Squibnocket Compound

Squibnocket Farm, Chilmark, MA

On 215 acres of private, formerly agrarian waterfront land, amid rolling hills and old stone walls, this house complements its bucolic setting in both its relatively intimate scale and casual style. It also balances its owners’ desire for a large compound with zoning restrictions limiting building heights to eighteen feet.

The gambrel roof allows the second story to maximize the square footage of livable space, and the H-shaped plan conceals the various wings, hiding the overall size while creating areas for outdoor rooms. Meanwhile, the shingle style, fieldstone chimneys, and cupolas recall the rural vernacular architecture of the area’s farming past.

The arrival sequence reinforces the natural setting, foreshadows the home’s timelessness, and celebrates the owners’ passion for classic cars. From the street, one barely glimpses the house, which is reached by a cobblestone grass-strip drive. This leads through a porte-cochère to a motor court framed by fieldstone walls and gardens. Here, the home is revealed.

Sun from windows and clerestory dormers bathes the interiors. The ocean-facing spaces—the breakfast nook, the great and living rooms, a study, and a bedroom—give on to enclosed and open porches with fireplaces or fire pits, all aligned with a future pool that will complete this covetable family campus.