Newport Waterfront Residence
In Rhode Island, Gilded Age mansions still stand – their ornate Victorian forms drawing summertime tourists, history buffs and beachgoers alike. While many flock to Newport, a Boston couple established their vacation home in the adjacent Middletown.
In lieu of a traditional build, the clients envisioned a home that would honour the region’s legacy while belonging wholly to the present. Designed by Boston-based Stern McCafferty, with interiors by Poonam Khanna of Unionworks and landscape design by Stimson, the waterfront property reimagines a generous site once occupied by an old Victorian.
The vision draws from the area’s farming heritage, with architecture that remains deferential to its site. Stone walls trace a meandering lineage, while meadows dissolve into a sandy beach and the water’s edge. At its centre, a 76-metre stormwater garden forms a living tapestry of perennials and native trees, threading through the property while restoring its ecology. “Something the clients kept repeating was it’s a once-in-a-lifetime property,” says Khanna.
The new compound comprises low, horizontal volumes – a main house and guest cottage linked by water, light and landscape. “The property drops into the rocky ocean edge that has been worn down by water over millennia,” notes architect David Stern. The couple – she an art collector, he in finance – wanted a place they could grow into, where their children could gather. A muted palette of reclaimed stone and weathered timber allows the architecture to settle gently into the horizon. “The most poetic moment is the opening through the house from the entry out across the pool terrace to the ocean,” says Stern.
Inside, the house balances openness with intimacy. Bedrooms are deliberately neutral, conceived more like guest suites, while the communal spaces carry the weight of family life. The main floor opens to the sea with an Arabescato Vagli marble- and oak-clad kitchen, living area and dining room, while a cocoon-like study and screened porch – furnished with B&B Italia sofas in a Christopher Farr fabric – invite retreat. Upstairs, a lounge connects to a terrace with sweeping views; below, the basement is dedicated to leisure, with a pool table, bar, gym, golf simulator and cinema-scale screen.
The interiors, led by Khanna, mirror the site’s natural stratification. “The prehistoric rock formations right on the edge of the water where this house sits are called puddingstone,” she recalls. Earthier tones anchor the lower level; lighter finishes brighten the main floor; and upstairs, the palette is brightest of all, creating a seamless experience of inside and out. “The interiors mimic the landscape. It’s seamless – you’re inside and outside at the same time.” In the primary bedroom, a simple bed covered in Larsen Fabrics overlooks meadow and ocean through a large window, evoking the sensation of floating in a tree house.
The landscape design extends this dialogue through three distinct journeys: a stormwater ‘water journey’, the breezeway-framed ‘meadow journey’ and a woodland loop layered with fragrant shrubs and trees.
Three years in the making, Newport Waterfront Residence is both grounded and expansive. “It’s really about the light, the air and the landscape,” says Stern. “The architecture just makes room for that.”
Architecture by Stern McCafferty. Interior design by Unionworks. Build by Parker Construction. Landscape design by Stimson.
