Beach House Fall25

FALL 2025

Objects of Affection | Page 3

Transforming a Kit House

in the Truro Woods | Page 12

2 | Provincetown Independent | BEACH / HOUSE | Fall 2025

There comes a morning when the light arrives a little lazier, when our

toes touch the floor and we rummage instinctively for a pair of socks.

Is it time to light a first fire in the woodstove? In the garden, there are

aster seeds to collect along with thoughts of letting the whole thing

go to goldenrod and butterfly weed next year. It might also be time to

paint the floor blue or turn those stones collected on beach walks into a

collection. There’s still time for adventure, but right now we’re settling

in at home.

Editor: Teresa Parker

Contributors: Joe Beuerlein, Beth Greenfield, C&J Katz, Tess Knowles-

Thompson, Stephen Orr, Molly Jane Quinn

Design: Susan Abbott

Sales team: Alison Blake, Martine Taylor

ON THE COVER: Billy Barmmer and

Tim Convery took a counterintuitive

approach to giving their Truro home a

sense of serenity. They went bold, but with

a strictly limited palette, using neutrals

and only a few spots of color throughout.

(Photo by Stephen Orr; cover design by

Chris Kelly)

Objects of Affection

Two design lovers describe the thrill of the hunt and other tenets of collecting

L

By C&J Katz

ove at first sight, whether for

a heart- shaped rock picked up

while walking along the shore

at low tide or a hand- painted plate

that’s a reminder of a magical dinner

party, stirs the imagination.

Like any good romance, this infatuation

often occurs when it’s least

expected, when one is innocently

meandering through a secondhand

shop, paging through an old history

book, or binge- watching a Netflix

series. Once it strikes, the attraction

leads to the irresistible urge to possess

more than a few of these objects

of affection. Before long, a collection

is born.

For Jimmy Hung and Ezra Block,

the desire for antique framed mirrors

was inexplicably awakened by a

memory of a visit to a restaurant. In

the case of collectors Steve Corkin

and Dan Maddalena, images of sea

captains were amassed to honor the

history of their Cape Cod cottage.

No matter the motivation, once

uncovered, the desire to collect is

insatiable.

Dependent on neither current

fashions nor a big budget, the best

collections are assembled with diligence,

patience, and restraint. Collections

transcend time and place. Often

acquired over years of searching, they

nurture aesthetic awakenings and a

heightened sense of refinement. And

as with romance, appreciation and

understanding grow with time.

We’ve arrived through experience

at a few tenets of collecting.

Things look great in a group.

Years ago, when strolling through

Harvard Square, we stopped to admire

an arresting window display in the

now defunct Design Research store

on Brattle Street. Bright red ceramic

mugs — dozens of them — lined

shelves that spanned the width of the

shop’s glass front façade. We ducked

in to purchase a pair and brought

them home only to realize that two

looked forlorn without the other 36.

It’s not about the economics;

it’s about the eye.

What holds collections together depends

on a sensibility. Some fall in

love with multiples of similar objects

with subtle variations, while others

are seduced by seemingly unrelated

objects connected through shape,

color, texture, or provenance. For

those whose taste runs to a “less is

more” aesthetic, collections can resonate,

not clutter. Think Shaker baskets

or simple glass vases.

There is a thrill in the hunt.

The urge for a collection of revered

objects is, as Corkin says, “a truly

joyful experience.” The anticipation

of the possibilities lurking around the

corner are often equal to the enjoyment

of the object itself.

Provincetown Independent | BEACH / HOUSE | Fall 2025 | 3

Sea Captains

It’s no wonder that Corkin and Maddalena chose to outfit the 1880s guest

cottage adjacent to their house in Truro with an array of sea captains.

(Photos by C&J Katz)

The house has a long maritime history. Paintings, carved figures, and

even lamp bases not only represent the history of the Outer Cape but

serve to create charming tableaux to accompany the house’s ocean view. continued on page 4


Objects of Affection

continued from page 3

Mirrors

In the magical “dining shed” at the Provincetown home of architect Ezra

Block and ophthalmologist Jimmy Hung, 18th- and 19th- century mirrors

line an entire wall. At last count, 13 mirrors, each with a mahogany ogee

curved frame and antique glass, reflect the light in the room and the

convivial atmosphere at the table. Many were found at local yard sales,

some at Brimfield, and one or two were lucky street finds.

(Photo courtesy Ezra Block)

Blue Ridge Pottery

Corkin and Maddalena’s collection of Blue Ridge tableware could serve any number of dinner

guests. It looks as jubilant today as it did in 1938 when the brightly colored, hand- painted pottery

gained popularity over the more rigid, decal- ornamented dishware.


Vases

August car trips to Truro always included

frequent stops at yard sales, swap shops,

and the Wellfleet Flea Market. It was here that

this collection of vases was conceived. The

writers loved the vases’ green and blue glazes

and found them emblematic of a month

away from the city in nature. The number of

vases soon exceeded the number of stops

along the way. The only caveat: each vase

was to be priced under $5. Full disclosure:

over the years, the allowed purchase price

increased to $10.

Hearts

The writers’ own collection of heart- shaped rocks found along the

water’s edge at Ballston, Long Nook, and Head of the Meadow beaches

in Truro represent their 40- year love affair with the Outer Cape.

The collection moves from room to room, sometimes lining a shelf,

arranged along the perimeter of a floor, or captured in large glass jars.

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Baptisia tinctoria.

Solidago juncea.

Viola pedata.

Ionactis

linariifolia.

Looking to

the Sandplains

for Abundance

Why mow the grass when you could tend the grassland instead?

A

Story by Joe Beuerlein, Illustrations by Tess Knowles- Thompson

funny thing happened over the

last centuries, starting when

the Cape was cleared for agriculture:

the new wide- open fields of

pastureland became a second home

for a diverse array of sun- loving native

species. Previously, members of

this novel assemblage were found

only in solitary places where the sunlight

was unhindered by trees and

shrubs — frost pockets, forest clearings,

in valleys between the dunes.

With the grazing bovids keeping any

woody material from regaining a

foothold, a new ecosystem of grasses

and perennials was born. This is the

sandplain grassland.

Despite the meager resources in

the sandy soil, those pasturelands

channeled the energy of the sun and

became places of abundance. The

sandplain grasslands of the Cape and

Islands are noted for their high biodiversity

and have even inspired a network

of conservationists who work to

preserve the examples that remain —

those sheep and cows are long gone,

after all. These extant areas sustain

many rare and endangered species

that have likely lost their original

habitats to erosion and development.

Herein is a lesson for the home

gardener. Using the sandy soil your

yard already has, you can look to the

species of the sandplain grasslands

for inspiration — not only in designing

a waterwise alternative to the traditional

turf lawn but also in fostering

an abundant haven for the local wildlife

that needs it. Why mow your grass

when you could tend your grassland

instead?

Fall Perennials

The backbone of the sandplain grassland

is Schizachyrium scoparium, the

little bluestem, which happens to be

a beautiful year- round ornamental

grass. Tufts of blue- green blades

emerge in late spring followed by upright

stalks in the summer that reach

two to three feet in height. As the seed

heads develop into the fall, the colors

of the plant shift to purples, bronzes,

and golden- yellows, providing the

perfect foil for fall perennials like the

stiff aster, Ionactis linariifolia, whose

blue- purple petals become electric

in the angled sunlight of autumn afternoons.

Solidago sempervirens, the

seaside goldenrod, provides a feast

for pollinators starting around Labor

Day weekend, and the dramatic seed

heads will persist alongside the spent

tufts of the bluestem, providing visual

interest throughout the winter.

Seaside goldenrod, though, can grow

quite large when happy, so give it a

Chelsea chop early in the summer to

keep its proportions in line with the

rest of the grassland.

Asclepias tuberosa.

When Spring Arrives

Mowing your home grassland at a

high mower height once yearly at the

end of winter will maintain a fresh

appearance and clear out any dead

material that may keep the spring

sunlight from making its way to the

lowest level of the plant community.

It will also nip any black locust or

black cherry seedlings trying to butt

in. (Not mowing is fine, too — the

bugs overwintering in the hollow

stalks will be grateful. Just clip those

tree seedlings by hand.)

A freshly mowed and bagged

grassland will allow the diminutive

spring- blooming Viola pedata, the

bird’s- foot violet, to shine — the

purple blooms are some of the prettiest

of the native flowers. Wild columbine,

Aquilegia canadensis, can also

continued on page 9


Sabrina Cole Quinn Photography

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Looking to the Sandplains for Abundance


tolerate the dry, sandy conditions —

and its tubular blossoms are perfectly

timed to welcome the return of the

ruby- throated hummingbird from its

winter south. The native lupine, Lupinus

perennis, doesn’t like much competition,

so reserving a patch just for

this species, which is becoming more

and more rare in Massachusetts, will

reward you with spectacular latespring

blooms.

Poverty oat grass, Danthonia spicata,

and Pennsylvania sedge, Carex

pensylvanica, two native cool- season

grasses, provide spring greenery and

growth while the little bluestem, a

warm- season grass, is still dormant.

The three together provide a multitude

of moths and butterflies with

places to host their larvae all season

long.

A Summer Spectacle

One of the most spectacular summer

vistas on the Cape is not found seaside

but miles inland at the Frances

A. Crane Wildlife Management Area

in Falmouth. Hundreds of butterfly

weeds — the native Asclepias tuberosa

— erupt into a sea of orange that

blankets the largest sandplain grassland

here. Your sea of orange will shift

into waves of yellow with the addition

of Solidago juncea, the early goldenrod,

which comes into its own during

the hottest days of midsummer. Other

summer blooms, including the

pea- like flowers of Baptisia tinctoria,

the native yellow wild indigo, and the

red- orange wood lily, Lilium philadephicum,

provide additional “heat” to

the vibrant summer color palette.

The Denser the Better

Low-growing shrubs like low blueberry

and bearberry will add to the

diversity, ecological function, and fall

color of the planting without creating

shade, and larger trees like scrub oak

and pitch pine can be kept only a few

feet high without compromising the

planting. The denser the community

of plants, the more likely you are to

The sandplain grassland at the Audubon Sanctuary in Wellfleet. (Photo by Joe Beuerlein)

keep the weeds at bay, though gentler

visitors like chicory and Queen

Anne’s lace will add color and texture

to the grassland and might convince

you to leave them be.

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RENOVATIONS

A Study in Black and White

A couple transforms a woodsy Truro residence into a graphic example of

‘power neutrals’ and bold simplicity

T

By Stephen Orr

ruro Town Hall may be a mere

10 miles from Provincetown

Town Hall, but for many the

two places can seem a world apart.

Billy Barmmer and Tim Convery

chose Truro for the contrast it provides

to their Commercial Street

work lives. And when it came time

to renovate a few years ago, their

goal was to make their new home

feel as calm as possible.

“Billy and I had moved in together

for the first time in a Provincetown

rental in 2015, and though

I love it, town can be just so noisy

and crazy,” says Convery, who

owns the gallery and shop Tim-

Scapes. “We wanted a place where

we could go to decompress.”

Perhaps counterintuitively, to

achieve that sense of serenity they

decided to go bold instead of muted.

But they wanted a strictly limited

palette. “I like to call them power

neutrals,” says Convery. “They’re

neutrals, but when you use them

in a really emphatic way, they become

as powerful as a saturated

color.” For this redo, the couple

painted everything with a coat of

white, choosing one with slightly

gray undertones: Benjamin Moore

White Dove.

Their home, a kit house from

Nickerson Home Builders built in

1970, is tucked away on a wooded

lane in Truro. The silvered, firslatted

ranch- style house with its

wide mahogany front deck calls to

mind something in Big Sur or Marin

as well as Cape Cod’s famous midcentury

modernist houses.

“We were able to spend time

staying at the Hatch house some

Homeowners Billy Barmmer and Tim Convery wanted a white envelope for their interior but not just one made of flat drywall, so they

added vertical shiplap in various parts of the house. The living room is accented with an Eames lounger and graphic black touches such as a

Malm fireplace and a vintage wooden chair from a second-hand store. (Photos by Stephen Orr)

years back,” says Barmmer, a broker

at SeasCape Realty. “It’s probably

the most ideal house for us.

Even though those raw Douglas

fir interiors aren’t white, I think

that subliminally we were thinking

about the simplicity of those spaces.

And there’s something beachier

about painting a whole interior

white.”

As with any couple, the road to

finishing a home project involved

a lot of negotiations. For instance,

painting the dark stained wood

floors of the main living areas. “We

went back and forth,” says Convery.

“Billy wasn’t sure about the

maintenance involved with white

floors, but I wanted to be gutsy and

do it. Even though everyone told us

not to.” So, Convery did a test patch

with two coats of oil paint, “and

Billy was like, ‘Oh My God!’ ”

Now all the floors are white and

get a weekly cleaning with an allpurpose

cleaner like Mrs. Meyers.

Upstairs the floo

uses in his shop.

The home, with

Both Ma

Barmmer and

the house in 2

ing to buy w

it for sale in

pened, Barmm

looked at each

selves, ‘Are w

together just

relationship?

Oak shelves in the living room hold an ever-changing display of objects chosen for their

graphic effect.

A wall of plates that the late Wellfleet artist Clare Leighton designed for Wedgwood in 1952 hang in the kitchen. Each plate feature

New England industry, such as lobstering, whaling, and cranberrying.


Upstairs the floors are painted in the same shade of Rocky Mountain Sky blue that Convery

uses in his shop. A salvaged woven rope boat fender is used as a scratching post for Stormy.

l, so they

ches such as a

The home, with its wide deck, is a 1970s kit house.

Tim Convery, left, and Billy Barmmer sit under some of Barmmer’s collection of bronze bells

designed by Paolo Soleri for Arcosanti, the experimental town the late architect founded in

Arizona.

re about the

with white

be gutsy and

yone told us

d a test patch

paint, “and

od!’ ”

re white and

with an allrs.

Meyers.

Both Massachusetts natives,

Barmmer and Convery first rented

the house in 2015 and weren’t looking

to buy when the owner listed

it for sale in 2017. When that happened,

Barmmer says, “we kind of

looked at each other and asked ourselves,

‘Are we ready to buy a house

together just three years into our

relationship?’ ”

gwood in 1952 hang in the kitchen. Each plate features a different

Now they feel lucky that they

decided to take the chance. “It

turned out to be the best possible

thing for us,” Barmmer says.

Design fans, the couple have

favored bold decor choices in every

space they’ve lived in. Convery

rented a big lofty apartment with

his college roommates in Burlington,

Vt. Looking to freshen up a

cave- like dining room, he bought

20 full- length mirrors at Kmart,

painted the frames black, and completely

paneled the dining room

with them. “I didn’t have money

for art,” he says.

Once the couple decided to renovate

their Truro home, they did it

with a definite point of view. There

was the idea of the white envelope

with only a few spots of color allowed.

But what really makes the

spaces sing is an assertive use of

graphic black lines throughout.

Anyone who has walked by

Convery’s shop or has seen the T-

shirts and swag he’s designed using

a distinctively angular black typeface

will recognize where that interior

concept comes from.

“It started in the ’80s,” says

Convery. “I was going to a birthday

party, and I didn’t have any wrapping

paper, so I wrapped the package

in craft paper. Then I wrote my

friend’s name in black electrical

tape in this cryptic, weird kind of

typeface that I made up. Everyone

at the party loved it, and it became

something I did for years when I

was wrapping presents.”

A former creative director at

Estée Lauder, Convery moved to

Provincetown in 2010 to escape the

New York City corporate rat race.

Here, he began to experiment with

his blocky abstracted typeface to

create large pieces based on his love

of supergraphics and travel posters

from the 1960s and ’70s.

“I gave myself parameters

where I could use only four letters

to indicate a place name, like the

three letters in an airport code,”

says Convery. “I’d create ligatures

or crunch things together. At first

it was just the typography.” Then

he incorporated icons to represent

the various places: town hall or

the Pilgrim Monument for Provincetown,

cliffs for Big Sur, or a

row of “Painted Ladies” Victorian

houses for San Francisco. In 2012,

he decided to take over the former

Rogues Gallery clothing store and

open his own shop. Now he features

more than 300 destinations on

posters and other brightly colored

merchandise.

“I’ve rediscovered my creativity

in Provincetown,” Convery

says. “And with this house,

too.” Convery has a “hard graphic

sense” and mentions once wanting

to redo a house he was living in so

all the furniture would be bolted to

the floor “like a prison or a weird

restaurant.”

“Thankfully, I bring in the

softer stuff,” says Barmmer. “I

definitely give it more playfulness.

Tim’s taste is much narrower than

mine. Mine is very wide. For me,

it can be hard to make decisions,

while Tim is quick and ready to

execute.”

“What Billy and I do together

is the melding of our two aesthetics,”

Convery says, “which are

similar but different — that duality

is what makes our relationship

work, I think.” As it does this home

redesign.

There’s not much clutter in

the Barmmer- Convery household.

They say the key is to have designated

places for all the stuff that

accumulates around a house. When

the couple expanded the house to

create a formal dining room, they

also added two small offices with

doors “that kind of disappear” so

they could lock away the clutter of

their respective paperwork and any

creative projects they have going.

Mirrored closets in the entryway

conceal coats, hats, and gloves.

Large sliding shiplap doors in the

living room hide vacuums and

cleaning supplies on one side and

linens on the other.

“About four times a year we

move things around, including the

objects on the shelves,” says Barmmer.

“We call it re- merchandising.”

Some objects have stuck with

them. Both have always used large

rice- paper lanterns. Barmmer is

glad for the chance to display his

collection of black- and- white Clare

Leighton Wedgwood plates in the

kitchen.

“My aunt went into a gallery

in Wellfleet in the 1970s and loved

Clare’s work,” says Barmmer. “But

she couldn’t afford any of it, so she

wrote a letter to Clare, who invited

her to her house for tea, and they

became friends.”

The couple isn’t sure the

house is finished: there are projects

they’re still scheming about.

“We’ve talked about turning the

dining room into our bedroom and

then knocking the wall down in

the living room and having one big

open living area,” says Barmmer.

“But Tim thinks I’m nuts.”

They end up agreeing that

maybe they’d rather spend the

money on a vacation. Because even

though the Outer Cape can be its

own sort of paradise, it’s still nice

to get away.

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Meden Parker creates his schoolie patterns at Scargo Pottery in Dennis with stamps in the shapes of different kinds of fish, from minnows to koi to bluefish. (Photos by Molly Jane Quinn)

Handmade Tiles With

a Sense of Place

By Molly Jane Quinn

G

lossy porcelain, textured terra- cotta, or patterned

encaustic — tile is the jewel of interior

design, adding lasting color and depth to any

space from entryways to fireplace surrounds.

Like all things decorative, though, tile has its

fads. The current penchant for glossy- but- irregular

made- in- Morocco zellige replaced a wave of metro

subway, which took over from marble hex before

that. If you want your kitchen backsplash to buck the

trends, one way is to find tiles made locally by Cape

Cod artists.

Clay has a tendency to “remember” its shape

and will often curl or buckle as it dries before firing.

That’s just one reason that making tiles by hand is

devilishly difficult. Firing (heating until the clay is

vitrified or low porosity) is also a tedious affair —

it takes ages to fit and load those little pieces in the

kiln. The challenges, though, make each finished tile

all the more precious.

Many of the artists featured here sell single tiles

and also accept custom orders. But if a full backsplash

of handmade tile isn’t in your budget, be assured

that you can still enjoy these little jewels as an

art piece hanging on your wall. All can be purchased

with picture hangers affixed to the backs.

Raku Flower Impressions

As you drive along Route 6A in Brewster,

it is hard to miss Diane Heart’s garden. In

summer, a riot of colorful blooms lines

the walkway to her studio, and in the fall

those flowers live on in her raku tiles. She

presses cuttings into soft clay, sometimes

sketching in the edges with a sculpting

tool. During a raku firing, the tiles are removed

from the kiln, still glowing red hot,

and placed in a container with combustibles

such as sawdust or newspaper. The reduction

atmosphere is starved of oxygen,

which transforms the surface of the clay.

Heart doesn’t smoke her tiles for long — to

retain the brightness of the glaze and give

the colorful flowers an almost dayglow look

against the blackened or metallic raku.

Hand- Built Slices of Life

A deep appreciation for the natural

bounty of the Cape is evident

in Chatham native Julie

Eldredge- Dykens’s hand- built

tiles. Her creations reflect her

background in studio art and

commercial fishing — she spent

years on boats going after sea

scallops, giant Atlantic bluefin

tuna, cod, haddock, pollock, and

lobster. Many of the tiles at Local

Color Art, her gallery in West

Chatham, feature oysters and

clams, painstakingly sculpted

in miniature. Her sense of humor

comes out to play, too, with

cheeky scenes plucked from a

day at the beach.

Schoolie Stamps

The Cape has a rich history of ceramics making, with

the late sculptor and potter Harry Holl, who founded

Scargo Pottery in Dennis, one of its best- known masters.

Meden Parker studied with him in the 1990s and

now works alongside Holl’s daughters, Tina and Kim,

at the same open studio Holl founded in 1952. Parker

uses stamps to create a pattern he calls “schoolies” —

undulating swirls of fish submerged under blue- green

glazed tiles. For more abstract designs, he uses the

ridged backs of bay scallop shells.

continued on page 16

Julie Eldredge- Dykens’s tiles depict stories in miniature of her life as

a Cape Codder and commercial fisherman.

Diane Heart uses flowers from her garden — here, pansies and

Queen Anne’s lace — to create her raku tiles.


Handmade Tiles With a Sense of Place


Wax Resist and Tidal Flats

How to represent each town on the Outer Cape? That was Steve Kemp’s challenge

to himself when working on tile motifs. He also studied with Holl before

setting up his own Kemp Pottery in Orleans. But whereas Holl’s muse was the

figure, Kemp says that for him it was nature. Iron- rich “garnet sand” gathered

at Nauset Beach is mixed with a white body clay. This gives Kemp’s Brewsterinspired

herring run tiles a speckled effect; he uses a wax resist to mimic sunlight

reflecting through waves of glaze. North Truro gets its due with an homage

to Days Cottages on ripples of sand and water in a large- scale tile.

Tidal flats inspire many of Steve Kemp’s large- scale tiles.

Steve Kemp uses a sumi- e brush — developed for Japanese black ink painting — to paint

herring swimming under ripples of glaze. (Photos by Molly Jane Quinn)

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There’s whimsy in Lussier’s juxtapositions of modern pleasures and antique style. He designed the purple and sage toile in the living room.

(Photos courtesy Thom Lussier)

A Designer Makes

His Own True Home

Thom Lussier’s colorful rooms capture the can- do spirit

of Provincetown’s artistic history

T

By Beth Greenfield

hanks to a 328- year- old oak

tree, double trunks akimbo like

a friend with outstretched arms,

Thom Lussier knew he’d found the

perfect house before he even set foot

inside.

“I turned the corner, and I saw

this tree, and I thought, ‘Oh yeah,

we’re done,’ ” the interior designer

and potter says, sitting in its generous

shade on his back deck.

He bought the two- story Provincetown

house in April 2023. And

since then, the debonair Lussier, who

has spent years creating elegant,

homey spaces for others, has finally

carved one out for himself.

In a way, the tree — which Lussier

calls both “she” and “my elder”

— has guided his renovation. He replaced

a tiny back deck that blocked a

back window with an expansive one

designed to support the tree and embrace

it.

You can feel the oak’s influence,

age- wise, at least, inside the house,

even though it was built in 2002, part

of developer Ted Malone’s 22- unit

Hensche Lane condo complex, one of

the first to include artists’ studios in

the mix and to mingle affordable and

market- rate apartments. (Lussier’s is

one of the latter.)

“One of my design skills is that

I have this knack for taking new

things and making them look quite

Colorful vignettes define Lussier’s eclectic

rooms. “If you stand in the hallway and scan

from room to room, you can take your pick,”

he says. “What are you in the mood for

today?”

old,” Lussier says. “So, I bought a

23- year- old structure, and now it

looks like a 200- year- old farmhouse.”

For that, Lussier relied on

various tricks, including walls with

raw plaster finish, beadboard, and

chair rails, which, he says, “always

hearken to another century.”

Other historic- looking details

include vintage- style push- button

light switches with aged brass plates

and a custom bookcase of reclaimed

wood constructed in a “hodge- podgy

way.” It was a tricky project for the

finish carpenters, he says, who wanted

everything to be perfect. “But

Provincetown is this place of can- do

spirit where artists lived, and I wanted

to capture that energy and reference

that history.”

Lussier first visited Provincetown

in 1993 and fell in love with the “glorious

morning light” of summer. “I


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was just completely gob- smacked,”

he says. He jumped at the chance to

return in 1995, when he was at Yale

studying photography and ceramics

and his friend, the late Alan Cullinane,

asked him to cook in the new

restaurant he co- owned, Café Heaven,

for the summer.

He moved into an apartment

above Sal’s Place, and soon met David

Cafiero, who lived across Commercial

Street. That was the beginning of an

ever- evolving personal and creative

partnership that endures today, with

the two regarding each other as both

business partners and family.

Their first business was a catering

company in New York City. Both

had been private chefs, so they pooled

their resources and worked on lavish

weddings, and that became a fullservice

event design production company.

Then, when Cafiero added an

antiques shop to the mix and a loyal

customer, the actor Chloe Sevigny,

hired him to decorate her East Village

apartment and it wound up on the

cover of House & Garden, their interior

design business blossomed. Lussier

ran the business side of things while

Cafiero dealt with clients.

The two closed their catering

company in 2020, and Lussier headed

to Provincetown, staying in a West

End cottage rental for six months and

trying to figure out his next move. He

returned to his pottery, throwing on a

wheel in his small space and producing

80 pieces over the course of that

summer.

Then, when he and Cafiero landed

three big design clients out of nowhere,

the two forged a new working

relationship. But Lussier realized he

Lussier’s pottery studio occupies what was

the garage. (Photos courtesy Thom Lussier)

did not want to return to city living.

He sold his New York City apartment

with an eye on buying a place

both peaceful and roomy enough

for a pottery studio. Prices here sent

him looking in Western Massachusetts,

the Hudson Valley, Westchester

County, and Connecticut, but for him

nothing could match the Provincetown

magic.

He decided to invest the money

from his sale and wait — though

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when he heard a unit on Hensche Lane

had opened up and saw the house and

the tree, he couldn’t quite believe it.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I

think it would happen in Provincetown,”

he says.

The place needed a lot of work,

but he saw its potential. First, he dealt

with the problems, including black

mold that forced him to gut the rooms

down to the floor joists and an inadequate

heating system that he replaced

with hydronic radiant floor heating

made efficient by new windows and

doors.

Design- wise, the interior reflects

Lussier’s passion for whimsy

and eclectic, antique style. It is “unequivocally

queer,” he says, “with all

the pastels and the flamboyancy of

things.”

In the living room, a chair is upholstered

with a purple and sage Japanese

toile design by Lussier; it sits

atop a vintage Turkish carpet in a

palette of pinks and grays next to a

gleaming white vase by artist Steven

Young Lee and beneath a striking Kyle

Coniglio pink and blue oil painting of

a drag queen at a vanity.

A kitchen designed around functionality

features a charcoal soapstone

countertop, white herringbone

backsplash, and clay jars by potters

Sharif Bey and Svend Bayer; a wooden

egg board nestles a dozen brown orbs.

An adjacent powder room is a

lavish jewel box, wallpapered with

the same toile upholstery as the chair;

it features an 18th- century walnut

washstand retrofitted with a modern

sink and a mirror, also walnut, from

the same period.

Lussier’s art collection, amassed

over three decades with work by artists

from Liz Carney to Ellsworth

Kelly, pops in every room, with pieces

hung salon- style along a doubleheight

switchback staircase.

Upstairs, his office is a riot of

color — bright green floral wallpaper

above cobalt blue beadboard —

while the bedroom offers calming

whites and icy tones. “If you stand

in the hallway and scan from room

to room, you can take your pick,” he

says. “What are you in the mood for

today?”

For Lussier, even a calm nook deserves a touch of flamboyance.

Back downstairs two levels, into

what was meant to be a garage, is

Lussier’s pièce de résistance: his

pottery studio, where carriage doors

replaced a roll- up one, and a 1920s

French Deco hand- building table sits

not far from his potter’s wheel. Wig

storage and a costume closet (Lussier

is skilled at doing drag) live at the

edge of the space.

For the first time in his life,

Lussier was able to give to himself all

the skills he had for so long sold to

other people. In the process, he was

able to consider “what aspects of my

personality do I want to project into

the design of the space?”

It’s been a deeply gratifying experience.

Now that it’s finished, he

says, “this feels like my true home.”

Coming Fall 2025:

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Crocus speciosus emerges pristine as a spring day in the autumn garden.

A small but mighty saffron harvest comes from a corner of the raised beds in fall.

To harvest your own saffron, pick and dry the vivid orange stigmas and styles.

Plant tiny bulbs like these Crocus kotschyanus in clumps for the best visual effect. They return

reliably every year, but the writer likes to add more. (Photos by Stephen Orr)

Autumn Surprise

A colorful group of fallblooming bulbs provides an unexpected shot of spring color in the fall garden

A

By Stephen Orr

utumn crocuses seem so

anachronistic. After all, what

could be springier than these

brightly colored blooms? Like snowdrops,

crocuses are one of the heralds

of spring (and even late winter). Out

here on the far end of the Cape, spring

can be gray and arrives slowly. So, to

protect myself from the winter doldrums,

I plant as many of the earliest

bulbs that my budget and labor will

allow.

But certain fallblooming bulbs

offer another sort of benefit. Autumn

crocuses and colchicums emerge in

late September through November

looking as fresh as a dewy March day.

When you see them for the first time,

their gorgeousness can seem slightly

out of place. I post photos of them on

social media, and people who don’t

read captions (there are many) express

shock and fear that these October

crocuses are another harbinger

of climatic doom. But happily, these

plants are meant to bloom this way.

Saffron crocus (Crocus sativus) is

the most famous of the fall varieties.

One of the world’s most expensive

substances by weight, the aromatic

spice comes from the flower’s dried

orange stigma and styles. The best

saffron is grown in Spain and Iran,

with the flowers picked by hand just

after they open. About 70,000 flowers

are needed to produce five pounds of

threads, which drying reduces to one

pound of dried saffron.

Luckily, you need only a few

threads to flavor a bouillabaisse, paella,

or risotto. My dozen or so bulbs

grow in a raised bed and produce

about a teaspoon of stamens. So, I’m

not getting rich selling them, but they

are beautiful, and it’s intriguing to

watch them bloom and unfurl their

tasty little orange antennas.

Other fall blooming crocuses

are equally beautiful but not edible.

I grow several types, though; they

come in a limited range of pale blues

and white. Crocus speciosus is pale lilac,

while ‘Conqueror’ is an ethereal

sky blue; both grow five to six inches

tall and make a bigger visual splash

planted in clumps. ‘Oxanian’ is purple.

‘Alboplenum’ is white. I like the

way these delicate flowers poke up in

my gravel garden, which might resemble

their rocky homeland in the

eastern Mediterranean.

Colchicums are larger fallblooming

bulbs that resemble crocuses.

Often misnamed “autumn

crocus” in the trade, they are from a

different genus. They are taller than

crocuses at 8 to 12 inches and tend

to flop around, especially if it rains.

Flamboyant flowers come months

before the leaves, earning them the

nickname “naked ladies.”

Later in the spring, strappy leaves

emerge to provide photosynthesis for

the bulbs and then die away. If you’re

like me, afterwards you might forget

you planted them until the blossoms

unexpectedly trumpet their arrival

the following autumn. These bulbs

are always a surprise, arriving like

latecomers to a party just as the rest

of the household is going to bed.

Unlike saffron crocuses, colchicums

are highly poisonous and,

like many toxic plants, once had a

medicinal use for the treatment of

gout. King James supposedly took a



Autumn Surprise


concoction of colchicum and dried

human skulls to treat his affliction.

Since the 1950s, a synthetic version of

colchicine, the plant’s main chemical

agent, has been widely prescribed as a

treatment.

If this is your first year growing

any of these bulbs, it’s not too late.

The bulb companies ship them in

early September and, best of all, they

will bloom within four to six weeks

after planting in their first year. Colchicums

will even bloom unplanted.

If they like their growing conditions,

these carefree plants will rebloom reliably

year after year with a hot, dry

summer and well- drained soil, which

is what we have on the Cape. I usually

order mine from Brent & Becky’s

Bulbs because they have a selection of

more unusual species and hybrids.

I enjoy planting most any plant

that functions as a reminder of seasonal

transitions. Crocuses bookend

the growing year, giving me hope by

opening up on the first sunny but cold

spring days. Then, over half a year

later, these fall flowers tell me it’s

time to relax and go sit in front of the

fire after a long summer of gardening.

Clockwise from top left:

Colchicum autumnale ‘Giant’ grows to

10 to 12 inches.

Most colchicums are pink, but ‘Alboplenum’

is a double- petalled white.

Crocus ‘Conqueror’ may be a delicate color,

but it grows taller than other types.

Colchicum speciosum delivers one of

the darkest shades of hot pink of the

genus. Some types feature an interesting

checkerboard pattern called tessellation.

It’s never too early to start planning

for outdoor entertaining.

Gather with friends and family around

your new pool, host a dinner party with

your outdoor kitchen, or just relax

in your sauna.

Mazzeo Pools and Outdoor Living

has a team dedicated to creating your

personal outdoor oasis. We offer saunas,

spas, pools, cold plunges, outdoor

kitchens, and so much more.

Let us work together to get the most

out of your outdoor space today.

56 Main St Unit F.

Orleans MA 02653

mazzeopoolscc@gmail.com

508-360-3835

Together, we can help

everyone on their

path to a home…

Donate to the Wellfleet Housing Trust today.

Day | Logan Group

daylogangroup@compass.com

Support Local,

Support Housing,

Support the Community.

Kait Logan

REALTOR ®

kaitlogan@compass.com

M: 845.532.3864

Katy Day

REALTOR ®

katy.day@compass.com

M: 313.478.0414

2548 Route 6 • Wellfleet, MA 02667 • compass.com

Compass is a licensed real estate broker and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. All material presented herein is intended for informational purposes only. This is not intended to solicit property already listed. Nothing herein shall be construed as legal, accounting or other

professional advice outside the realm of real estate brokerage.

Beach House Fall25

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