Excellence in New Single Family Home Design & Construction

For 25 years, Sea-Dar Construction has been working with Boston and Cape Cod clients who are passionate about their projects. The firm partners with the industry’s most creative, talented architects and subcontractors to create striking and complex homes that epitomize quality and refinement.

Built by Sea-Dar Construction and designed by Ruhl Walker Architects, The House of Shifting Sands is conceived as a collage of overlapping, cantilevered planes and volumes that culminate in a large living/dining space defined by an asymmetrically arcing copper roof plane. For their work on the project, Sea-Dar Construction won silver for Excellence in New Single Family Home Design & Construction at the 2016 BRICC Awards.

The Vision:

In designing this home, sited gently on the lower slope of a dramatic 60-foot coastal bank and surrounded by miles of undeveloped Cape Cod National Seashore beaches and scrub pines, the client was seeking a warm, modern beach house that would be more than just a place to enjoy uninterrupted ocean views and sea breezes. The owners dreamed of a house that would work equally well as both a year-round family “camp” and also as a “thinking retreat” for collaborating with their colleagues. In answer to the client’s call, the main living quarters were developed with a “bridge” to a separate art/yoga/thinking studio that seemingly floats 14 feet above the ground.

The Notable Features:

Adding to the house’s “camp” persona are hidden structures sprinkled throughout the site, including a deck with an integral hot tub; outdoor showers both near the beach path as well as the parents’ bedroom and hot tub; a remote deck set up for tents; a small hilltop shed with running water and an espresso machine for uninterrupted working; a half basketball court dug into the hill; hiking trails; hammocks in a gnarled oak grove; two separate fire pits set in sandy sitting areas; and a shady dining area for large gatherings below the raised main deck.

The Challenges:

From the beginning, it was critically important to the builder, the architect, and the homeowner—as well as the town’s conservation commission and National Seashore representatives—that the house fit into its fragile site seamlessly. The design team and Sea-Dar responded with great care by developing the house to curve softly with the natural topography and by envisioning the new native, drought-resistant landscaping growing tight to the house—as if both had always been there together.

In addition to their award-winning new construction and renovation projects, Sea-Dar Construction offers homeowners a variety of property services, including seasonal maintenance, 24/7 emergency response, and specialized home projects.