Beach/House, Fall 2024

4 | Provincetown Independent | BEACH / HOUSE | Fall 2024
Upstairs, Downstairs
continued from page 3
residence. “We could have gone with
more of a super- casual beach feeling,
where the furniture is more of an afterthought,”
says Stanton. “But we
didn’t want to get too formal either.”
To tackle the problem of the small
rooms, Stanton turned to lessons he
had learned designing other people’s
homes. “We tried to scale things on
the larger side,” he says. “People feel
like they should do the opposite and
go smaller with the furniture and fixtures.
For instance, over three floors
we have four very large sofas indoors
and out. We wanted to make sure it
was a place where as many people as
possible could be comfortable.” Many
of the design solutions involve builtins,
since there was no way to get
couches or armoires up the slim stairs
and hallways.
Stanton took other chances that
most people would find risky in compact
settings, such as a liberal use of
patterned wallpaper both in the firstfloor
powder room and the top- floor
den. “When I first walked into the
space as it was being built, everything
was stark white,” he says. “I’m naturally
moody, so I tried to find ways
to layer in a mood.” Stanton had been
waiting for a chance to use the wallpaper.
“No client ever wanted it, but
I went big and covered the walls and
ceiling. When the windows are open
it feels like you’re in a tree house. It
brings down your blood pressure.”
Stanton also had the luxury of
being able to tap his various vendors
to think through custom built- in
storage possibilities because of another
odd aspect of the house — it
has no closets. The undersides of
“It needed to be a workhorse,” says Robbie Goldstein of the galley kitchen that can house only smaller Italian appliances and a half-size refrigerator.
“I can still make dinners for 20 people in it.”