Pear Tree Point Beach House, Darien, Connecticut

What are you doing New Year’s Eve? We are sticking close to home as we often do. I don’t mean to be a party pooper, but I don’t enjoy being out on NYE. I prefer being home with my kids either at home, at the beach house or family cabin. This year it is home for us. We try to make the night special for the kids. I have fun food planned for them this year. Sometimes neighbors come over which is what is happening tonight. I kinda miss being at the beach this time of year. It is so peaceful and quiet.

I’ve been doing a little research for a couple of beach projects due to begin after the holidays and found this lovely home in Pear Tree Point Beach in Darien, Connecticut designed by Austin Patterson Disston. Thanks to Design Chic who today posted about another project from this amazing firm of architects I went on their site to see more of their work and saw this home. Make sure you pop over to Design Chic to see the house they featured today. If you don’t follow Design Chic, I’m sure you will be hooked. It’s one of my favorite blogs and they are a pair of my favorite bloggers, mother and daughter team from North Carolina, Kristy Woodson Harvey and Beth Woodson. Make sure you visit them and tell them I said hello! Now back to the feature. Feast your eyes on this beauty!

I wish I was spending New Year’s Eve in this beauty! Isn’t this home a perfect example of design rooted in tradition, yet fresh and innovative? The complex situation the architect firm had to design around was this home was built on a corner lot overlooking the beach. The architects paid close attention to providing the homeowner with as much privacy as possible. Not only did the architects achieve their goal but the outcome is breath-taking. The private areas of the home were retained while maximum views of the ocean were utilized. I love the idea of front, side and upper porches on a beach house. I also like how the architects designed a series of buildings and created a compound type living arrangement rather than trying to create a single structure which included all which allows for nice transitions between the guest quarters, pool and entertaining spaces. The mix of materials used on the three structures create interesting visual textures which marry well without being the same. The main house is shingle-clad in cedar, while the garage features board-and-batten and the guest/pool house is stone made of thin ashlar layup. The result is so complimentary, yet so different. To see more of Austin Patterson Disston’s projects and to learn more about this creative firm visit their website here.