Seaside Shingle Style Requires Modern Edge

“My customers spent all their spare time on household activities for 25 decades,” says designer Jean Verbridge of Siemasko and Verbridge. While raising four kids, they had time to get only very tiny renovations to their home, on Boston’s North Shore. But when the kids grew up, the parents were prepared for a new kind of house. “My customers love Scandinavian layout,” says Verbridge. “If their shingle-style house did not have such a great place on the ocean, they likely would have built something fresh and contemporary.”

The challenges for Verbridge comprised:
Reconfiguring the warren of small rooms, miniature or nonexistent closets and obsolete bathroomsAdapting Scandinavian contemporary aesthetics to get a traditional shingle-style home Maintaining the home familiar and homey to your customers’ grown children and grandchildren, who see oftenCreating comfy spaces for studying and relaxingIt was a tall order that the designers executed beautifully. Verbridge dubbed the home”The Passage.” “There is a book named Passages that talks about life stages, empty nest being among these,” she says. “Also,”the layout of the home as we reconfigured it’s a succession of rooms with glass openings or doors so that you have frequent access to ocean views and that you pass from room to room”

at a Glance
Location: North Shore of Boston
Size: 5 bedrooms, 5.5 baths
Who lives here: A couple with 4 grown children
That’s interesting: The wife is a children’s librarian, and storing and displaying her book collection played a large role in the new layout.

Siemasko + Verbridge

The customers knew they would never find a better setting than the one their existing shingle-style home was built upon. The entire family enjoys the indoor-outdoor lifestyle, such as fishing, surfing and swimming right off their land. Therefore, the architects found a balance between the home’s traditional style and also the customers’ more contemporary tastes.

Siemasko + Verbridge

The wife is a children’s librarian and also the husband travels a lot, so developing in storage for lots of books and producing comfy spaces where she could nestle up when home alone were top priorities.

This picture provides you a fantastic idea of the above passage. “From the kitchen you pass through the pantry, a sitting area, the living area and the dining area to get there on the porch through this collection of glass doors,” Verbridge says.

Siemasko + Verbridge

“This is really a cook’s kitchen,” says Verbridge. The family loves cooking and has a friend who’s a chef that also appreciates using the kitchen to prepare foods.

While the kitchen has classic elements like white cupboards and grey counters, the customers felt no demand for their kitchen to look like everybody else’s, so they asked Verbridge for her advice on making a big, sudden move. “My spontaneous first instinct was to go with the cobalt blue variety and hood,” she says. “It kind of came from nowhere, except that I had been motivated by their love for a Scandinavian aesthetic”

Another custom component tailored to the couple is the bookshelves at the end of the island. It holds cookbooks and children’s books close at hand, so that visiting toddlers are able to earn a choice and read together with their grandma.

Range: 48-inch RNB series with Pro-Line Hood, Bluestar; pendant lighting: Slender Glass Cylinder, DK Living; kitchen island paint: Graystone 1475, Benjamin Moore; countertop material: Bianco Carrara

Siemasko + Verbridge

Between the banquette (not seen) and seats, this comfy dining nook seats eight comfortably. “It’s just the correct size for small, intimate family gatherings,” says Verbridge. The framed artworks are illustrations from children’s books.

Buffet: BDDW

Siemasko + Verbridge

This comfy sitting area is at the end of the kitchen. “Initially we had a larger fireplace intended, but after a Scandinavian trip, the couple came back with a more compact woodstove like this one in mind,” says Verbridge. “It throws out plenty of heat; it may heat the entire kitchen,” she says. This is among those comfy spots the wife enjoys curling up in.

If you are on the fence about the aesthetics of a tv in the kitchen, note this thought: One is shining into the wall supporting the grey painting.

Woodstove: Edofocus, Focus

Siemasko + Verbridge

This region of the living room provides another comfy space for the wife to nestle in if she’s home alone. To the left you can see the beginning of the passage into the sitting room/library, kitchen and pantry.

Siemasko + Verbridge

This sitting bay is directly off the front entryway at the end of the library. “If somebody stops by and wants to chat, they will head right for these seats,” says Verbridge. Additionally, it is yet another romantic reading area which carves a cozy space from the large residence.

Siemasko + Verbridge

This corner of the library/sitting space is a great spot to get a notebook workstation.

Siemasko + Verbridge

“People do not spend much time in powder rooms, so I love to make a big impact with layout in there,” says Verbridge. In this event that comprised Tiffany blue walls and a boutique wallpaper on the ceiling at a tiny cultural pattern. Tucked underneath the stairs on the primary floor,”this little room feels safe and unique,” she says.

Vessel sink: Bacino Wash Bowl, Duravit

Siemasko + Verbridge

Upstairs on the primary bedroom floor, the wife has her own library. All the built-in shelves have been a part of their renovation and house all of the childrens’ and young adult books. “Obviously with her background as a children’s librarian, she has each of these books logically organized,” says Verbridge.

Table: BDDW

Siemasko + Verbridge

A classic trunk plus a suzani add fashion to this particular guest room, although the snowy walls provide it the relaxed feel of a Scandinavian modern home. “We had plenty of help sourcing the best things from Billy Cotton, ” a New York City–based industrial designer,” says Verbridge. “He helped us different the great sources from the rest of those.”

To the left is a cupboard that doubles as a passageway into a bathroom. Since this room serves as a guest area, the customers had the luxury of outfitting the new, large cupboard with the agency, mirror and vase.

Siemasko + Verbridge

On the floor, the husband’s workplace enjoys ocean views and transforms into an additional guest room when needed. Just from view to the left are built-in shelves and a desk to get him. In the foreground, two chaises could transform into double beds for sleepover guests. “We included the drapery so that immediately guests may pull it to get a sense of privacy,” says Verbridge.

Siemasko + Verbridge

“These customers were great about letting things go for their home’s new look,” says Verbridge. “While we utilized some of the existing pieces, they let about 90 percent of it move, because rather than hanging onto the past, they desired to get a great future.”

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