Top of the rock
A Vineyard home has Caribbean flavor and views for miles.
For water views, the top of Squibnocket Hill in Chilmark is pretty much unrivaled on Martha’s Vineyard. That’s where a couple from Darien, Connecticut, own a summer home designed by Phil Regan and James Moffatt of Hutker Architects. “There are 270-degree views of the Atlantic and Menemsha Pond,” says Regan, whose firm has offices in Falmouth and on the Vineyard. And the architecture takes advantage of all of it.
First, there’s the glass: Tall awning windows take up nearly all of the home’s wall space. “When you arrive at the front door you take in one view,” Regan says, and “another view is framed toward the back of house, and there are different views seen from the living room.”
Furnishings, too, help keep the landscape in focus. “We opted to keep the decor very simple, so eyes are drawn outside to the ocean, the meadow, and Menemsha,” says the homeowner. “We didn’t want the interior to compete with the views.” None of the public rooms have curtains, and most of the furniture is Caribbean-influenced: white or dark wood with white cotton upholstery, with sisal rugs and rattan accent pieces for texture. “Using chintz and patterned fabrics would fight with the views, but there are splashes of color,” says the homeowner. Adding to the British Colonial feel, white walls and trim are offset by rich dark-wood floors and ceilings, which reach 18 feet in some rooms.
After the homeowners mentioned an old sugar mill they had visited in Nevis, the architects designed a “sugar mill” for this house, a round stone ellipse made from the same Virginia ledge as the living room fireplace. This unusual space is a powder room, with a curved door and sink made of teak. Ironically, it’s the one place in the house that doesn’t have a window to take in the glorious view. But the room is not out of place on this island. “When you’re inside,” says the homeowner, “it feels a bit like being on a ship.”
Jaci Conry is a freelance writer. Send comments to designing@globe.com. 