Reflections on Casual Elegance

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Featured Homes

THE PROJECT: Recreating and applying the traditional aspects of Tidewater architecture to a new build that will house a next-generation Eastern Shore family with young children. 

THE PLACE: A lovely plot of land located on a subtle elevation in Talbot County that overlooks the Wye River.

EXECUTING THE PLAN: This family chose the experience of Focus Construction, Ltd. of Easton and the architectural expertise of Pamela P. Gardener, AIA, also of Easton to navigate the complexities of a new build on the footprint of a home that was previously sited there. Laura Butler of Butler Interior Design of Kent Island was then brought in to provide the aesthetic, vibe, and tactile qualities that make a house a home. 

Like a lid-busting pot of crabs on the stove or the refreshing taste of an orange crush in summer, there are some things that are just synonymous with Eastern Shore living and culture. Among them is a style of architecture known as Tidewater Traditional. Known for its characteristic gables, cedar-shingle rooves, and paired chimneys, this style of home came to prominence along the coastal areas of the southern United States in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. 

This vernacular style of home was built to advantageously tap into the region’s most widely available woods and other materials prized for their ability to manage moisture, allow ventilation, and withstand intense summer heat. 

While there are a number of original Tidewater Traditional homes in various conditions still standing in our counties and along our waterways, there are also those who seek to honor this centuries-old tradition by replicating the style and adapting it for modern-day application. 

The Architect’s Exterior Notes

“One of the things that we chose was certainly a very traditional vernacular of the Eastern Shore, a telescoping house where you have the main bay and then you have wings telescoping off of it of lesser importance.”

This approach, says Gardener, was very reminiscent of the structure that was formerly situated there, and was one that the family wanted to carry through to their new dwelling. 

Particular highlights of this residence from an exterior point of view include its customized half dormers and the traditional detailing in its cornices, trim, and shutters.

“We were fortunate in that we were able to use elegant materials on the exterior, the cedar roof, which really sets it off, because that was really the way an old house would’ve been rather than asphalt or anything [else],” Gardener explains. 

A small rather understated entry portico was an addition chosen for the front of the home, that is an often seen calling card of traditional Tidewater architecture. 

Pulling all the aspects of the home’s exterior together, is its purposeful siting along the river. “It sits up on a rise above a beautiful bay that’s basically untouched, and it’s just very, very emblematic of the Eastern Shore and the beautiful nature we have here.”

Leaning into the Landscape

Capitalizing on that beautiful nature would be the priority when designing and executing the flow of the home’s interior. And while aspects of Tidewater architecture worked wonderfully well for its exterior, Gardener knew the smaller, enclosed footprints that early era traditionalists lived with would not be suitable for her present-day couple with small children. 

“They’re a contemporary, growing family, and they wanted to have a large kitchen that’s adjacent to dining room and living room just because that’s the way we all live now,” Gardener says.

And to every room, she adds, she wanted to provide ultimate views to the native, surrounding landscape. This was accomplished in the plan by blanketing the back of the home in windows.

“Watching the changing wildlife and the waterfowl as the seasons change is magical. I mean, it’s wonderful. You have the geese in the fall, and you have the wood ducks and the whatnot in the spring. Not to mention the fish. And the heron fishing for the fish,” Gardener says.

The floorplan would then include a main-level great room with a combined living and dining space that featured classic, wood-burning fireplaces with white mantles and red-brick surrounds. 

The wall space above each fireplace was then accentuated with an understated wood trim treatment of vertical beadboard to lend visual interest. 

Intentional layers of subtle grandeur like this were added to every room in the home, initially by Focus Construction with its accomplished woodworkers, and then by interiors expert, Laura Butler, who found myriad opportunities to enhance the home using its natural surroundings, tone, and texture. 

“They’re a younger couple, a younger family, but I think they still had an expectation that the interiors should feel elevated, even though it was to be a comfortable, family home,” Butler explains.

“We tried to bring in those details through our trim selections and some of our architectural features. For example, we brought beams into their great room to try to divide up that really large space and make it feel a little bit cozier.” 

The result is a large room that really feels cohesive with thoughtful seating areas for multi-purpose living. 

“There are two fireplaces in the great room, one on either end. So, you have the dining room on the left side with its own fireplace, and then you had the living room with the two sofas on the right side with its own fireplace. And then we had another large area in the middle between those that we did a grouping of four swivel chairs that overlook the water. So that large great room really had three different zones to it,” Butler says.

While the couple did not request a coastal aesthetic, they did want to incorporate some tones of blue into the overall scheme. 

“We really tried to bring in those kinds of deeper blues, brought in some greens, a little bit of pink for the girls, which was fun. We don’t always get to use pink. So, that was a fun change on this project,” she adds.

Among the couple’s key directives was the desire to make the home look and feel comfortable. This request was reflected in various ways throughout with their choices of furnishings and finishes. 

“Things like their dining chairs, they really wanted to make sure that we chose dining chairs that were comfortable, but if a kid spilled spaghetti on the cushion, well, we could wash it, replace it, treat it, all of these things that make you not have to stress about moving into a brand-new home with little kids.”

The Nostalgic Touches

The couple also wanted their first-floor plan to include a main level guest room, which Gardener provided and then Butler enhanced to reflect the owners’ request to introduce shades of blue to their home’s palette.

“So, the wallpaper in the guest room has blue and green elements in it.” A family tradition that the client then wished to carry over to their new home, Butler says.

Another carryover, says Butler, is reflected in the design and style of their mudroom, the modern, must-have transition area for busy parents. This comforting yet elevated space is rich in detail with rustic beams above, exceptional trim treatments, and antique brick floors laid in a herringbone pattern underfoot. The material and pattern were reminiscent of that found in the client’s childhood home. 

The signature color for the kitchen would also be blue with all the lower cabinets and the charming center island painted in a breezy, rich blue. Luscious quartz countertops and matte, gold-tone hardware lend this workhorse of a room elegance, while rattan counter stools and a backsplash of next-level subway tiles with a touch of shimmer, layer in the texture.

This ultimate workspace is kept free of the clutter with the strategic placement of appliance garages that stow away bulky coffee makers and air fryers beautifully. 

The most charming of informal dining spaces, says Butler was created in this home’s water-facing sunroom. Located next to the children’s playroom in the floorplan, the sunroom became the perfect way to answer a quandary about a less formal gathering space when the kitchen island wasn’t practical. 

“We really studied this, that their only dining zone was their formal dining room, which has eight seats at that table, and when it’s just the five of them eating dinner, is that the environment they wanted to be in?” Butler explains.

“So, one of the ideas we had was to create this banquette built-in China cabinet idea in the sunroom that would be a homework spot, and great for family dinner. You can watch the sunset out of these beautiful expansive windows. And so, it really became this, ‘How do we make it a kind of cozy dining nook?’”

Butler says adding a great place to curl up on a chaise and just read a book, completed the room in both form and function.  

Upstairs, both Gardener and Butler found several opportunities to customize the family’s personal spaces and bring those subtle aspects of the natural world in children’s rooms and second level baths.

This customization is best reflected in the children’s play space created on the second floor that uses effortless creamy-toned walls as a base. A wall of complementary colored built-ins provides a clever and quick stow-away zone for toys, while fabric shades add texture and depth. 

Intentional color choices here allow natural light and nature’s beauty to take center stage in this precious space. And the exceptional choice to paper the ceiling with a simple pattern of sweet birds, ties the room’s aspect together in a serene and soothing vignette.

For Gardener, this room exemplifies the home design’s overall appreciation of nature and elegance with nothing forced—just recognized and enhanced. 

“There is an appreciation of the magnificence of the natural landscaping and the landscape into which this building was situated. I mean, if you have something and an environment that is this gorgeous, you really are compelled to do something to keep it up, and to give a nod and be gracious to it.”