The Great Indoors

WRITTEN BY ROBERT COCUZZO PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRUCE LUETTERS

A CABIN IN THE MOUNTAINS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE GETS A SCANDINAVIAN FACELIFT

midst the pandemic, my wife and I were among the many Americans who turned their vacation homes into primary residences to weather out the storm. As it so happened, just days before A schools were shuttered and lock-down orders were put in place in Massachusetts, we took our one-year-old daughter for a long weekend up to our cabin in Jackson, New Hampshire. What began as a three-day vacation turned into a three-and-a-half-month quarantine. Spending that unprecedented amount of time in our weekend retreat, we started seeing rooms in our home that were in desperate need of some TLC.

Built more than thirty years ago along the Ellis River in the shadow of Mount Washington, the home was designed by a pioneering group of architects who fused funky Scandinavian design in a classic New England setting. While most of the house had aged nicely into its woodsy environment, the kitchen and adjoining dining room were crying out for an update. Cabinets were falling off the walls and our old oven was spitting flames like a dragon with indigestion. This cabin was my first real adult purchase. I bought it right before I turned thirty as a bachelor pad ski house. Having matured into a husband and father, I was starting to see that this rustic retreat still had some serious growing up to do.

My wife and I turned to the teams at 7 Tide in the Seaport, namely Clarke and Supply New England, to break ground on our kitchen project. Our initial directions focused on functionality of the kitchen. Enjoying home-cooked meals had become a source of comfort for our family during the pandemic. As my wife practiced recipes for slow-cooked stews, roasted root veggies and baked apple crisp, she identified the many inefficiencies of our outdated appliances. Sharing her

thoughts with the kitchen experts at Clarke, we landed on a onetwo punch of Wolf appliances with a thirty-inch range and a thirtyinch contemporary convection steam oven. Both appliances are Wi-Fi enabled, allowing us to preheat the oven while we’re still on the trails hiking or skiing. And whatever we don’t finish for dinner will find a cool home in our thirty-inch over-and-under French door refrigerator by Sub-Zero.

Once we picked out these appliances, Supply New England sent up one of their design experts to measure the kitchen and draw renderings based on a number of virtual consultations we had with them. We wanted to enhance the space and flow of the kitchen, while emphasizing the Scandinavian aesthetic of the home. Supply New England’s Sabrina DaLomba achieved this by removing the peninsula bar as well as relocating the refrigerator to an unused closet around the corner. She then turned to Mouser, a custom cabinet maker based in Kentucky, to handcraft cabinets that maximized the utility of the space.

“We wanted a crisp, contemporary feel in their space,” DaLomba explains. “We decided on a light palette that incorporated warm tones to keep it cozy in the mountain setting. A soft white finish on the cabinets, paired with highlights of gold woven into the countertop, hardware and backsplash, complement the wood tones throughout the rest of the house nicely.”

DaLomba enlisted the expertise of Dakota Lotz, the senior design consultant at Divine Stoneworks in Ashland, Massachusetts. Lotz selected a handsome slab of quartz where the golden veins played off the brushed-gold cabinet knobs and pinewood. After having the template made, Lotz sent up the stone with a two-man crew, who were able to make some additional cuts on-site to install the stone perfectly. The countertop was cut to fit a large sink by Kohler that was equipped with one of Kohler’s newest innovations. “We selected the Crue touchless kitchen faucet and Profiles sink for maximum efficiency while preparing meals,” DaLomba says. “The graduated ledges in the sink work with various accessories, like a colander, cutting board and grated racks, to turn the sink into a workstation.”

Meanwhile, the touchless faucet allows for easy operation, even with sullied hands. With the wave of a hand, the water runs from the faucet, which is particularly handy when handling meat or the sticky fingers of our two-year-old. To the right of the sink, we chose a twenty-four-inch dishwasher by Cove. As our uber-talented builder Chris Hoyt installed the cabinets delivered by Mouser from Kentucky, we turned our attention to the dining room, which needed an aesthetic overhaul to match the kitchen. Boston-based designer Maggie Kanter came to our rescue. Kanter is renowned for her ability to create spaces that incorporate a mix of high and low while also being warm and inviting. Perhaps most importantly for us—as parents of an active toddler—she designs with an emphasis on functionality without sacrificing style.

“I knew I didn’t want to take away too much of the original aesthetic,” Kanter explains. “The home’s layout and pine-clad walls lend themselves to the cozy, clean and ever so slightly eclectic vibe we wanted to achieve. I wanted to incorporate various textures and finishes to provide a curated look that showcases the history of the home.” With accents of brass layered throughout and a colorful dhurrie rug that frames the dining area, Kanter made the home feel modern without feeling out of place among the beautiful woodsy landscape. “It was important for the house to feel like the place you want to curl up in after a long day on the slopes or on the hiking trails,” she says. The dining room was elevated by key selections from Serena & Lilly, specifically a series of solid mahogany Balboa chairs with perfectly tailored cushions that brought some natural glamour to the table setting.

While we all long to forget the circumstances that drove us indoors for quarantine, my wife and I agree that our new kitchen was certainly a silver lining in the pandemic. After three-and-ahalf months of sheltering there in the COVID storm, our cabin had already taken on greater significance in our lives. Now with its updated look, feel and amenities, we’re happy that it will remain a touchstone for us in the years to come. NEL