Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/249202
R ocksyde, perched on a rocky cove on Cape Ann, possesses a distinct grandeur—not because of its size, but its intimate relationship with nature. At 5,000 square feet, the Shingle-style home is just one-fifth the size of some of the houses built in this very American architectural mode. But beauty is more glorious than size, as Rocksyde attests; this home achieves its powerful profile through creative lines that embrace the sun, air, ocean, and space, all of it wrapped in an aura of American history. Rocksyde's identity is rooted in Shingle style's iconic connection with seaside New England. Gazing at its exterior, a foundation of native sap rock—rusty-red streaked granite—seems to spill into an outcrop toward the sea. South-side windows carry in sunlight and ocean-tinged air. Dark green trim and, of course, the eponymous cedar shingles carry the same spirit. As many markers of shingle style that Rocksyde has, its relatively small size separates it from the original era, when late-1800s Boston industrialists celebrated their wealth by building larger-than-life shingle-style summer homes in places such as the North Shore and Newport. Keeping Rocksyde contained was all part of a larger plan, says the project's leader, John Tittmann, principal of Albert, Righter & Tittmann Architects, Inc., in Boston. "The house is not bigger than it needs to be," Tittmann says. "Some people might say it's too small, but the family was not bound by convention of size." More important to the owners of the year-round home, Tittmann says, was establishing a connection to the natural setting and a historical context. Next door to Rocksyde is the site of perhaps the most famous shingle-style home ever built, Kragsyde. Designed by Peabody & Stearns, Kragsyde was razed in 1929 (though there is a replica of it in Maine). "Rocksyde's owners are very interested in architectural history," Tittmann says. The family, with longtime roots in the area, "loved the idea of the house 158 KJ Mar14 FERocksyde.indd 158 1/16/14 3:19 PM