Inside a Modern Nantucket Home Designed for Minimalist Coastal Living

Designing a home on Nantucket is an exciting endeavor—and a privilege. The consistent challenge is how to deliver something new and meaningful without violating the island’s strictly enforced vernacular. One couple desiring something unique for their property reached out to Workshop/APD, a New York City-based firm with four satellite offices, including one on-island. Workshop/ APD was their first choice because of its ability to achieve previously unseen levels of modernity while satisfying the town’s rigorous building codes.

“We are known as the modern guys on Nantucket,” says Principal Andrew Kline, who collaborated with Associate Principal Michael Luft Weissberg and Principal Nicole Ficano on the project. Workshop/APD’s assets include vertical integration, with architecture and interior design handled under one roof. It is also well-versed in the historic commission’s thick rule book, a must for successful approvals. “These were dream clients because they love modern design and pushed for something streamlined, highly edited, and simplified,” says Kline of the overall brief.

With these three adjectives in mind, the firm delivered a layout with five rectangular pavilions emanating from a central spine. Outside, the pavilions boast cedar shingles, simple trim, and steep gables. Their forms represent a stripped-down version of coastal style. In short, they are modern but still fit in. “If you want to get architecturally nerdy about this, Nantucket’s original Quakerstyle homes were very simple; it was only later that additive massing became the norm,” relays Kline.

Function wise, these pavilions have various advantages. They allow for three or even four sides of view- and light-embracing glass. Their walls also concentrate the purpose of each space. In this case, the five dwellings form a dedicated entry, combined kitchen/dining, bedroom suite, home office, and family room. Only two pavilions have living space above, allowing for cathedral ceilings in the remaining three. Above the first-floor suite is a primary suite, complete with his and hers closets and his and hers bathrooms linked by a shared shower. Above the office pavilion is a guest bedroom, media room, and wet bar.

The final layout lacks a formal living room—from the outset, the clients knew they preferred spending time in smaller lounge areas and outdoor destinations. Overall, the three-acre property includes a guest house, four-season room off the kitchen, various decks, and a linear poolscape with multipurpose pavilion (a modern take on a traditional pergola). Miroslava Land + Design executed the landscape design.

“They were very architecturally savvy clients,” notes architect Luft Weissberg. “They knew how they wanted to live, allowing us to achieve a very specific and efficient program.” Principal Nicole Ficano directed the interiors. Says the interior designer: “They wanted a sense of place but with a minimal approach. They asked for their interiors to feel effortless and comfortable and calm.” To achieve a minimalist whole, Workshop/ APD limited the materials to just three main ingredients: plaster, grained oak, and terrazzo on the floors. “The oak adds warmth,” says Luft Weissberg. “We were really specific about how and where we used it, creating purposeful rhythm room to room.”

Ficano worked diligently to keep selections, from fixtures to furnishings, monochromatic in a light “mushroom” tone. Every fabric was purposefully neutral, without skewing pink or yellow or green. This allowed the designer to introduce color via art. “These clients have been collecting for years,” notes Ficano, “and we put systems in place so the art could be appreciated and even rotated, just like in a professional gallery.”

In the kitchen and dining pavilion, wood cabinetry by VIC emulates furniture with an assortment of drawers and Shaker-style legs. Paneled appliances blend seamlessly into the cabinetry. Two islands command the room’s center, while a dining table, a custom Workshop/APD design, sits neatly in the gable end. Here, a recessed niche protects a duo of hanging artworks (color impasto on board) by Italian artist Ettore Spalletti.

While Spalletti’s artworks are placid, a bright blue contemporary piece by American artist Kate Shepherd (enamel on durabond panel) enlivens the family room. Here, a custom sectional, upholstered in “Lava Salt” by Jiun Ho, a performance linen, invites lounging. The Matsu cocktail table set by Workshop Collection, like many of the furnishings, is both sculptural and functional.

From the primary suite, where a linen duvet drapes purposefully onto the floor, to the corridors, where contemporary art delights, the interior is a master class in sweating the details. As a result, this seasonal retreat is a study in restraint. Continuous editing left room for what the clients desired most of all: a sense of peace.

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