Situated above the dunes overlooking Chapoquoit Beach, the owners of this lovely property were required to start fresh with a new home due to FEMA regulations. The existing home was nestled in the dunes but needed extensive renovations, which FEMA would not allow without raising the building. JNA began working on a design for a new house with the same square footage as the existing structure but with a simple shape, honoring the rugged existence of a dune house.
The first floor hovers 10 feet above the dune which will now move and shift freely through the site. With two thirds of the site in conservation, the house perches in nature. A modern aesthetic accepts the engineering needed to build here and floor to ceiling glass in every room makes nature the focal point. To live here is to experience the landscape and weather fully. 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 make the space FEMA-compliant. One level up above the beach, the views of Buzzards Bay open up with a 360-degree view of water, dune, marsh, and West Falmouth Harbor.
The first floor is open and generous between walls of 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 primary suite deck facing Chapoquoit Beach.
Architecture and Interior Design: Jill Neubauer Architects
Builder: Pinsonneault Builders
Landscape Design: BlueFlax Design
Photographer: Jane Messinger
Photograph of outdoor shower by Meredith Hunnibell