Photo by Peter Mauss / esto.com
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence
Summers on Martha’s Vineyard are cherished by Diana and Roy Vagelos, their four children, their children’s spouses and their seven grandchildren. The Vagelos family travels from all over the country to meet on the island off the Massachusetts coast. “They think summers in the Vineyard are better than anything else,” Diana says. So after decades of crowding into rental homes each summer, in 1998 the Vageloses purchased 80 acres overlooking the Vineyard Sound and the Elizabeth Islands and enlisted South Mountain Company as their builder.
All told, the family needed space and arranged to build four houses over time. The first main house, if too large, would disturb the wooded site’s natural balance and displace several large oak trees. So South Mountain’s designers and builders paid particular attention to how the homes would blend into the landscape, and suggested two smaller houses connected by a covered breezeway.
The first home and a guest house were secured into the woods near the water. The family, after exploring their land, chose a hilltop spot with spectacular views for the third house. “For several years we would hike up there, rest and meditate, and think how beautiful it was,” Diana says. “We couldn’t not put the house there—it was just too good.”
The hillside site was magnificent, but was challenging. “Our biggest concern was keeping the house from breaking the tree canopy above it,” South Mountain cofounder John Abrams explains. “The house would have this wildly expansive view, but we didn’t want it to be too much a part of everyone else’s view from the water.”
“We always keep in mind not just what the family sees from inside, but also what the community sees from outside,” says South Mountain co-owner and designer Derrill Bazzy, who managed the project. “This site was very visible from the water, so we tucked the home’s second floor up into the roof line, and from the water it looks like a one-and-a-half-story house instead of a three-story house. Even though it’s perched, it’s somewhat settled in.”
The water views were down a north-facing slope, presenting another dilemma. “It was easy to get fixated on this stunning view,” Bazzy says, “but we had to think about really windy, cool days—about having nice spaces without the view that are protected from rain and get southern sun.”
Northern exposure made it more difficult to accommodate the Vageloses’ wish that their home be filled with sunlight so the designers opened up the house so sunlight from the south side could spill through. On the north side, a large uncovered terrace overlooks the hillside and the water.
Altered Plans
Abrams and the South Mountain team were glad for the solid relationship they’d built with the Vagelos family when it came time to build the covered walkway. As soon as the posts went up for the breezeway, everyone agreed it would be quite unattractive.
Abrams took a deep breath and suggested an alternative to the roofed structure: Carry an umbrella. “John was funny; he said he would make sure we had a place to keep umbrellas so we could go from house to house even in bad weather,” Diana says. “Next thing we knew, we had two terra-cotta chimney pots, one at the main house, one at the back door of the guest house, with two umbrellas in each one. Who could say no to that?”
Salvaged Wood, Local Artisans
Designed to offer not only large gathering spaces but also quiet, intimate spots, the 3,900-square-foot hillside home is used by several different families at once. Its open floorplan accommodates multiple families, and the designers provided plenty of cozy nooks and crannies. “The kitchen can handle several cooks, and people can spread out into the rest of the great room,” Abrams says. “But they also can close the pocket doors to the music room or retreat to the study off the stairs for some quiet.”
The expansive, airy great room was designed around massive white-pine timbers reclaimed from a Providence, Rhode Island, warehouse. “We really love the soft color and the traces of history in the wood,” Bazzy says.
“The wood is so beautiful, and the carpentry’s to die for,” Diana adds.
Much of the home’s exterior and interior finishes are designed from logs that sank to the bottom of Florida’s Choctawhatchee River around the turn of the 20th century. In addition, sassafras trees from the site were used for the entryway. “So much of what happens with our interiors starts with the wood,” South Mountain co-owner and interior designer Dierdre Bohan says. “It really informs what the space will be like, and everything then balances and highlights the wood.”
Stone is also an important detail in the rustic interiors. Bazzy tells of a mason who searched stoneyards until he found a single piece of arched granite (an old roadway curb) for the fireplace hearthstone. “That’s the beauty of the way we build—we can let our subcontractors and carpenters experiment,” he says. The work of local artisans is featured prominently in their home—from handpainted bathroom tiles to artwork from island galleries—and that’s exactly how the Vageloses wanted it. “We feel like we’re good friends with everyone who’s contributed to our houses,” Diana says. “And that just feels right.”
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