Historic nantucket home is updated with authenticity

StyleCarrot APRIL 7, 2015 · 9:55 AM

Design Diary: Historic Nantucket Home by Elizabeth Georgantas Let’s pretend it isn’t way too cold outside for April and take a trip to Nantucket. I wrote about the renovation of a classic kitchen with industrial details in this historic Nantucket home for the Boston Globe Magazine two summers ago. Elizabeth Georgantas of Bostonbased PEG Properties & Design and her husband and business partner, Peter, renovated and restored this 4,096 squarefoot “intown” historic house on Nantucket. Built in 1765, the home is believed to have been dismantled, rebuilt, and enlarged around 1820. In designing the interiors, Georgantas was careful to respect the home’s early roots while still incorporating modernday amenities.

Many beautiful features of the original house remain intact, like the wide plank, heart pine flooring and the 12over12 windows. When Georgantas and her husband purchased the house, the beams were covered under casing and a dropped ceiling. She uncovered the beams and added a couple of extras for balance. Onisland kitchen and bath design firm Nantucket House Fitters did the kitchen cabinetry. The threequarterinchthick Carrera marble countertop is from Boston area supplier Cumar Marble & Granite. The oilrubbed bronze industrial style pendant lights are by Thomas O’Brien for Visual Comfort and the industrial style counter stools are from Leostine. The range is from French manufacturer La Cornue’s more modestly priced CornuFe line.

Georgantas found the hutch at Furniture Consignment, a secondhand furniture shop in Chestnut Hill and had a carpenter rework the shelving in order to accommodate the television, which is mounted on an oscillating arm. The Westmore milk glass collection is from Brimfield

A plate wall comprised of brown & white transferware.

The brick patio is right off the kitchen. Georgantas paired an antique French marbletopped baker’s table she discovered online with vintage inspired steel chairs. A giant clamshell planted with succulents doesn’t require much upkeep. Rather than replacing the white cedar shingles, Georgantas had the exterior of the house powerwashed, a decision that not only cut costs, but kept building materials out of landfills. Georgantas says, “We try to do as much possible to be green when we build.”

The periodstyle dining room has a long wornwood table, tall ladder back chairs and a pair of historic oil portraits.

The original owners, Mary (Coffin) Starbuck and her husband Nathaniel, called the Parliament House. The pair led the Quaker movement on Nantucket, and the first meetings were held in their living room.

An Oriental area rug adds color layered over a neutral, beachappropriate sisal rug. About the furniture Georgantas says, “I didn’t need the furnishings to be historically accurate. I like the blend of comfortable, simple, current day furniture and period artwork.”

Rich wood furniture and accessories with simple lines, along with the thoroughly present day yet charming white sofa are comfortable yet perfectly in place in this historic Nantucket house.

The family room has a modern patterned rug, rustic wood coffee table, oldfashioned clear glass table lamp, and comfortable neutral sofa.

A gallery wall of botanical prints lines the staircase.

An iron canopy bed seems both fresh and modern and perfectly appropriate.

A marbletopped antique dresser holds used books and historic objects.

Vintage luggage stacked in a bedroom provides extra storage.

A wood framed headboard with a vaguely French flavor is upholstered in blue linen blue and white throw pillows in a subtle floral print add a wash of color in a bedroom.

Rattan shades add texture in a guest room while blue and white ikat pillows and throw pillows with a slightly Asian flavored floral print add color and pattern.

An early American antique chest sits at the foot of the bed, which has an upholstered headboard with nailhead detailing.

This bathroom has been updated with marble tile flooring and polished chrome hardware, but the antique style vanity lends an historic air.

Built in beds and a window seat in a children’s room.