This contemporary country home in Westport charms with lake views and a rock star-inspired kitchen | Home & Living
Photography by Stefan Radtke
Through large sliding glass doors, the cardboard boxes can look out onto a spacious, beautiful, 200-year-old copper beech tree from their large room. About five and a half years ago, when the couple were searching land in Westport for the construction of a customs house, they went to see each other with their two young children in tow after seeing this tree, along with a meadow and a view of Heron Lake. and knew “it just felt right.”
“The way the breeze moved through the trees here and the birds chirping – there was just so much natural beauty,” recalls Alex Papp. “There’s a Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare, magical quality. That’s the feeling we got when we first saw the property. “
The couple moved from a standard two-story colonial building in Stamford and attracted Westport via Metro-North for its excellent public school system, vibrant city, and proximity to New York City. While Alex works on-site as the owner of Bankside Partners, a boutique housing company, Jessica Robinson-Papp is a neurologist at Mount Sinai Hospital on the Upper East Side in Harlem. “Our dream was to have a place that has more land and that feels a bit more private and secluded,” says Jessica. “I had the idea of a cottage in the woods, but at the same time I had to go to New York City for work every day.”
The Papps’ son, James, carries Nora, one of the family’s five chickens who have the Papps for eggs and as pets. Together with a series of floor-to-ceiling glass doors and windows showing the backyard, Nora and Co. show the connection between the inside and outside of the house.
They consulted with Alex’s cousin Tom Papp, who was project manager at Laura Kaehler Architects at the time, a custom architecture firm in Greenwich. One of the challenges, notes Laura Kaehler, director and registered architect, was keeping the house far enough away from the copper beech so that the roots are not destroyed when the foundation is digged. A long lot that narrows as you get closer to the lake, as well as a desire for a one-story, two-bedroom in-law house for Alex’s mother, dictated the location of the house closer to the road.
“The boarding ride was a matter of course, as there were already two stone pillars. That’s why we decided to really reuse it, “says Kaehler, who worked closely with Tom and the couple on the design before construction began in spring 2016.” And when the in-law was added, it had to be located in such a way that it had easy access to the Front where she parks her car and privacy in front of the family, but also easy access to the family. “
Jessica Robinson-Papp and Alex Papp and their children James and Sophia.
The four bedroom, 3½ bath, 3,000 square foot location of the main home on the 1 acre lot closer to the road paved the way for a larger yard for the kids to play in. They could also enjoy the lake from a couple of chairs and enjoy the view from the house. Urban protected land in the east provided a great opportunity to bring the outside world into their home. “This was an aha phrase for us because we are so outside and love to be outside all the time,” says Jessica. “And we said, ‘Yeah, bring it in. ‘”
The contemporary design of the house was to show the meadow view and bring nature inside. While Kaehler created familiar gable volumes to resonate with the shingle-style houses around them, the glass walls and spacious open floor plan make the house contemporary. “When you’ve opened the doors, it really feels that expansive because you’re visually engaging with the outside world and the environment from every room,” notes Jessica, who wanted a single-story home because she was used to it, Single – Bodenleben grew up in an apartment in New York City and liked the connectedness it gave.
The neutrally tinted bathroom with a view of tall, windswept reeds has a Victoria & Albert Barcelona bathtub.
Inside, Kaehler designed the design of the rooms and the kitchen and integrated their characteristic “portal wrap”, a continuous “band” made of thick wood that is painted or stained and wraps around all the cupboards to tie them into the room. She also opted for the recessed fixture and built-in lighting, but everything decorative – colors, materials, tiles, and fixtures – was chosen by Alex and Jessica either alone or under Tom’s guidance. “Laura is great at designing space and how it flows,” says Alex. “How she aligns windows and how you enter rooms and how one hallway flows into another. She has such a talent for design that you don’t even know why it feels good, but it just does it. “
The kitchen is part of the great room of the house and has quartz countertops, a walnut island, open shelving and cabinets that change from blue to green to gray depending on the daylight.
After seeing John Mellencamp’s kitchen with open shelves in Architectural Digest, she hit on her own idea. Not only did the shelves look “manly in a country like John Cougar Mellencamp,” but Jessica said she loved the accessibility and ease of use. Shiplap on the kitchen wall was also a nod to the singer’s room. To make it their own, they chose Caesarstone quartz for the countertops (earth brown ginger for the island and crispy white and gray fresh concrete for the perimeter) and Inchyra Blue from Farrow & Ball for the cabinets. A unique, mature and refined color that changes from blue to green to gray day and night, says Alex.
The central hall of the house is flanked by two African works of art by the Croatian-born painter Branko Paradis.
The art on the entrance walls by Branko Paradis, a self-taught American oil painter from Croatia, is also colorful. The artist is represented by a grandfather of Alex’s childhood friend who ran an art business, and Alex says the couple like Paradis’ paintings because they are simple and have a childlike honesty. The pieces from the Papps house in Stamford came across bright and uplifting. They fit in well with the room and complement the overall relaxed atmosphere.
The couple took advantage of what they already had wherever they could and even built in a large oak dining table that a friend gave away when they moved. Ironically, it also looks like it was custom made for the room.
The Papp family spends a lot of time in the large room with its 18-foot stone fireplace. From there you can see the huge copper beech and other natural scenes.
Other natural materials include a walnut kitchen island and light wood floors that reflect light. A stone fireplace from the floor to the vaulted ceiling ensures that the large room feels warm and comfortable while maintaining a rustic look. Some of the stone used, including the large head, was removed from the grounds of the property, while the remainder was from a local quarry. With its warm atmosphere and great view, the great room is the family’s favorite place in the house. After all, you can look out over the terrace at the beautiful beech tree and watch over the area.
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