Some of Neubauer’s projects like this house on
Oyster Pond in Falmouth (left) feature whimsical
places like this tree house (above, below)
cabin have driven my career and interest in architecture.”
Neubauer was born into a creative family: the grandmother
with the log cabin was a painter, her sister is a visual and
performing artist, her mother is creative, and her father was an
engineer. So Neubauer may have been genetically predisposed
to notice visual details.
But it was also her experiences. She recounts her
underlying motive when she visited the homes of two friends
as a teenager: “Each lived in a beautiful, modern house, and I
would want to go to their houses and hang out because of the
buildings.”
Adding yet another dimension to this fascination was
the Prairie School, the private high school she attended.
Commissioned by Willie Hilpert and Imogene Powers Johnson
(of the S.C. Johnson family), its campus was inspired by Frank
Lloyd Wright.
These three influences—cottage, cabin, and modern
architecture—have informed her work as she has undertaken
historic renovations, remodeled cottages, and created new
homes in sensitive landscapes on Cape Cod and beyond. In the
end, she says, “It’s all about meaningful spaces.”
While many homes are what Neubauer calls “boxes
sitting on the landscape with a stoop,” she designs spaces
that “celebrate the season and the environment the house sits
in.” This attention to the environment is, of course, critical
anywhere, but when those homes sit on Cape Cod, the impetus
AT HOME ON CAPE COD 40 • SPRING/SUMMER 2020
PHOTOS: DAN CUTRONA