Rhode Island Beach House

Overlooking the Atlantic from the southern tip of Rhode Island, this new-build residence—inspired by charming, rose-covered Nantucket cottages—masks its impressive square footage behind a carefully conceived façade. The pieces of its design, including an entrance nestled between what look like enclosed porches under gabled dormers, minimize the scale.

Inside, antique heart-pine floors extend through spacious, light-filled rooms whose ceiling heights seem inconceivable from the home’s outward appearance. Setting floor joists into the foundation allows this architectural sleight of hand, creating spaces a foot and half taller than what might otherwise have been possible.

Multipaned windows harken back to an earlier time and provide impressive views. A continuous band of them in the kitchen looks to the ocean, while French doors line the living and dining areas, where a double-sided fieldstone fireplace serves as a room divider and heat source. An attached carriage house offers guests private quarters and entry.