Retro kitchen on Cape Cod
Cape Cod Home / Early Summer 2019 / History, Home, Garden & Design
Writer: Julie Craven Wagner
Retro kitchen on Cape Cod
Cape Cod Home / Early Summer 2019 / History, Home, Garden & Design
Writer: Julie Craven Wagner
“From the moment we bought the cottage, we knew that was where we would retire,” the homeowner explains. Since she counts scrapbooking as one of her passions, she recalls collecting magazine clippings of ideas for the future home. As the right time approached to start to implement their plan, and they began to categorize the inspirational ideas they had collected, it became clear that some repeating trends were taking shape among the clippings. “It was remarkable that I had collected the same styles from the beginning of the process, through to the end,” she recalls. “My inspirational triggers hadn’t really changed. We just looked at each other and said, ‘This has to be a beach cottage.’”
A beach cottage yes, but also something entirely different. The nostalgia of a time gone by, filled with memories of a summer childhood on the shores of Cape Cod was feeding the design choices the couple made.
“It all started with the stove,” the homeowner explains. The stove, by Elmira Stove Works, in robin’s egg blue, was responsible for the entire project’s tone. “I was certainly drawn to the style,” she recalls, referring to the mid-century reproduction. “And I knew I could perhaps go as far as the light yellow model. It was my husband who said, ‘But, what about the blue? It’s so nice. And, with white cabinets? I think that would make a real statement.’”
The stove, and the color, started not only a design philosophy for the new home but also spawned a pet project no one saw coming. The process of imagining, building, envisioning and finally producing this unique residence has become the subject of a website, a blog, a substantial social media presence and ultimately a soon-to-be-published book, “This New Cottage: A Tale of Color, Nostalgia and the Challenges of Rebuilding a Cape Cod Cottage.”