Bridge For Design April 2015 Bridge For Design April 2015 | Page 74

Even so, Duffy didn’t want his new home to stick out in the
historic neighbourhood and not many places in America are more
historic – the Mayflower dropped anchor mere yards from Duffy’s
door. ‘I care about P-town,’ he says, using the common moniker.
‘This is a big house, and I wanted it to disappear.’
Like many in the area, the building, a traditional Cape, had
been expanded and modernised in ill-advised fits and starts. By
the time Duffy bought it four years ago, the floor plan made no
sense, the interior w as covered in marble tile, and chandeliers hung
everywhere. Old Cape Cod it wasn’t.
The place still features the same long, low, white-clapboard front.
But much of the structure and its additions turned out to be unstable
and had to be razed. The beach side was transformed with a large
mahogany-and-glass façade. And the contrasts and curiosities
continue inside. The interiors flow from colourful space to colourful
space but rarely solidify into actual rooms or bloom into wide-open
expanses. This in-between dynamic reconciles Duffy’s desire for a
traditional floor plan and his wish to maximise the ocean view to
the lighthouse at the fishhook tip of Cape Cod.
‘The design did start in a traditional mode,’ Jaklitsch says. ‘But
over the years, everyone’s thinking evolved, and Robert really fell in
love with that spectacular view.’
Echoing the duality, different rooms and areas could almost
belong to different houses. The stepped-down living room is a
TOP LEFT: An antique Thai gilt bronze standing monk has been placed at the top
of a narrow flight of stairs
TOP RIGHT: The floor and wall of the breakfast room are covered in Moroccanstyle ceramic mosaic tiles while an antique Egyptian chandelier hangs from the
ceiling
BOTTOM LEFT: The library, where Duffy paints, features works in progress, a
mahogany table from Jacques Carcanagues with a photograph by Jack Pierson

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Bridge for Design April 2015