested something that would fit into Cape Cod’s cultural and historic landscape. Peter Zimmerman Architects gave them a house that’s classically proportioned and simply detailed, a modern version of the turn-of-the-century coastal New England house. Its first-floor living spaces flow out to a western terrace overlooking the ocean, and to a sitting porch on the north that takes in picturesque views of a tidal pond and protected land. Continuous windows, a tone-on-tone material palette, and an unfettered floor plan achieve a sense of transparency and light that makes the interior seem larger than it is.

Exterior walls are clad in red cedar shingles, as is the roof, whose Dutch gambrel form helps keep the house’s scale in check. “It’s a particularly beneficial shape when you’re trying to create bedrooms, which in vacation houses are critical because the owners want to accommodate as many guests as they can,” says Peter Zimmerman, AIA. “The Dutch gambrel gives us the ability to have more space for the second-floor bedrooms while keeping a lower profile. It feels like a one-story house with dormers.” There are four en-suite bedrooms, one on the first floor and three upstairs, including the main bedroom, which opens to a porch.

The firm’s design of a calm, gracious retreat granted the owners’ wish for something that looks iconic when viewed from the water, as though it has always been there.

Citation
Custom Period or Vernacular House

Peter Zimmerman Architects
Bayberry Point
Falmouth, Massachusetts

Project Credits

Architect: Peter Zimmerman, AIA, principal in charge; Richard Pinkerton, RA, Peter Zimmerman Architects, Berwyn, Pennsylvania

Builder: Ralph Cataldo, Cataldo Custom Builders, Falmouth, Massachusetts

Interior Designer: Mary Hastings Interiors, Berwyn, Pennsylvania

Landscape Architect: Dan Solien,
Botanica Fine Gardens, Falmouth

Project Size: 4,969 square feet

Site Size: 15+ acres

Construction Cost: Withheld

Photography: Durston Saylor Photography

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