Northshore Home magazine highlights the best in architectural design, new construction and renovations, interiors, and landscape design.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1006262
84 architect Robert S. MacNeille pieced together the mag- nificent tale of a grand—but worn—house in Manches- ter-by-the-Sea. MacNeille, the principal of Carpenter & MacNeille Architects and Builders in Essex and Welles- ley, recognized the features that befit an elegant 1900s era home: the classic pediments on the front exterior, a beautiful staircase connecting the first and second floors, exquisite mantelpieces, elaborate detailing. He also saw a not-so-pleasing side story, a 1990s renovation that, as MacNeille says, "wasn't up to the level of the original." For the heart of the story, MacNeille and his team went to the homeowner, Emma Perryman, the Irish- born former London resident who fell in love with the house—which MacNeille thinks may have been inspired by Longfellow House in Cambridge—and envisioned a future there with her teenaged children, Abigail and Jeb. "I foresaw a space for my kids to grow and spend time with friends," Perryman says. The goal, MacNeille recalls, was to update and repair the antiquated secondary spaces and make them more accessible, while keeping the historic home's character On the main floor, elegant rooms flow one to another, light spills in to showcase tall ceilings and beautiful handworked trim. Bottom right, Perryman's cousin helped to design the perfect kitchen. A S H E R E A D T H E O R I G I N A L B L U E P R I N T S O F T H E 1 8 9 9 G E O R G I A N - S T Y L E H O M E ,