The New England Shingle Style Residence

A Shingle Style home by Charles Hilton Architects brings traditional grace and modern tech to the Connecticut coast.

3 MIN READ

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The New England Shingle Style Residence was years in the making—for more than half a decade, the clients were searching for the perfect beachside site for a new vacation home. “They would call once in a while and ask me to look at a property on or near the water, but they never found the right thing,” says principal Charles Hilton, of Greenwich, Conn.–based Charles Hilton Architects, who has worked with the family on residential projects since 1994. But when this three-acre parcel in Riverside, Conn., went up for sale, the clients pounced. “It’s direct waterfront on Long Island Sound, with a 180-degree, panoramic view,” Hilton says. “As the coast goes, it’s very picturesque. It’s got nice layers of scenery as you look out towards the water.”

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The style of the home was informed by the locale and harks back to the traditional vernacular design of the region. “We think the Shingle Style is particularly well suited to coastal applications, especially in New England,” Hilton says. But it’s hardly the only traditional style the firm specializes in—in fact, Hilton intentionally doesn’t specialize at all. “We believe in being responsive to the site and the clients, because sites, people, and environments are so different depending on where we work. The design solutions have that same breadth,” he says.

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Here in Riverside, Hilton and his team turned to their extensive library to bring to bear traditional motifs dating back centuries in a home that still features contemporary creature comforts. The 10,180-square-foot house is clad in Alaskan yellow cedar shingles, which were left untreated on the roof so that they’ll weather to a silver finish. On the elevations, the shingles were finished with a gray, oil-based stain to “keep it a little cleaner, crisper, fresher, and consistent,” Hilton says. A thick veneer of stone at the base of the two-story home was formed from reclaimed stones sourced by the mason.

Inside, the spaces are tailored to be formal, such as in the dining room and main living room; traditional, as in the study, with its mahogany beams and fireplace; and casual, as in the family room, depending on the intended use and location in the house. But all benefit from modern touches such as geothermal heating and cooling, a co-gen system for on-site energy production, and spray-foam insulation to ensure a comfortable indoor environment.

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Opening the space to the panoramic views and landscaped site was hugely important to the clients as well, because “they have always loved and been drawn to the water,” Hilton says. French and standard doors open many of the first-floor rooms to porches, which line most of the home’s beachfront side; windows line each room, and on multiple sides wherever possible. The number of mullions was carefully considered because “you want to have a traditional feel inside and out, yet you want to be open to the water,” Hilton says, noting also that “people are getting more comfortable with big expanses of glass.” To that end, he oversized many of the panes downstairs to maximize views, and used cottage windows upstairs (with divided lites above and vision glass below) to preserve the aesthetic without blocking sight lines to the beach and water. And Hilton, who says the house “seems to be living well,” has gotten to appreciate those views himself: “Whenever I go there, the water is different—it has such character there,” he says.

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Project: New England Shingle Style Residence, Riverside, Conn.
Architect: Charles Hilton Architects, Greenwich, Conn.
General Contractor: Davenport Contracting
Interior Designer: Katherine Crowdin Inc.—Amy Andrews
Landscape Architect: Rutherford Associates
Living Space: 10,180 square feet
Cost: Withheld

About the Author

Katie Gerfen

Katie Gerfen is the former editor-in-chief of ARCHITECT, as well as the former editor of Custom Home.

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