• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • The Magazine
    • The Peachy Team
    • 2025
      • Spring 2025 (Båstad, Sweden)
      • Summer 2025 (North Carolina)
    • 2024
      • Spring 2024 (Jacksonville)
      • Summer 2024 (Boston)
      • Fall 2024 (Aspen)
      • Holiday 2024
    • 2023
      • Spring 2023 (Anniversary Issue)
      • Summer 2023 (Turks & Caicos)
      • Fall 2023 (Charlotte)
      • Holiday 2023
    • 2022
      • Spring 2022 (Nantucket)
      • Summer 2022 (Austin)
      • Fall 2022 (Asheville)
      • Holiday 2022
    • 2021
      • Spring 2021 (Charlotte interiors)
      • Summer 2021 (St. Louis)
      • Fall 2021 (Palm Beach)
      • Holiday 2021
    • 2020
      • Spring 2020 (Richmond)
      • Summer 2020 (Greenville, SC)
      • Fall 2020 (The Hamptons)
      • Holiday 2020
    • 2019
      • Spring 2019 (Santa Fe)
      • Summer 2019 (Charlotte Garden Issue)
      • Fall 2019 (Cape Cod)
      • Holiday 2019
    • 2018
      • Spring 2018 (Boston)
      • Summer 2018 (Ponte Vedra)
      • Fall 2018 (Anniversary Issue)
      • Holiday 2018
    • 2017
      • Spring 2017 (Birmingham)
      • Summer 2017 (San Francisco)
      • Fall 2017 (Jackson Hole)
      • Holiday 2017
    • 2016
      • Spring 2016 (Savannah)
      • Summer 2016 (Los Angeles)
      • Fall 2016 (NC Mountains)
      • Holiday 2016
    • 2015
      • February March 2015 (Nashville)
      • May June 2015 (Washington, D.C.)
      • July August 2015 (New Orleans)
      • September October 2015 (Austin)
      • Holiday 2015
    • 2014
      • January February 2014 (Park City)
      • March 2014 (Chicago)
      • April May 2014 (Charlotte)
      • June July 2014 (Charleston)
      • August September 2014 (Santa Barbara)
      • October November 2014 (Atlanta)
      • Holiday 2014
    • 2013
      • September 2013 (Charlotte)
      • October November 2013 (Dallas)
      • Holiday 2013 (New York)
  • Style
  • Beauty
  • Entertaining
  • Interiors
  • Gardens
  • Wellness
  • Insiders’ Guides

Peachy the Magazine

You are here: Home / Interiors / Unique Antique: New England Cape Home Renovation by Patrick Ahearn

October 3, 2019

Unique Antique: New England Cape Home Renovation by Patrick Ahearn

WRITTEN BY Bek Mitchell-Kidd
INTERIOR DESIGN BY Craig Tevolitz and Elizabeth McCann, Platemark Design
INTERIOR PHOTOGRAPHY BY Michael J. Lee
EXTERIOR PHOTOGRAPHY BY Greg Premru
ARCHITECT: Patrick Ahearn
BUILDER: Doug Whitla, Whitla Brothers Builders

This waterfront home continues to cause quite a lot of buzz despite its 14-monthlong renovation being completed two years ago.

Originally built in 1975, the home posed some unique challenges, including that the house sits on a World War I air naval station. This meant there was solid concrete just below the surface that had to be hammered out for the pool, pool house, and landscaping.

Also, given the home’s age and proximity to the water, the footprint could not be expanded during the renovation.

The exterior style of the house is New England Cape. Patrick Ahearn, the architect on the project, created a new narrative for the home saying, “It feels like an antique house lovingly restored, but accommodates the way that people want to live today.”

The home is 3,400 square feet (plus a 264-square-foot pool house), with five bedrooms and four and a half baths.

“The clients wanted the house to look like it had been there for 100 years. They also entertain frequently outside and wanted a great hangout space for their teenage children,” says builder, Doug Whitla.

Inventive design and resourcefulness give the home an old Cape Cod aesthetic while also feeling quasi-contemporary.

“The three sets of French doors bring the seaside to you in this comfy, cozy room— with plenty of space to enjoy it with family and friends,” says Craig Tevolitz, interior designer.

For example, the essence of old Chatham is conjured by the use of wide pine attic flooring saved from antique houses prior to demolition. Doug says, “Attic floors have very little traffic and no finish which makes them ideal and highly sought-after. These were also exceptionally long and wide boards, which allowed for continuity from the great room through to the family room, office, and master bedroom. We sealed the floors but did not sand or stain them, so the original patina is intact.”

The ceiling with antique beams was designed to create a barn-like feeling. The dormers and French doors add to the expansive light and water views. “The clients have a love of antique light fixtures,” Doug says. “Nearly every light in the house is an antique and exquisite.”

The interior designer on the project, Craig Tevolitz of Platemark Design, agrees saying, “The period feel of the architecture helped anchor the antique light fixtures, in particular the antique chandelier in the living room, which is quite dramatic.”

Craig and team member Elizabeth McCann chose Benjamin Moore’s “Lancaster Whitewash” so the vibrant color palette is apparent, as well as to keep the area “open, airy, and cohesive.” Craig says the color palette is “what you witness outdoors—the water, foliage, and the colors at sunrise and sunset, when the sky is awash with pink, purple, red, and orange hues.”

Situated on the shore, the home is flooded with sunlight. Elizabeth says, “The window treatments help mitigate the strong light, and were significant in the overall interior design, especially in the bedrooms which can be rendered into complete darkness when needed.”

Fashion forward fabrics, like Missoni and Pierre Frey, bring a contemporary vibe to upholstered pieces and window treatments and an overall lightness to the home. Bold choices include the blue hue in the office located in the middle of the house, which separates the master suite from the living areas. “It’s a deep ocean blue, so your eyes naturally gravitate to the water views outside,” says Elizabeth.

The kitchen is a portal to another time with antique icebox hardware, soft paint with an aged patina, wood countertops, big turned legs in the cabinetry, and unique tile.

Also contributing to the antique feel is the granite sourced from when the city of Boston rebuilt the Longfellow Bridge. The granite surrounds the pool, spa, and pool house.

The home has a joyful energy to it, with a timeless sensation that you could be happy here in any time.

Interiors Leave a Comment

Previous Post: « Look of the Week: Festive Fall
Next Post: Weekend Wants…Splurge or Steal? »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Instagram icon   Facebook icon   Pinterest icon   LikeToKnow.It icon

Subscribe to Peachy

Sign up for your free subscription to Peachy the Magazine.

Kirsten Dexter Spring 2025 Ad
Capizzi Fall 2024 Ad
Cake For Dinner Summer 2025 Ad
Road to Resolution Ad
Ellen Kelly Homes Summer 2025 ad
Wendy Bilas Ad

Contact Us

Questions? Comments? Interested in partnering with us? We would love to hear from you.

Privacy Policy and Disclaimers

Footer


A special thanks to our fabulous partners:
Kirsten Dexter Fine Jewelry logo     Capizzi MD logo     Road to Resolution logo       Ellen Kelly Helen Adams Realty logo       Cake For Dinner logo     Lisa Cashion SparkWell logo     Wendy Bilas Fine Art logo

© 2025 Peachy the Magazine · Wordpress theme by Design By Bloom