On the Market: A Whitewashed Oasis in Watch Hill, Rhode Island
Pop a bottle of wine and pick your own grapes at this oceanside farmhouse, which is relaxing enough to feel like a vacation home.
Photo via Mott & Chace Sotheby’s International Realty
11 Westerly Road, Westerly, Rhode Island
Price: $3,590,000
Size: 4,401 square feet
Bedrooms: 7
Baths: 5
Before it looked like a Santorini cave dwelling, this Watch Hill home looked like many farmhouses, with wallpaper and unpainted woodwork adorning the 18th century floors and walls. But over the years, things changed: The 120-acre farm was winnowed down to a less-than-an-acre parcel, perennial gardens were planted and showcased in Watch Hill garden tours, and an extension was added to the home. Then in 2017, the homeowners decided to paint the town white—planked ceilings in bright white, accented by hand-hewn elm beams, subtly blue-gray walls, and white trim and furnishings everywhere.
Now, though Westerly is some 5,000 miles from the cliff-side cottages of Oia, the whitewashed aesthetic and seaside locale brings the vacation destination home. And, for a home built in 1733, the paint job serves the dual purpose of making the residence feel contemporary but not sanitized.
One of the best parts of this home is how well it flows, which helps it feel in harmony with the nearby ocean. The kitchen, which boasts tiger maple countertops and a fireplace with a grate for grilling, opens out onto a terrace with a grape arbor. A string of Edison bulbs dresses the trellis, which starts to turn purple as the concord grapes ripen in late summer. Off the fireplaced dining room, one of two wet bars provides a space to pop open a bottle of chilled wine before bringing it out into the sunny screened porch. Through a paned glass door, you can exit the covered porch back onto the canopied stone patio—a path perfect for entertaining.
Before winter comes around and cloaks everything in snow, settle into this historical Rhode Island residence. It makes an all-white landscape look positively tropical.
For information, contact Donna Krueger-Simmons, Mott & Chace Sotheby’s International Realty, mottandchace.com.
Photo via Mott & Chace Sotheby’s International Realty
Photo via Mott & Chace Sotheby’s International Realty
Photo via Mott & Chace Sotheby’s International Realty
Photo via Mott & Chace Sotheby’s International Realty
Photo via Mott & Chace Sotheby’s International Realty
Photo via Mott & Chace Sotheby’s International Realty
Photo via Mott & Chace Sotheby’s International Realty
Photo via Mott & Chace Sotheby’s International Realty
Photo via Mott & Chace Sotheby’s International Realty
Photo via Mott & Chace Sotheby’s International Realty
Photo via Mott & Chace Sotheby’s International Realty
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