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by Kymberly Taylor
Photography by Jennifer Hughes
On a rare lot tucked between the Atlantic Ocean and Silver Lake in Rehoboth, a four-story Shingle Style home rises from the dunes “like a beacon at the end of the boardwalk,” notes architect Devin Kimmel of Kimmel Studio Architects. With its turret, pitched roofs, and asymmetrical façade bravely facing the sea, the 18,000-square-foot mansion harks back to an earlier era in the 1880s, when opulent seaside masterpieces dotted the New England coast.
During this prosperous post-Civil War period in America, craftsmen built Shingle homes for wealthy industrialists using traditional building methods honed over centuries. “In the 1880s, they knew how to do all that… but by World War II, the craftsmen all started to die out,” reflects Kimmel. “We are four generations removed, so all of these people have grown up in suburbia, where it is one ugly house after the next; it’s plastic and stuff.”
Dubious building techniques and muddled styles do not have a place in Kimmel’s world or in this home, which pays tribute to and reinvigorates a craftsman-like 19th-century aesthetic. The home is not a replica of the classic Shingle, however. Kimmel, in his own words, “pushed it” with special detailing on the eaves, roofs with slightly exaggerated depth and angles, and more acute massing on the outside. “The Shingle Style is about the roofline,” he explains. “I want to push it down, up, or move it—just to make it speak and make it a little bit different, more modern. I call it contextual modernism. It may be a new house, but it speaks to the past; it’s part of its continual history.”
The exterior, wrapped in white cedar shingles, rests on a solid natural limestone base. Kimmel had to adhere to a 40-foot height restriction, yet eyebrow dormers, a turret with a domed roof, a grand four-story spiral stair, and 16-inch-thick walls evoke the grandeur of the Gilded Age. Bespoke features like custom curved glass windows, sliding retractable glass doors, built-ins, window seats, and nooks and crannies add character—while modern engineering includes geothermal heating and cooling. Its beauty is not just skin deep. Supported by over 200 pilings sunk 30 feet into the sand pack, the structure can endure 200 mph winds and will last for at least 100 years, says George Fritz, owner of Horizon Builders. Fritz worked closely with Kimmel on every aspect of the four-year project. “Like a legitimate Shingle Style home, it is built to endure the ages,” says Kimmel.
Designed for multi-generational stays, the home offers generous contemporary living spaces, including nine bedrooms (with a bunk room that sleeps eight), along with a bowling alley, steam room, sauna, golf simulator, and wine bodega. The home has four floors, each with a distinct purpose. In these rooms, artfully composed by Patrick Sutton, formality dissolves into luminous spaces filled with fine furnishings that speak to the architecture’s classicism while deferring to comfort. Light fixtures become focal points expressing a sculptural exuberance.
Comfort and entertaining are this project’s raison d’être. First and foremost, the homeowner wanted a gathering place for his large extended family, including nieces and nephews. His Irish and Italian heritages were important to him. A laylight with a decorative Celtic knot panel in the entrance hall honors his Irish side. His Italian roots are referenced through many furnishings and materials discovered during a shopping excursion in Italy. Sutton, his client, and his sister traveled to Florence, Milan, and quarries in Carrara to source all the stone for the home. “We selected the slabs, had them shipped, and then traveled to Florence and Milan to shop for furnishings and accessories.”
He notes that the home’s unique location, with the ocean to the east and the lake to the west, inspired a dual design theme, a kind of aesthetic dialectic. “The idea is to have two completely different experiences in the same house. One is bright, airy, and beachy; the other, moody. Imagine a misty fall morning where you overlook the lake with a fire going and a cup of coffee.”
The beachfront side has a light palette that reflects the colors of sea, sand, and surf. These appear in the dining area, the front kitchen, the living room, and the covered porch that looks out to the ocean. The west side, nicknamed “the lakeside lounge,” features darker colors, a big stone fireplace, and stone floors, with cedar-stained ceiling and walls. Two halves unite to make a whole. “There are sinuous things that pull it all together,” says Sutton. The architectural detail is consistent but rendered in different materials.
Blue, his client’s favorite color, is another subtle yet unifying element. The scullery kitchen is drenched in a shining lacquered blue; a bold blue painting animates the living room; and additional shades of blue appear throughout the home—including the racks supporting geothermal equipment in the HVAC room.
“This house is about creating moments,” Kimmel explains. “Moments of arrival. Of connection to something bigger.” Sutton agrees, adding, “My clients also like surprises, as do I. On every floor, there is something special to experience.”
For example, on the ground floor, called the Garden level, a sculptural winding stair crafted in plaster soars through each story of the house and terminates at a nine-foot oculus at the top. Through a generous custom door, a lush, layered garden beckons, designed to withstand the ocean’s microclimate and nurture wildlife, according to Bob Hruby and Meredith Beach of Campion Hruby Landscape Architects. “Naturalistic plantings are carefully composed to cradle an elliptical pool set within a lawn panel; layered textures, seasonal variation, and ecological sensitivity guided the planting strategy, creating a resilient landscape,” they explain.
The garden, whose character changes with the seasons, can be viewed from the main floor, nicknamed “the Promenade.” Here, at the top of the stairs, a comfortable library beckons, designed to instill a love of reading in the homeowner’s nieces and nephews, says Sutton. In the living area’s turreted nook, a glass bead chandelier above the piano recalls a school of fish.
On the third level, nicknamed the Stateroom, tropical fish frolic in a massive 950-gallon saltwater aquarium. This floor contains five bedrooms, including the primary suite. This “fashion-forward bedroom” is richly textured, with cerused walnut walls inset with Italian wool upholstery by fashion designer Brunello Cucinelli. The bed is by Casa Armani, explains Sutton. The top level, the Bridge, is tucked right into the roof and offers dramatic ocean and lake vistas. Exposed rafters reveal the rustic bones of the house.
This heritage home, built on the edge of the sea, has every possible amenity and something rare: the feeling that someone cares. “Thinking through the hospitality side was very important to him. That was a challenge he gave to us as a team: to find those wonderful little surprises for his guests,” recalls Sutton. For example, in the kitchen, blue pocket doors open to a James Bond-style bar made of rosewood and rainbow onyx. On the stateroom level, rows of neat drawers offer miniature shampoos, soaps, and sundries. Irish throw blankets are stowed in drawers for chilly nights. “There is even a place to put your cell phone down when using the toilet room,” says Sutton.
As one reflects on the myriad details that make this house a home, the Shingle Style, in the hands of Kimmel, reveals a remarkable adaptability and even a chameleon-like quality. Once a symbol of opulence and wealth, this historic form becomes something different in Rehoboth: a stately yet welcoming beach house, fully at ease within its vernacular surroundings.
ARCHITECT: Kimmel Studio Architects
CUSTOM BUILDER: Horizon Builders
INTERIOR DESIGNER: Patrick Sutton
KITCHEN DESIGNER: Lyndon Heath; Gaston & Wyatt
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT: Meredith Beach and Bob Hruby, Campion Hruby Landscape Architects
LANDSCAPE INSTALLATION: Walnut Hill Landscape Company
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: Pilottown Engineering
CIVIL ENGINEER: Scaled Engineering
AUDIO AND HOME AUTOMATION: Atlantic Control Technologies
LIGHTING DESIGN: Orsman Design
POOL DESIGN AND INSTALLATION: Sunset Group
Appliances – Sub-Zero, Wolf, and Cove
Range and Flanking Cabinets – La Cornue
Cabinetry – Lyndon Heath; Gaston & Wyatt
Wood Flooring – Burchette & Burchette
Stone and Tile – Marmi Natural Stone; Boatman & Magnani
Fireplaces – Isokern; Majestic; Town & Country Luxury Fireplaces
Lighting Controls – Lutron
Zoned Geothermal System – Owens Comfort Systems, Inc.
Hot Tub – Diamond Spas
Four-Story Monolithic Staircase – Saienni Stairs
Wooden Windows and Triple-slide Oversized Doors – Tischler und Sohn
Garden Level Steel Windows – COMEP
Steel and Glass Door Systems – Atelier Domingue
Drapery and Shades – Rockville