A house in coastal Westerly, Rhode Island, threads the needle between its overall contemporary design and a shingle roof and siding that help the residence fit its New England surroundings.
Centerbrook Architects, a firm with an affinity for modern styles headquartered in a nearby Connecticut town, designed the three-bedroom home at 13 No Bottom Ridge Road in 2004. The same company just completed the Westerly Museum of American Impressionism a few blocks away, according to Nancy Richmond of Residential Properties Inc., who has listed the house for about $2.9 million.
“Contemporary houses are hard to sell in Rhode Island,” she told Homes.com. “Everybody’s shopping for a shingle-style, big old barn, 1930s type of place.”
Perhaps coincidentally, another contemporary house across the road from this one was designed by Charles Moore while he was dean of the Yale University School of Architecture. That house sold for about $1.3 million in 2019.
Westerly draws architects of renown and big-name buyers, like Taylor Swift, who owns a mansion in the town’s Watch Hill neighborhood overlooking Block Island Sound. Just up No Bottom Ridge Road is one of the highest points in the area, affording an excellent view of nearby Fishers Island across the New York state line, Richmond said.
Centerbrook included some notable details in the No Bottom Ridge house, including what Richmond described as an art deco front door with colorful stained glass. There are two lightwells that help define the house, one above the living and dining areas and another above the primary bedroom. The wood inside the house is all Brazilian cherry.
The firm designed the house to fit the needs of the homebuilder and his wife. Since she worked from home, the downstairs level includes a room intended as an office, Richmond said. But everything an owner would need is on the upper level, including a media or family room.
One of the current house’s selling points is that it’s set apart from the road by a small hill, giving the home additional privacy. A picturesque set of stone steps leads from the driveway up the hill to a firepit and seating area amid the trees.
Also across the driveway and next to the main garage, there is another two-car garage with loft space above it that could be used as a space for guests.
There's ample room for a pool behind the house, Richmond said. And while the house’s three bedrooms are not many for the Westerly area, Richmond said, the buyer would be able to put an addition on one side of the house as long as it complies with town zoning rules.
“If I had the money and I were buying it, that’s what I would do,” she said.