By the Bay

Coastal comfort meets dynamic outdoor living in a newly built family home.

On the edge of Eagles Nest Bay in Duxbury, Massachusetts, a timeless shingle-style home was designed with all seasons in mind. To balance comfortable year-round living with a dynamic outdoor program, Saltonstall Architects and Mary LeBlanc Landscape Design worked closely to create a seamless flow from inside out.

“We thought of the outdoor spaces as an extension of the interior spaces of the house,” says Will Saltonstall, owner and principal of Saltonstall Architects. “It’s a pretty public site. One of the challenges was to create a sense of privacy from the street while taking advantage of the immediate marshland and harbor.” With access to a protected tidal tributary and gorgeous views of the bay beyond, the naturally spectacular site required thoughtful spatial planning to optimize the home’s relationship with its surroundings.

Throughout the property, a deliberate emphasis is placed on connectivity. The primary living areas, strategically positioned to face the water, are thoughtfully linked by a continuous rear porch, offering uninterrupted views of the surrounding landscape. “A major goal of the porch was to extend the living space to the outdoors,” notes CJ Wilbur, who served as the lead project architect.

The interiors boast clean lines and coastal elegance, with ample natural light accentuating the warmth of the living spaces. Vast sliding doors offer an easy route in and out of the open concept family, dining, and kitchen areas. Though distinct ceiling treatments give each zone its own character, a continuous floor finish, supplied and installed by Mac Davis Flooring, offers fluidity throughout the main level.

The warm toned, rustic grade European white oak floors—known as Mac Davis Flooring’s highly-coveted Newport line—are complemented by custom-finished stair treads and air grilles. “Not only are these floors incredibly durable, but they’re also engineered for dimensional stability, making them an ideal choice for waterfront homes,” shares Keti Desmarais of Mac Davis Flooring.    

Centered around a charming turret, the first floor layout offers a 180-degree view of both the interiors and the surrounding landscape, creating a harmonious relationship between the two.  A pergola structure in the back gracefully extends into the outdoor living space, while second-floor balconies offer intimate retreats with panoramic views.

Upon entering the main house, an arched cased opening beneath the stairwell reveals stunning views of the water, setting the tone for what lies ahead.

A glass breezeway doubles as a mudroom space, connecting the house to the three-car garage. It invites abundant southern light while enhancing the overall sense of scale and openness.

“The essence of the project is the great location,” says Mary LeBlanc, owner of Mary LeBlanc Landscape Design. “We all did whatever we could not to interfere with those beautiful views, and to enhance the natural environment.” For the softscape, a vision for year-round living played a major role in LeBlanc’s strategic selection of structural and ornamental plantings, with vibrant hues unfolding in every season.

In navigating the undulating topography and conservation requirements, LeBlanc worked closely with the architects and pool contractors at Viola Associates to refine the layout of the dynamic outdoor activity hub, which includes the pool house, pool, spa, fire pit, outdoor kitchen and dining terrace. With environmental care in mind, the amenity space sits on a raised bluestone decking with a silt fence barrier built for erosion control. To optimize beautiful coastal views from the pool and spa built and installed by Viola Associates, the bluestone deck was raised, and retaining walls were set around the pool perimeter. A handsome stone veneer wraps the pool, and echoes the stone on the outdoor kitchen. 

“We wanted the pool house to speak to the main residence, but we also wanted it to have its own identity,” Wilbur emphasizes. With its swooping roof and shingle bracket details, the pool house serves as a charming landmark on the bay. The outdoor retreat is the ultimate entertainment space, ideal for both large and intimate gatherings. “This was a great collaboration with all the players from early on,” Saltonstall reflects. “And that, as always, leads to a great project.” 

(Architect: Saltonstall Architects, Interior Design: Live Well Interiors + Design, Landscape Design: Mary LeBlanc Landscape Design, Builder: Shoreline Remodeling, Landscape Construction: Schumacher Companies, Garage Doors: Designer Garage Doors, Flooring: Mac Davis Flooring, Pool: Viola Associates, Photography: Neil Alexander)