CHIC INTERIORS SUMMER COLOR INNOVATORS & ICONS
With a soothing blue-and-white palette and loads of natural light, a recently remodeled
New England vacation home bridges East Coast charm and a casual West Coast vibe.
IN THE GREAT MELTING POT THAT IS AMERICA, there may be no two regional favors as incompatible as carefree Southern Californian and finty New England Yankee. So when a breezy West Coast girl married into a family that summers on a Massachusetts island favored by generations of Boston Brahmins, the stylistic misunderstandings could have been many. The stakes rose even higher when she asked Los Angeles–based designer Richard Hallberg to create her dream house amid the island’s centuries-old Shingle Style beauties. But instead of a culture clash, the result is a masterpiece of merged sensibilities.
“I wanted the laid-back, indoor-outdoor feeling I grew up with,” says the wife, who spends most of the year in Boston along with her husband and three teenagers. “To me, houses on the East Coast look laced-up even when they’re trying to be relaxed. I wanted the ‘Hallberg look’—California style that’s comfortable and family-focused, but still elegant.” Hallberg laughs. “I didn’t do what was expected, that’s for sure. I nodded to the region by using the usual Cape Cod details—V-groove paneling, crown moldings, rustic stone, and antique wood foors—but the norm here is wicker and chintz. My aesthetic is cleaner. I don’t ever want to re-create a historic home. I’ll leave that to the museums.”
A grid of photographs by Jan Dibbets adds graphic punch to the great room. Cabinet, Formations; table lamps, Collier Webb; occasional table, Matthews & Parker. OPPOSITE, FROM TOP: Club chairs in a Rogers & Goffgon fabric, Formations; coffee table, John Dickinson; foor lamp, Phoenix Day; freplace, Formations; art, Roy Lichtenstein. Custom table; pendant, Stephen Antonson; walls in a Phillip Jeffries grass cloth; fooring, Exquisite Surfaces.
“In my rooms, PROPORTION IS DRAMA,” says designer Richard Hallberg. “I’m not afraid of scale. I think robust is more interesting.”
The dining area is pared down to a few essential elements: wood, stone, and linen. Table, chairs in a DeLany & Long fabric, and candlesticks, Formations; centerpieces, Robert Kuo. OPPOSITE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Custom sofa; custom ottoman in a Kravet fabric; wingback chair in a Pacifc Hide and Leather fabric; armchair, Bernhardt; rug, Elizabeth Eakins. Range, Wolf; wood fooring, Exquisite Surfaces. Armchairs, Janus et Cie; custom sofa in a Ralph Lauren Home fabric; chandelier, Formations; art, Jeff Perrott.
“Even when it comes to WHIMSY, it’s always about balance and knowing when to stop. Beauty happens when there’s nothing to jar your mind. There’s an art to restraint.”
Accordingly, there’s not a trace of Victorian frippery in sight, not even a cabbage-rose print to accompany the classic views of the harbor. “I don’t use prints,” Hallberg says adamantly. “In my rooms, proportion is drama.” To him, the long rustic console lining the great room wall has weight enough to vie with the ocean for attention. “I’m not afraid of scale. I think robust is more interesting.”
Sprawling is encouraged here, with huge nubby poufs taking center stage in the great room. And any inclination for traditional dark antiques gives way before the entry’s shining hexagonal lacquered table and a sunroom sofa with contemporary white wooden grids for arms. “Center lines and grids, harmony and symmetry, they’re simply part of my nature,” Hallberg says.
He points to the way the anthropomorphic legs of the great room’s dining chairs are mimicked by the “paws” on the John Dickinson coffee table across the room. “Even when it comes to whimsy, it’s always about balance and knowing when to stop,” says Hallberg. “Beauty happens when there’s nothing to jar your mind. There’s an art to restraint.” That’s
The sunroom is bathed in soothing shades of pale blue and white. Mulligan’s sofa, David Sutherland armchairs, and custom chairs in Perennials fabrics; coffee table, Crate & Barrel; rug, Bolon. OPPOSITE: Custom headboard in a Perennials fabric; pillow in an Old World Weavers fabric; bedside table, Restoration Hardware; lamp, Phoenix Day; art, Franco Marrocco. For more details, see Sourcebook.
a sentiment also embraced by New Englanders since the Mayfower ran ashore.
With the exception of the spirited art the homeowners collect with the guidance of S3 Contemporary, colors here are consistently serene. The only standout shade is a blue that complements the many watery hues visible out every window. “To me, blue is a neutral. It’s nature, after all,” says Hallberg. To substitute for layers of color, he used “layers of texture,” like the family room sofa with a woven raffa frame set off by sleek linen cushions.
Nothing about the exterior betrays the subversive style within. The house has occupied the same spot for a century, and it was important to the owners that its silhouette remain largely unchanged. The top two foors were actually lifted off during construction while a new frst foor was built, then placed back on top, just so sailors scudding home on the foggy bay could still navigate by its well-known gables. And to family and friends arriving for weekends of sand, surf, and kayaking, its weathered shingles look as familiar as ever— until they open the front door.