Leroy Street Studio

Cove House

Cove House
© Christian Phillips

Cove House

LSS

MANUFACTURERS
Ann Sacks, Hope's Windows, Usai

MECHANICAL ENGINEER
Sun Engineering

STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
Richmond So Engineers

CIVIL ENGINEER
Bss Design

INTERIOR DESIGNERS
Sybille Schneider, Sophia Chang

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS
Stephen Stimson Associates

LIGHTING
Clinard Design Studio

AREA
8235 ft²

YEAR
2012

LOCATION
Falmouth, United States

CATOGERY
Houses, Adaptive Reuse

Text description provided by architect.

The Cove House embodies the client’s desire for a contemporary house that is respectful of both the New England vernacular and its immediate neighborhood.

Cove House
© Christian Phillips
Cove House
© Christian Phillips

The form is an adaptation of the massing and materiality of the classic saltbox typology that meets the standards of the historic district commission while also satisfying the clients’ desire for a distinctive home.

SITE

The site is marked by a shallow ravine that was previously home to the historic Webster Rose Garden.

Cove House
© Christian Phillips
Cove House
© Christian Phillips

While the gardens were lost decades before, the original retaining walls remain, and the garden was replanted with native plantings that provide erosion control, animal habitats, and storm water attenuation.

Today, visitors cross this garden on a new footbridge spanning from the parking court to the front entrance of the house.

Cove House
Courtesy of Leroy Street Studio
Cove House
© Nikolas Koenig

MASSING

The form was inspired by the sailing ships that once anchored in the neighboring harbor. The house is created from a sequence of volumes that are linked below grade.

The existing slope of the site allows for the two primary volumes to nestle into the landscape, presenting a low presence to the street while exposing the full height of the house to the ocean.

Cove House
© Nikolas Koenig
Cove House
© Nikolas Koenig
Cove House
© Nikolas Koenig

The massing defines an upper utility court and kitchen garden, and a dynamic interstitial space that frames the ocean view.

MATERIALITY

Alaskan yellow cedar shingles typical of the Cape Cod vernacular further integrate the home into the existing streetscape.

The ocean façade uses extensive glazing to maximize the views with a wood louvered rain screen to minimize solar heat gain.

Cove House
© Nikolas Koenig
Cove House
© Nikolas Koenig
Cove House
© Christian Phillips

Board-formed concrete retaining walls and fireplace mass anchor the building to the landscape.


Cove House
Courtesy of Leroy Street Studio
Cove House
Courtesy of Leroy Street Studio
Cove House
© Christian Phillips


Cove House
Upper Level Plan
Cove House
Lower Level Plan


Cove House
Sections
Cove House
Elevations

Leroy Street Studio
T +1 212 4316780
Leroy Street Studio
65 Allen St, New York, NY 10002, United States