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There is additional than satisfies the eye at this architect’s Provincetown retreat, from nostalgic touches to exotic aspects that deliver the outside the house in.
The basic Cape exterior honors the Provincetown neighborhood’s historic district designation. Bernese mountain canine Ensign retains view at the front doorway. / Photograph by Michael J. Lee
Lisa Pacheco Robb fell in like with her Provincetown property in traditional rom-com design and style: She occurred to see it when she joined her mates who have been house hunting in 2005. It was not pretty correct for them. But, with renovations, Pacheco Robb realized the unassuming Cape-style house would be excellent for her and her wife, Barbara, and their Bernese mountain puppy, Ensign, so she purchased it. “I believed, Someday down the highway, I could make this into one thing quite magnificent,” she recalls. And in 2017, she did.
The exterior remains unassuming—it’s in a historic district, exactly where most homes appear alike. At 1,800 sq. toes, it is also compact. “But then as soon as you walk via the front doorway, persons are really surprised with what’s on the other aspect,” Pacheco Robb suggests. This is most likely because she is a principal at Pacheco Robb Architects who focuses on patterns that interact the total spectrum of senses. She’s also sentimental and required to infuse the dwelling with memories of her childhood cottage, for case in point, with its wooden display screen doorways, and features from her hometown of New Bedford.
Nostalgic organic supplies, textures, and ending touches set the tone in the course of. Most friends 1st remark on the ceilings: reclaimed snow fence from Wyoming, sourced from Centennial Wood Products and solutions in Montana. “We loved this alternative since you can see a historical past of wind, snow, and solar in the wonderful patina of the wooden,” she states. “It’s amusing how lots of moments men and women arrive in the dwelling and say, ‘Oh, my God. I appreciate this ceiling.’ And then I get to say, ‘Oh, it is Wyoming snow fence!’” Inevitably they ask, “How did it close up in Massachusetts?” she states. “As an architect, I always research for items that incorporate just an additional layer to the architecture as a story and that increase background and memory.”

Ceilings—reclaimed snow fence from Wyoming, sourced from Centennial Wooden Items in Montana—are a discussion piece for site visitors. / Photo by Michael J. Lee

White-oak flooring and conventional shiplap in Benjamin Moore’s “Simply White” develop an informal, beachy tone. / Photograph by Michael J. Lee

The airy kitchen area gets a pop of coloration from candy-red stools made by O&G Studio, operate by Rhode Island School of Layout grads. Lights from British corporation Unique BTC, which sells shipyard-impressed fixtures, remember Pacheco Robb’s New Bedford roots. / Photo by Michael J. Lee

Light streams into the living space, inviting friends to settle on to the Eilersen sofa. The chairs and glass lamps are from Hudson Inside Types in the South Finish proprietor Jill Goldberg located the glass at a flea current market. / Picture by Michael J. Lee
That is the situation with the straightforward white tile backsplash in the kitchen, which mimics the Japanese tradition of shou sugi ban, or charring wood to preserve it. It’s a nod to Pacheco Robb’s review of Japanese structure all through her architecture school times, where by she done her thesis on sensory, experiential environments with Asian influences. “I preferred to bring in supplies that had special tactile qualities,” she says, in particular people that disclosed nature’s magnificence, proper down to the white-oak floors. “Grain tells a tale of the wood and the age of the wood. I come to feel like it’s artwork. You are going to see grain more than and over in my property,” she suggests, which include the white-oak cabinets with a cerused end from Bespoke of Winchester. “I’m making an attempt to make a link to nature.”
Meanwhile, pendant lights higher than the kitchen area island are a “crossover involving industrial and maritime, like what you’d hope to see on the docks around fishing boats. I grew up in New Bedford, which is a fishing town a little something about people lights reminded me of household,” the architect claims. The maritime truly feel was crucial: Her dog is named Ensign, right after all, and she and her spouse are avid boaters. They needed the household to come to feel cozy and inviting, like battening down on a ship all through a storm, even in the sunshine-drenched sitting down place. In retaining with a personal touch, Pacheco Robb did all of the inside layout herself, sourcing the residing place chairs and glass lamps from the South End’s Hudson Inside Designs.
O&G Studio, cofounded by Rhode Island School of Structure alumni, manufactured the kitchen’s ash counter stools working with a stain strategy that brings out the depth of the grain. “One of the things I often attempt to do in my tasks is use neighborhood craftsmen, and serious artisans who make goods from scratch,” Pacheco Robb states. Steel stair stringers have been also fabricated locally by Wellfleet Metal Is effective, with sound oak treads from a Connecticut mill. Pacheco Robb was in the beginning lukewarm about the railing—a playful riff on the shiplap walls—but visitors loved it. “So it in no way came down, and as it turns out, with all those stairs, you will need a railing,” she suggests, laughing. The handrail connected to the wall is a mast from a Beetle Cat sailboat from a boat maker in the vicinity of New Bedford.

For a modern day contact, the visitor mattress is by Belgian furniture makers Ethnicraft. “I appreciate the mixture of regular and contemporary combined alongside one another,” Pacheco Robb states. An ocean-themed print from neighborhood dwelling décor boutique Wildflower of Provincetown hangs earlier mentioned. / Photo by Michael J. Lee

A bathtub anchoring the major bed room seems to be out as a result of sliding doors to a deck. “It’s less than the eaves of the property, and I required it to feel like you have been in a cabin on a boat,” the architect claims. / Photo by Michael J. Lee

Pacheco Robb made the stair stringers, crafted by Wellfleet Metal Works. / Image by Michael J. Lee

The Japanese designers that she analyzed in architecture college delivered inspiration for the floating stairs. A fishing pier painted by Provincetown artist TJ Walton hangs higher than. / Picture by Michael J. Lee

Architect Lisa Pacheco Robb asked Iowa-dependent Aronson Woodworks to custom made-style a sea-blue woodgrain deck—which promptly became her beloved product in the home.
The maritime whimsy carries on at the prime of the stairs, with an summary portray by community artist TJ Walton of a fishing pier at the end of the road. “We appreciate her get the job done, and when we initially bought that painting, it was really right before we renovated the residence. She carried it down Industrial Avenue and hung it herself, and the paint on it was still moist,” Pacheco Robb suggests.
Talking of drinking water, a blue desk by Iowa’s Aronson Woodworks in an upstairs bedroom resembles a waterfall, many thanks to “Claize,” a proprietary woodgrain complete that delivers out the wood’s natural grain. “It’s my beloved factor in the full property. I completely enjoy it,” she says.
In the main bedroom, the bathtub at the foot of the bed was also Pacheco Robb’s idea. “I really like getting baths through the year….. Since the room is for me, I can do whichever I want,” she claims. “On a slide night time, I just open up the door and sit in the bath, and I’m content as can be.”
Architect
Pacheco Robb Architects
Cabinetmaker
Bespoke of Winchester
Contractor
Liam McCooe
Landscape Architect
LeBlanc Jones Landscape Architects

The back again of the house was up-to-date with yellow cedar. South Stop landscape organization LeBlanc Jones Landscape Architects designed the cozy patio. / Photograph by Michael J. Lee