Powers says the town and the team were
trying to encourage people to add onto their
houses instead of demolishing them. To
accomplish that end, Powers says, “We
wrote a set of design guidelines to help
homeowners understand how they could
either build new or expand their existing
houses without changing the scale of the
neighborhood.”
In addition to making recommendations
on how to maintain the district’s character
and scale, the team also offered suggestions
on how to support sustainable building
practices across the island.
The charrette wasn’t the extent of Powers’
investment in Jamestown at that time. That same year — after four or five
years of renting on the island — he and his wife, Dana, purchased a home
in the Village district with her parents and brother. The three families spent
the next year renovating the home inside and out, turning it into a shared
summer retreat where grandparents, siblings and cousins could reconnect
and relax.
For a few years the arrangement worked; but eventually, Don and Dana,
whose full-time residence was on Providence’s East Side, were thinking
regularly — and rather longingly — about the East Bay. The couple and their
two boys loved Jamestown, so why were they limiting their island time to
one season a year? The Powers made the plunge: They moved into the shared
vacation home and started looking for a property nearby to establish their
own year-round nest.
“We knew we wanted to stay close to the homestead, so to speak, which
made it difficult,” Don says. “We had such a great | | CONTINUED ON PAGE 102
TOP LEFT: The landscape plan,
designed by Tom Ryan of Ryan
Associates, is a perfect comple-
ment to the house. Stone walkways
connect various spaces and stone
columns mark the thresholds
between those spaces. Landscape
Creations did the installation.
“I cannot tell you the amount
of pleasure it gives me walking
around that yard,” says Don.
LEFT: The screen porch, says Dana,
is “just perfect for morning coffee.”
Its location also allows Don and
Dana to keep an eye on the kids
(without hovering) while they play
in the side yard.
LEFT: South and east-facing
windows wash the master
bedroom in natural light. RIGHT:
The mudroom off the kitchen
features ample storage, a powder
room and a pantry. “Every family
loves a dropzone,” says Dana. The
color, Hale Navy by Benjamin
Moore, is a nice contrast to the
light natural wood throughout
the house.
RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY
l MARCH 2020 63