Vineyard Vibe
Cape Cod Home / Autumn 2017 / Home, Garden & Design, People & Businesses
Writer: Julie Craven Wagner / Photographer: Sean Litchfield
Vineyard Vibe
Cape Cod Home / Autumn 2017 / Home, Garden & Design, People & Businesses
Writer: Julie Craven Wagner / Photographer: Sean Litchfield
A young family strikes a chord for the next generation of memories on Martha’s Vineyard
Online only: See more photos of this Vineyard home
Creating beautiful music is a thoughtful and personal process, be it a complex symphony or a stripped bare acoustical arrangement. It is no wonder, that a relationship started from a shared love of singing as enthusiastic members of an all-male a capella group, has found a comfortable and familiar rhythm, like that of the songs of summer. Such is the case with Kyle Sheffield, AIA, principal at LDa Architecture & Interiors of Osterville, and Clay Rives. The two met and sang together at Connecticut College and then re-connected on the Vineyard as alumni of the tight-knit and perennially popular Vineyard Sound one summer.
That’s how connections and friendships seem to evolve in a special place like Martha’s Vineyard in the summer. So it was only natural that, while on a beach one summer a few years ago, Emily, Clay’s wife, casually asked how Kyle might interpret and envision her childhood home in Vineyard Haven. As Emily explained she had recently acquired the house that was currently serving as an active year-round rental, Kyle began to sketch in the sand his vision that the waves threatened to erase forever. Thankfully, the conversation sparked enough interest and inspiration; the trio soon found themselves reviewing design plans.
Built around the end of the 19th century, the house is a modest structure and somehow, despite its 1,200 square feet, previous owners had carved out a second story apartment to capitalize on the busy rental market. Emily and Clay’s initial desire was to simply update the kitchen and baths so that they could enjoy the house themselves. What resulted was a full house renovation that honors and acknowledges the simple New England architecture from a very modest period in our history.