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Northshore Home Fall 2018

Northshore Home magazine highlights the best in architectural design, new construction and renovations, interiors, and landscape design.

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95 of us, as well as usher in a new era of entertaining." Since they had connected the house to the garage with a 200-square-foot breezeway/mudroom with a large octagonal three-season gazebo in 1995, there was plenty of space to work with. But they also wanted it to be more efficient. For example, to get from the kitchen to the gazebo, where the Howells often entertain family and friends, they first had to go through a narrow hall- The mudroom and kitchen offer traditional touches but with a fresh updated look. Above, New closet space and built-ins were incorporated into the breezeway/ mudroom. Left, Custom stained- glass doors were made for a black walnut china cabinet. way where the laundry and coat closets were located. The Howells knew the first step would be eliminat- ing the hallway, which would instantly open every- thing up. They sketched some preliminary kitchen lay- outs and called Holly Gagne from Holly Gagne Interior Design in Rowley. Gagne, whom they have collaborated with on client projects before, reviewed the layouts, which showed configurations similar to what had been there, and advised them to consider alternatives that shifted the orientation of the island and pushed the kitchen toward the back of the house, opening up the floor plan. "I told them, 'You're opening up the space for a reason,'" she says. "They wanted to connect the adjoining spaces for a greater interaction with them, so the orientation of the functions within the kitchen should be considered in this context." With the hallway gone, storage is now provided by a new closet and built-ins in the breezeway—the laundry was moved to the basement. The Howells placed a long island in the center of the kitchen with cabinets on the side and back walls plus two built-in custom sideboards in the dining area. Doorways were widened, a new window that overlooks the backyard brings in natural light, and the wood beams were ap- propriately showcased. Changes were also made to the living room, such as installing an additional window and new French door sliders with transom windows. In the kitchen every detail was taken into account with the light gray cabinets built by B+G Cabinet of Newburyport, including accommodating an exposed beam with a cabinet door slightly shorter than the rest. Appliances include a Sub-Zero refrigerator, Sub-Zero re- frigerator drawers, and an induction cooktop, wall oven, and convection steam oven from Wolf. Fixtures are from Designer Bath, the backsplash is made with glass tiles from Ann Sacks, and durable quartzite tops the coun- ters. When it came to the floors, the Howells felt they needed to match the original antique heart pine in the living room, which was salvaged from an 1800s mill building. "It's a highly prized salvage wood," says Steve, who after some searching found more in a building in upstate New York that was being dismantled. But the showpiece is the black walnut island and sideboards, made by Howell Custom Building Group's lead carpenter, Kurt Baier. "Large-scale dovetail joinery on thick slabs of black walnut seemed to give many of the cabinetmakers pause," says Steve. "We called three shops and they were all reluctant to do it. But Kurt was up for the challenge." Gagne assisted with material and finish selections and helped furnish and accessorize the spaces. The Howells' friend, stained-glass artist Louis Pulzetti of Emmet's Hill Wood and Glass in Alton Bay, New Hampshire, created custom stained-glass doors P H O T O G R A P H S B Y M E G M A N I O N S I L L I K E R ( R I G H T ) , B Y E R I C R O T H ( L E F T )

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