Newbury, New Hampshire
Interior Architecture and Decoration, 2024
Photography: David Mitchell
Contractor: McGray & Nichols
Architect: DMC Architecture
Color and comfort are the defining characteristics of this New Hampshire house. The house is built on a narrow site on a hillside that drops down to a lake. The entrance is at the top of the house, the main living spaces half a level down, guest bedrooms below that, and media and craft rooms on the lowest level. The entire house has beautiful views of the lake. This house replaced a hundred-year-old cottage that had been in the family for generations but was in disrepair.
New Hampshire is now the clients’ permanent residence, but ten years ago, we worked with them on their Boston townhouse. For the interiors of this house we tried to meld the memory of the old cottage with the memory of the townhouse. A winding oak staircase that runs top to bottom is reminiscent of the townhouse. The family members are serious cooks so this kitchen could be a larger version of the one that we carefully worked out with them in Boston. Stone and wood floors, a large fireplace and plenty of storage for board games are all nods to the old cottage.
With the view as an important part of the look and feel of the house, we used color, texture, and pattern that complement the outside. Green marble counters and a wall of Heath tiles in the kitchen, green and blue upholstery, and a liberal use of natural wood are all nods to the site. Given the clients interest in color there are hits of warm tones: orange tile, red leather, terracotta. Floral wallpaper and tapestry headboards beckon the outside into the house.
There is a a full height bookcase that—if you know which book releases the latch—reveals a secret playroom behind it. We can’t tell you which book releases the latch; that would wreck the secret. But this detail is another aspect of the joyful inhabitation of this incredible house.