New England Home, "Wit & Whimsy"

Down a sweep of lawn and pasture, this big house looks like a collection of small houses. Greek Revival-inspired pavilions are connected by a Shingle Style link, uniting various regional traditions. The elliptical ceiling of the kitchen eating area looks like a shallow, tented canopy.

The apparent front door opens onto a covered arcade that takes you past a walled garden to the real front door. The parts of the house are grouped around this contained garden, while also looking out to the cove.

This house outside Boston was built of Chester County fieldstone to evoke Pennsylvania stone farmhouses the owners had admired when they were growing up around Philadelphia. The house and outbuildings, though new, have the feeling of having grown and evolved over time.