AT HOME ON CAPE COD 46 • SPRING/SUMMER 2020
One of the decks of
Neubauer’s modern Truro
beach is open all around so
guests can soak up the sun.
public is now recognizing the precedent for this type of architecture. In
that spirit, Neubauer designed a modern Truro beach house that settles
into its landscape. Built to step down the hill so as not to obstruct the
neighbors’ view and built with a flat roof to adhere to a height restriction,
the home, like others she has designed, engages in a dialogue of glass, or
what she describes as “a quiet relation of matching glass from one side
of the house to the other, a one-to- one match of beautiful transparency,”
she says. “The house that taught me that is a historic house owned by
Katharine Cornell on Lake Tashmoo on Martha’s Vineyard. It has a
gorgeous old living room with matching glass on each side. I saw it years
ago and never forgot it.”
Beyond wall-sized windows, Neubauer’s designs connect to their
environments in other ways. One of the most important is her attention
to what she calls the “in between spaces”—porches, screened porches,
terraces, and outdoor rooms. “Screened porches are the most successful
spaces we build because they mean we can celebrate going outside
finally,” she says. “We make them bigger so you can eat, lounge, even
watch television or sleep in them. There is no reason to come in during
the high season. They are joyful and lovely.” Sometimes clients have to
be convinced of the need for a screened porch, but once they agree, it
becomes their favorite space, she says.
Some of her outdoor rooms are standalones, like the glamp—or
glamorous camp—structure she built for a Cataumet property. “I
am very interested in glamps,” Neubauer says. “I made the first one
for myself after I had been on a trip to Moab in Utah and had the
opportunity to stay in one.” She has since created these outdoor
rooms with their canvas shells and room for beds and bureaus for
clients. They are not only fun, they save clients money. While adding
a bedroom can cost $100,000, a glamp offers a less expensive way to
PHOTOS: DURSTON SAYLOR