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HomeDesignThe setting is first, structures second at this coastal Massachusetts retreat

The setting is first, structures second at this coastal Massachusetts retreat


A religion teacher asked for his home and adjacent cottage to take a back seat to a 72-acre parcel of ancient marshland.

“When we’re starting a building,” “We’ll find the most stunning spot on the property and make sure it’s not where we’re building,” says architect David Duncan Morris. “If you capture the most beautiful spot with a building, you’ve really done something.” Have done bad, Haven’t you?”

However, this approach becomes a little more challenging when a property is so remarkable, so abundant with natural beauty, that there are an infinite number of sites that could be “most beautiful.” Such was the case with 72 acres of land in Gloucester, Massachusetts, a wild landscape of rocks and forests interspersed with marshy meadows and waterways.

After several years of debating whether or not they wanted to take on this project, Christopher Crotty and Julia Barry hired design-build firm Woodhull to create a multi-building complex on this wooded 72-acre piece of coastal property in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Listed.

Christopher Crotty and Julia Barry enlisted design-build firm Woodhull to create a multibuilding compound on a 72-acre coastal property in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

trent bell

Christopher Crotty and Julia Barry, owners of this untamed extension, came to design-build firm Woodhull, where Morris is a principal, in 2019 wanting to create a home that would leave the land exactly as they found it, as much as they could. Could – a goal that matches the architect’s ethos. Julia recalls, “Chris and I had this understanding that the way to connect to this land was to develop it as little as possible.”

The cottage, a place used by Chris for his work as a Dharma teacher, is situated on a rocky knoll, deliberately not occupying the top of the hill so as to walk as lightly as possible on the ground.

It includes a cottage, a retreat mostly used by Chris for his work as a Dharma teacher. It is situated on a rocky mound, deliberately not occupying the top of the hill. “It’s not a place you would think of building a building,” says architect David Morris.

trent bell

The property’s former owners had already equipped it with water and electricity, but the project will require several site visits to determine where the structure will go. “The amount of beauty here in every direction is staggering,” Morris says. “Often, especially in waterfront properties, the view is in one direction, and that tells you where you’re going to build. But this property was a little different because it’s landlocked.”

The final design plan is not limited to just one view. It consists of a main house as well as a maker’s workshop – Julia is a ceramicist and consultant, Chris a woodworker and Buddhist teacher – and a cottage that takes advantage of the many views on offer.

The first design plans for the cottage were

While the first design idea was “too fancy,” the couple say, the finished structure is exactly what they wanted: a simple cottage designed for solitude and reflection. Cedar siding covers its exterior.

trent bell

See the full story on Dwell.com: The setting is first, structures second at this coastal Massachusetts retreat
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