Talk about a mismatch: While the exterior of this rambling 1976 beach house on Morris Island in Cape Cod would appear to indicate soaring, spacious interiors, the opposite was true when architects Monte French and Alex Yoon took their first walk-through.

“The house has strong lines and good bones, but its spaces and features were showing its age,” says the Boston-based firm. “The primary bedroom suite was small and cramped, the kitchen was designed as a smaller unit typical of its era, and the living areas were bifurcated and disjointed, with one large main living area and several smaller but practically unusable or unpleasant spaces.”

Before: Front Exterior

After: Front Exterior

The owners, a family of four, wanted to be able to host extended family and friends easily in the home, yet the disjointed layout did little to serve this aim. The architects identified the need for clearly defined private quarters, where a family or couple could easily retreat from the social activity, blended with convivial open social spaces and alcoves for smaller groups.

To accomplish this, the design team opened up walls in the living spaces, creating better sight lines to existing windows and the exterior. Next, they added a two-story addition that hosts two bedroom suites stacked one upon another. An elevated, glassed-in hallway connects the addition to the rest of the house.

Before: Rear Exterior

After: Rear Exterior

The site is located on the high point of Morris Island, ensconced in woods and mature vegetation, with an easy walk to the beach. “The advantage to the site is that it’s very linear from the front of the lot to the rear of the lot,” says French. The lot’s shape inspired the placement of the new addition in line with the rest of the house.

By opening up walls in the existing home and carefully placing windows in the new addition, the firm was able to enhance site views and better connect the home to its surroundings. “The primary goal of the new design was to utilize the length of both the site and house to create a linear arrangement of spaces, connecting new and old with extended view corridors along a main circulation spine,” says the firm. “Redesigned smaller ancillary living spaces branch out above, below, and out from the kitchen to offer more private and smaller spaces to gather.”

Before: Entry and Kitchen

After: Kitchen and Living Room

Before: Second-Floor Lounge

After: Second-Floor Lounge

Shop the Look

Before: Primary Bedroom Suite

After: Bedroom Suite Addition

“The main house can be quite boisterous,” says Yoon. Separating the new addition from the main house with the glass corridor privatizes the primary wing, and creates a pleasant sequence—as though you’re moving through the landscape to a more serene section of the house." layout="" credit="Jane Messinger" photoUserId=""/>

Before: Garage Lounge

After: Garage Suite

Related Reading:

Before & After: A Cape Cod-Style Home Becomes a Modern Marvel

A Cape Cod Prefab Fans Out Toward the Forest in Three Branches

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Monte French Design Studio / @mfds_bos

Builder: Haycon/Patrick Haydon

Structural Engineer: H+O Engineering

Landscape Design: Michael D'Angelo Landscape Architecture

Cabinetry: Tradern Fine Woodworking

Also Appears In

Before & After: A Disjointed Cape Cod Home Is Streamlined and Synced to Its Site