Exterior View

Living Room

Playroom

Garden

Private Residence
Chilmark, Massachusetts

This house looks across salt marsh ponds to the Atlantic Ocean from a hillside on the island of Martha's Vineyard. Our design integrates the owners' need for a private retreat with their desire to accommodate frequent gatherings of friends and children.

The informal entry opens directly to a balconied living room, which steps down to a broad sunroom oriented toward the water views beyond. A series of decks creates different outdoor "rooms." Some are secluded and enclosed. Others spill from the sunroom and have built-in seating integrated into planting boxes with native wild flowers.

© 2003 Handlin, Garrahan, Zachos and Associates