Anne M. Downey David Petty

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When Frank and Denise Martel were ready to build a new home, their priorities were to be near water—Frank is an avid fisherman—and not to downsize too much. They have three grown children who like to visit, and Denise, who dislikes clutter and is by no means a packrat, nevertheless had stuff she didn’t want to part with, like all her kitchen tools and her sewing and craft materials.

In the fall of 2001, they stumbled upon a lot in Rye that they couldn’t get out of their heads, even though it presented challenges. “It wasn’t level, so we weren’t sure how we’d build on it,” Denise remembers, “and it was on a golf course!” The half-acre, peninsula-shaped lot sits on two fairways of the Wentworth-By-the-Sea Golf Course, and when the Martels first saw it, it was all bedrock. But it’s easy to see why it was unforgettable: the views in all directions are amazing, from the landscaping and contours of the course itself, to tidal Witch Cove in the near distance, to the Wentworth-By-the-Sea Hotel and its marina farther away.

To help them envision a home on the challenging but unique site, the Martels assembled a team that included architect Lisa DeStefano, builders Dick and Terry Southwick, mason Bill Nelson and kitchen designer Lori Parker. Thirteen months later, a 2,800-square-foot, two-story contemporary home emerged out of the bedrock, placed so pleasingly on the site that it looks like it has always been there. Of the building process, often an enormously stressful episode in people’s lives, Denise says, “I would do it again in a minute as long as I could have the same team.”

The outside wall incorporates views of the course, Witch Cove and the Wentworth by the Sea Hotel in the distance. The house, designed by architect Lisa DeStefano, features spectacular circular details that mimic the curves of the golf course.

The site plan
Architect Lisa DeStefano had a number of things to consider as she thought about placing the house on the lot. “The site was a driving force in how the building could be designed,” she says. “It’s a unique lot because it’s viewed from every angle, so each side of the house needed to be visually interesting, in the form of rooflines, angles intersecting with each other and windows with character. The Martels also wanted wonderful views from every room. I thought of the views as framed pictures, as opposed to floor-to-ceiling vistas—for a house on a golf course, that wouldn’t be practical.”

Lisa needed to take into consideration flying golf balls of course, and angled the house to protect it as much as possible. “We did a lot of overhangs, so that the roof would accept the balls rather than the windows. I put a landscaped island in the center of the driveway to help shield the house, and the driveway itself is made of stone dust because golf balls die when they hit it,” she explains. “Also, for the sunroom, which is the room that juts furthest out toward the course, we used what’s called ‘Dade County glass’—double-strength, tempered glass made to survive hurricanes.”

The owners of the golf course also added a line of deciduous trees at the property line to visually buffer the house, assuming that if golfers see a barrier, they will adjust their swing to avoid it. As she thought about protecting the Martels’ privacy, Lisa noted at which point on the course the golfers would be coming toward the house, and where they’d be walking away from it; she put the most private parts of the house—the master bedroom and bath on the first floor, and a guest room with a sunken bath on the second—on the side of the course where the golfers would be walking away from the house.

The interior
The Martels’ goal for the inside of the house was to downsize enough so that they could live entirely on the first floor, and use the second floor as guest space. Aesthetically, they wanted clean, simple lines. “Denise and Frank aren’t fancy people,” Terry Southwick says, “so inside we wanted to achieve casual elegance—that was the guiding principle as we planned the types of wood we would use throughout the house, for flooring, finish work and the staircase.” The Martels chose yellow birch with a high gloss finish for the flooring throughout most of the house; in the family room though, which is a high traffic area, they opted for a low-gloss hickory, which they were attracted to because of the beautiful color variation in the wood.

The staircase typifies the design principles at work in the Martels’ home. Placed to the left of the entryway, there is no denying its “wow” factor—your eye follows its circular shape up to a gathering space on the second floor, delighting in the spaciousness of the house, but the warm, cherry treads and simple, circular balustrades bring it back to earth. “I wanted the staircase to be a piece of artwork as well as have a function,” Lisa DeStefano says. “We used curved forms throughout the house because they echo the topography of the golf course.” According to kitchen designer Lori Parker, shape functions like color in setting a mood. “Curves evoke more comfort than sharp edges,” she explains. “People associate curves with positive human functions, like smiles and hugs.” Lori, who is the founder and designer of Kitchenality, a three-year-old company that specializes in kitchen design, had her work cut out for her in the Martels’ kitchen, since the room fit along the backside of the circular staircase. “The wall that holds most of the cabinetry is curved, and we wanted to make that a feature of the room rather than treat it as a liability,” she explains. “It was tricky because the cabinets are square, and there is also a dishwasher on that wall. I needed to lay everything out on the floor in order to make sure that it all fit properly, and that there was plenty of clearance for the doors to open.”

Lori continued the curve in the design of the island, and the valance over the sink. Since both Denise and Frank like to cook, and often do so together, Lori needed to make the kitchen friendly for two chefs, which meant two sinks, plenty of workspace and a six burner, 36-inch professional quality stove. The best part of working with Lori, according to Denise, was developing a map of where everything would be stored. “I like to make pies and chocolates at Christmas,” Denise says, “and while I don’t need access to those baking things everyday, it’s nice to know exactly where they are!” “Developing a map of where everything would go made moving into the kitchen quick and painless,” Lori adds. “I could go in and cook in Denise’s kitchen blindfolded!”

Decorative touches in Denise and Frank’s house have nautical and fishing themes, like the compass and lighthouse medallion inlay in the front entry hall, and the replicas of fish that the family has caught on vacations over the years, like the marlin their daughter landed in Cabo San Lucas. Frank and Denise saw a hand-painted, Spanish tile backsplash in a magazine that featured fish, and they installed one over their stove with paintings of fish that Frank catches.

The end result
The Martels are looking forward to their third summer in the house. Living on the golf course has taken some getting used to; when she is gardening, Denise tries to stay behind a tree, and when they need to cut the lawn, they have to be cognizant of when the golfers are hitting. The house does get hit by golf balls, but so far they haven’t had one broken window.

And there are the advantages: the views, of course, but also the very cool garage they added to their basement for their golf cart, which they use for trips around the course.

All in all, it is quite an entertaining spot, Denise says. “Between the tides, the variety of birds we see and the golfers, there’s always something going on outside.”  


Anne Downey, who has a Ph.D. in English from the University of New Hampshire, writes features and book reviews for a variety of publications. She can be reached at amdowney@comcast.net.

David A. Petty provides clients with creative advertising illustration through digital photography and video. His business, DPImaging, is located in Hampstead, New Hampshire, and his portfolios can be seen at dpidp2.com.