Situated above the dunes overlooking Chapoquoit Beach, the new owners of this lovely property were required to start fresh with a new home because of FEMA regulations. The existing home was nestled in the dunes but needed extensive renovations, which FEMA does not allow without raising the building. We began working on a design for a new house with the same square footage as the existing house but with a simple shape.
The first floor is 10 feet above the dune which will now move and shift freely through the site. With two thirds of the site in conservation, this house perches in nature. A modern aesthetic accepts the engineering needed and celebrates the views with floor to ceiling glass. The shallow pitch roof holds solar panels to energize the house.
One enters at the beach level into a mudroom space with an elevator and stairs. Breakaway panels and no mechanical systems make the space FEMA-compliant. Entry into the house is on the first level above the beach, the views of Buzzards Bay opening up with a 360-degree view of water, dune, marsh, and West Falmouth Harbor.
The first floor is open, generous, all glass connecting to an oceanside deck, a marsh-side grilling deck, and a screened porch.
The second floor has four bedrooms for grown children and parents along with a master deck facing Chapoquoit Beach.
Builder: Pinsonneault Builders
Landscape Design: BlueFlax Design
Photographer: Meredith Hunnibell