HOME: How a frozen pipe on NYE led to a whole house makeover in Watch Hill

Go with the Flow

A Watch Hill mansion gets an all-American coastal upgrade

By Elyse Major | Photography by Kyle Caldwell

Imagine you’re celebrating New Year’s Eve at your home when a frozen pipe bursts! This was the case for a Watch Hill family made up of a husband and wife with two grown daughters, one son, three grandchildren, and more on the way. The damage was so severe the entire house needed to be gutted.

“When the house was destroyed by water, I thought, ‘why not rethink the architecture of the spaces to create better flow and larger areas for their growing family?’ So we did,” says Kellie Burke, an interior designer based in West Hartford, CT, who was hired to completely renovate the four-bedroom 5,000-square-foot home, situated within walking distance to the beach and village.

“The husband had worked on a naval Coast Guard ship off of Nantucket in his younger days and the wife is passionate about the preservation of her hometown of Watch Hill,” says Burke. Her aim was to create a coastal design that was cheerful and practical with a comfortable flow for an expanding family. Most importantly, Burke wanted it to reflect the owners of the home. The end result is a yacht-inspired feel with nods of classic New England preppy. Hidden cupboards within the shiplap houses china dinnerware