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White House

Nantucket barn conversion with architecture by Hugh Newell Jacobsen

Asked by his client to draw up plans to update an old house in Nantucket, an iconic American architect has created a perfectly balanced ensemble to suit the owner's requirements exactly. The exterior was to remain in keeping with the local vernacular by using wooden shingles instead of a painted plaster finish, while the owner stipulated a pure-white interior, contemporary in style, simple, calm and light. The origins of the house have not disappeared altogether as the large coach or garage doors have been retained, but they now have glass doors behind them to let in plenty of light. The remaining windows are not curtained but all have white-painted shutters. Apart from numerous books, the is almost no colour inside or out, although the grey shingles, paving-stones, variations in floor colour and some metal lamps all stand out against the woodwork, walls and the white upholstered furniture. As dining rooms are often under-used it was a good idea, practically and decoratively, to fill the walls with bookshelves, which are built in a grid pattern as in a library and repeated along a wall in the main bedroom. Such pure interiors rely on superb design and first-class finishes.