Clockwise from near right: The expanded master suite includes linen-clad walls and a custom upholstered bed with a pop-up TV hidden in the footboard. The setting, no surprise, was a draw for the homeowners. Hand-picked marble slabs surround the tub and line the shower in the master bath. Facing page: The master bedroom’s bergère chair, framed by silk draperies, makes an ideal spot for quiet relaxation.
to gather light streaming in from the linen-draped windows. It’s all very heady, but obviously also comfortable, the mark of a talented designer who never forgets people must live in these rooms, too, which brings us back to the heart of every home—the kitchen. “I believe a kitchen should always be as beautiful as the rest of the house,” says Daniels, “that way there’s nothing to hide and no need for closed doors.” Along with help from Donna Venegas, principal of Boston’s Venegas and Company, and Meaghan Moynahan, the kitchen-design company’s lead technical designer, Daniels has devised a room both functional and fashionable. A backsplash of snowy quilted tiles—“reminiscent of a Chanel purse,” says Daniels with a small chuckle—seems almost too chic to also be durable. Since the kitchen now melts directly into the family room, Daniels maintained a similar palette there where she married custom Chanel-style sofas, a hand-carved Tucker Robbins bangle side table and a custom braided rug from Steven King. If the location weren’t so unbelievably seductive, everyone would probably be content remaining indoors forever. But in addition to the vistas, the grounds themselves demand attention. Manchester-by-the-Sea landscape architect Lolly Gibson of Laura Gibson Landscape Design has waved a magic wand over the site, removing years of encroaching vegetation that obscured some of the rocky outcropping’s best features. “The design goal,” she says, “was to create spaces for modern living and maximize views.” With overgrown trees carefully pruned, natural light pours into the home’s interior and the scenery pops. In keeping with the house, Gibson also excavated land between ledges and installed a dry stone riverbed with a sinuous iron railing at the ledge’s top. The artful railing speaks to the one at the front door where—talk about seeing to details—diamond-shaped boxwood parterres echo the door’s glass pattern. At the heart of each parterre is a lead container holding a fragrant gardenia. What better flower, we ask you, for such a glorious home? •
The lofty almost-up-in-theclouds site provides outrageous views of a boat-filled harbor and the ocean. There are nonstop gulls soaring by and salty sea-scented breezes ruffling the trees.
Resources For more information about this home, see page 153. July–August 2013 New England Home 87
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