Northshore Home magazine highlights the best in architectural design, new construction and renovations, interiors, and landscape design.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1289039
88 the Cape Ann area. A work of art, the massive fireplace serves a practical purpose as well, breaking up what would have otherwise been one big great room. With the fireplace acting as a wall, "You can be in the living room and feel some visual separation from the dining room and the kitchen," explains the husband. "It works well for our family; we can have time in spaces on our own or we can all be together." The quintessence of a truly quiet, reflective space is offered by the home's screened porch, a freestanding structure off to the side of the house that's turned at an angle to catch the breeze off the water. "In all of our projects we aspire to try and locate the screened porch so that it is not on the main view corridor of the living space," says Flavin. "This way, we do not block the views from the house and we maximize the sense of being outdoors." The porch's concrete floor stays cool on a hot day and, in the fall and winter, with glass panes in place of the screens, it absorbs heat from the sun. In the main house too, where the public spaces face south, even a cold day is comfortable if it's sunny and bright. This was true even before the home's solar panels, which service about 85 percent of the electrical, were installed. Geothermal wells preclude the need for oil and gas. "The home is a holistic package," says Raley. "I feel we've done a good job in meeting the client's goals and also in being smart." After decades of living contentedly in antique New England houses, the homeowners needed little time to adapt to their new, very different style abode. Avid cyclists and kayakers, they fully appreciate having na- ture's bounty at their doorstep, and when the weather keeps them indoors, they can't tear themselves away from the seasonal views. "I remember when we first moved in," says the wife, "looking out the windows and saying to my husband, 'This is the perfect house for this location.'" flavinarchitects.com Flavin calls his designs Natural Modernism—as it relates beautifully with the landscape.