he home sits at the one-mile mark of
the Falmouth Road Race, that thrilling
spot when over 11,000 runners approach
Nobska Light and forget for a moment
T
the hilly start of that race. But for the other 364
days of the year, the homeowners still enjoy 270
degrees of water views.
The crew building the house experienced it
before the homeowners. As they worked, they
had a front row seat to Nobska Light, Martha’s
Vineyard, the ferries, and the sprawling beach.
They happily watched the seasons change. They
watched the wind and sun play over Vineyard
Sound. Some hauled fishing rods in their trucks
in case the stripers were running. Sometimes at
the end of a long, hot day, they’d cross Church
Street for a swim at Nobska Beach.
“It was a unique project in that regard,” Reihl
Mahoney, project manager for Kistler & Knapp
Builders. “Even to have a coffee break or lunch
break, sitting and looking out over it, it was
pretty remarkable.”
Site supervisor Matt Maher adds: “You
feel like you’re almost on an island with that
panoramic view.”
Architect Steve Hart and owners Pat and
Patty Burke had worked on a renovation for the
Burkes’ first Falmouth summer home nearly 20
years ago. “He knows what we like and how we
live,” says Pat.
Designing a new home from scratch, however,
was a little daunting, admitted the homeowners.
“In this case, we started with a beautiful site and
the house could take any shape,” says Pat, who
recounts piles of design books, ideas on Post-it
notes, house visits and many conversations with
Hart as they developed a general vision of what
kind of house it would be.
AT HOME ON CAPE COD 50 • SPRING/SUMMER 2019