With the rugged beauty of the coastline and proximity to Portland, Cape Elizabeth balances access to nature, culture, and everyday conveniences. Its drawback? A dearth of building opportunities. So, when a sliver of land hit the market, a Maine-loving couple from St. Louis immediately made an offer. Once accepted, they contacted local architecture firm Woodhull to tackle a contemporary design.
The narrow lot dictated the home’s distinctive, slender shape which draws curious admiration from passersby. The crisp white clapboard home is 16-feet-wide-by-78-feet-long and topped with a steeply pitched gable roof. The windows emphasize its verticality, lending a playful vibe. “We call it Matchstick House because it’s so long and skinny,” architect David Duncan Morris says. “We believe that architecture should be approachable and pleasant.”
Morris likens the process of designing for the narrow swathe to threading the eye of a needle with a house. That said, sacrifices were scarce. The 1,900-square-foot home includes three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, a spacious living area, a kitchen with a walk-in pantry, and an entry that doubles as a mudroom. There is also a nearly 450-square-foot deck, leafy views, and copious sunlight. “The clients didn’t have to give up anything,” he says. “Every space is gracious and comfortable.”
The half-acre of land presented additional conditions that contributed to the design challenge. The stormwater line for a nearby sports field bisects the property, necessitating a 10-foot setback. Furthermore, a neighbor’s two-car garage was located in the front portion of the plot. (The couple since purchased the neighboring home, re-deeded the garage to themselves, then re-sold the home.)
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Rather than aligning the front of the home with its neighbors, the team, which includes Bud Angst, Johan Kinnucan, and Coleman Motley, pushed it deep into the lot. The positioning meets setback regulations for the stormwater line, which cuts across the front of the property, and provides the couple with a buffer from the busy road. It also grants them privacy on both sides because the windows look to the yards beyond the neighbors’ homes instead of at the dwellings themselves.
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It’s three steps up to the home’s dark blue door from a walkway of horizontal concrete pavers, then one step down into the slate-tiled entry. The space is modeled on a traditional Japanese entryway called a genkan which is typically a step lower than the rest of the house. “We use that quite a bit in our work,” Morris says. “It helps prevent debris from being tracked into the main part of the house.”
The sightline from the front door extends to the far end of the living room, its modern woodstove pulling the eye through the bright white interior with white oak floors. A slider at the left opens onto a deck that hugs the south side of the house, and a walnut island anchors the kitchen with blue floor-to-ceiling cabinetry at the right.
The owners wanted the cooktop in the island, a request that Morris initially pushed back on. Turns out, the clients’ instincts were correct. “We would have lost a lot of glass if we had to add a hood to the sink wall,” the architect says. “Every room has light and views on both sides to visually expand the perception of space.”
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Whenever possible, Morris dropped the windows to the floor to help the spaces feel bigger. The tall, skinny window on the front façade which belongs to the pantry — even a typically windowless room is filled with light in this home — shows off the floating stair. “An open, architectural stair was one of the first things the client mentioned in the design process,” the architect says. “It allows for the continuous open feel from front-to-back because you can see through it.” The stair leads to an office loft, along with two guest bedrooms and a full bath.
The living room pushes 5 feet beyond the main body of the building into the landscape, its glassy corner providing an expansive connection to the outdoors. “The close relationship to the light, grass, and trees makes it so you have no real understanding that that the house is only 16-feet wide,” Morris says. That the vaulted ceiling reaches 21½-feet high expands the volume too.
The primary suite, complete with windowed walk-in closet, is tucked behind the living space. “The rooms become progressively more private as you move toward the back,” Morris points out. The bedroom enjoys southern and western exposures, as well as a northern one when the pocket door between it and the generous bath disappears into the wall.
Morris is tickled by the comments the home prompts.
“Why is it so skinny?” and “Does it feel tight?” are two common ones. “It feels bigger than you could ever believe,” he answers. “It’s a real magic trick of a house and I couldn’t be more proud of it.”
Resources
Architecture and Contractor: Woodhull, woodhullmaine.com
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Landscape Architect: David Maynes Studio, davidmaynesstudio.com
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Marni Elyse Katz is a contributing editor to the Globe Magazine. Follow her on Instagram @StyleCarrot. Send comments to [email protected].