After a decade-long search for a coastal property along the Massachusetts shoreline, a Wellesley couple was casually perusing the Internet when they stumbled upon a 1920s estate on Folly Cove in Gloucester. After driving up to see it, they immediately knew they had found the house. “It was a one-of-a-kind—we had never seen anything like it anywhere,” says the homeowner. “The views out to the ocean were magnificent.”
The massive stone manse—built as a summer home for Mrs. Leight, a member of a wealthy Salem merchant’s family—was designed in 1927 by Frank William Crimp of the Boston architectural firm Adden, Parker, Clinch & Crimp. Believed to be inspired by houses designed by the renowned early-1900s British architect Edwin Lutyens, the structure is fashioned after English and French country estates of the same era—complete with a turret and great hall.
The home’s exterior stunned the couple with its original details. The interior—with the beautiful vocabulary of English Arts and Crafts style—pulled them in closer. But as veterans of four renovations of old houses, they knew this house could potentially be an enormous undertaking. Complicating matters were several previous renovations the home had endured.
The couple contacted architect and relative Robert Day to see the house. Day, a graduate of Yale School of Architecture, is well-versed in historical architecture, having studied under renowned urban planner and architect Leon Krier in London. Day also had taught courses stateside in the history of American architecture.
As the architect accompanied the couple through the house, the homeowner mentioned updating the kitchen, bathrooms, and floors. Day stopped them. “If you want to do this right, you need to upgrade the HVAC systems and insulate the house properly, along with a new kitchen and bathrooms,” Day recalls saying. He also saw the need for an “everyday” entrance to the house. So what began as a simple kitchen and bath renovation evolved into a renovation and restoration of the entire structure.
First on the list was finding a contractor. They had worked previously with Architectural Kitchens in Wellesley and loved their work, so they asked Linda Davis from the company to bid on the project. Sheldon Knowles of Rocky Neck Associates, who had worked on the house for the former owners for 12 years, was also in attendance. Knowles recalls taking the homeowner aside and saying, “You need to hire people from this community. Who are you going to call at 2 a.m. if something happens, a contractor in Wellesley?” They agreed and hired Knowles as the general contractor, and selected Architectural Kitchens to design the kitchen and selected millwork.
The project became a hybrid, equal parts renovation and restoration. The team met weekly to collaborate as well as iron out construction and design issues. “We were selective in what we chose to demo and what to keep,” says Day. “But ultimately we ended up touching almost the entire house—several generations had left their thumbprint, and it was time to restore the house to its former glory.”
To add a new HVAC unit and insulate the house to 21st-century standards, the plaster walls in many areas were taken down to the stone, followed by reconstruction of the walls and application of closed-cell spray foam. Making the house even more energy efficient was the replacement of older windows with 30 Marvin Ultimate windows. “Insulation and new windows not only created warmer spaces but also a quieter envelope—the house was once drafty even with walls 22 to 26 inches thick,” notes Day. “We also replaced all the hardwood floors on the first floor with five-inch quarter-sawn white oak.” That step—along with Knowles’s replacement of interior doors with simple English Arts and Crafts-style models—gave the spaces a cohesive feel.
Although many of the original architectural firm’s records were lost in a fire decades ago, some images existed of the original rooms, which were helpful in the restoration process. For instance, shelving was brought back into a reading nook off the great room, and second-floor bedrooms were refreshed with new paint and refinished flooring.
The great hall went through a meticulous restoration. “We did not want to disrupt this room, as its support timbers and walls were original,” Knowles says. “They just needed to be cleaned and refinished to coax out their patina.” The fireplace, undersized for the space, was the only design flaw in the great hall.
The homeowner turned to one of her favorite historical houses, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Heurtley House in Oak Park, a town that she had lived in for many years. The Heurtley House fireplace has a semicircular open ing that Day thought was an appropriate look for the great hall, so he used the design for inspiration. For the best lighting for the space, the homeowners contacted Brass Light Galleries in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a firm known for their exceptional Arts and Crafts lighting designs. Brass Light created a dramatic chandelier for the space, along with sconces and floor lamps.
To create a new everyday entrance to match the grandeur of the house, Day added a welcoming porch and massive oak door that steps into a mudroom. A window at the back of the room opens to views of the ocean, framed by a linden tree.
Everyone agreed that white oak timbers would be the best for supports, to match the rest of the house. Knowles searched online for reclaimed timbers but came up empty-handed. “I realized I might have the answer right in our town,” he says. “This is a shipbuilding community.” Knowles knew that white oak is often used in boatbuilding because it is rot-resistant and nonporous; he found the answer in a visit to Harold Burnham of H. A. Burnham Boat Building & Design, who had a shipyard filled with white oak timbers. They were milled at the shipyard and delivered to the project.
Next the crew added a stone floor that mirrored the stone wall on the property surrounding the home. One step up is a handsome new kitchen with traditional cabinetry, Carrara marble countertops, a La Cornue stove, and French doors that lead to a stone terrace. The kitchen sink (below new larger windows) is positioned toward the water, emphasizing the home’s connection to the region’s past and the majestic Atlantic Ocean.
“This is one of the best projects I have ever worked on—and some of the best clients,” says Knowles. “They were involved every step of the way and had great respect for the house. I think we restored the old place beautifully.”
Article appears in the Fall 2015 issue of Northshore Home magazine.