There’s considerable pressure when hosting a gaggle of friends and family at your home for the annual Thanksgiving feast. There’s even more when the invitations are out and the home is under construction. For Joyce Perschy and Dennis Lynch of Narragansett, failure was not an option. Determined to keep up the family tradition, Joyce moved forward with her plans with every faith in architect Gail Hallock and builder Steve Lawrence to complete the home just in time to toss the turkey in the oven.
“Thanksgiving was a really important goal and they really worked like crazy,” she says, adding that they moved in just about a week before the holiday. “We felt strongly about keeping up tradition” Much like the construction of the new, stunning home itself, Thanksgiving went off without a hitch.
Joyce was just out of college and working for a New York City-based company that kept her on the road regularly, but her trip to this neck of the woods felt different. “Once I landed on Narragansett Town Beach, marveling at The Towers, the ‘Pier’ became embedded in my being and as Tina Fey would say, ‘I want to go to there,’” she says.
After she and Dennis, a Rhode Island native, met and married, they raised their children Patrick, Devon and Jordan in New Canaan, Conn. There was a piece of South County, however, that remained in their hearts. “In my mind, one way or another we were coming back,” says Joyce. It wasn’t uncommon for her to pick up the children on the last day of school and head to Rhode Island’s pristine southern shores where they had a summer house. In 2009, after their children were raised and starting families of their own, Joyce and Dennis’ self-fulfilling prophecy of permanent residency manifested itself when they bought a circa 1950 brick home in Narragansett Pier.
“I had a very strong desire to have a Narragansett [style] house,” explains Joyce. “There’s no name for it... It’s not a Victorian, not a Queen Anne; it’s a Narragansett shingle style house – it’s a blend of designs. They all look different, but in the same different way.” With a keen interest in local history, the couple was committed to building a home that celebrated the town’s past but with both modern conveniences and curb appeal. “Our goal was to build a home [here] which represented the historic nature and beauty found in Narragansett Pier’s Historic District,” Joyce says. Finding someone with their same vision was as critical as it was challenging. Not only was she in search of an architect with the same point of view, but someone who she says would be willing to listen. The couple turned to Gail Hallock Cyr, AIA of Gail Hallock Architect based out of Wickford, for her portfolio of historic and coastal homes. Joyce calls her, quite simply, “an angel.” Together, Joyce and Gail tried to save the existing brick home and repurpose it into the new design, but that proved illogical. “It just didn’t work,” says Gail. “It turned out to be a better solution to demolish.”
“She was very involved and very particular about what she wanted to have,” says Gail about Joyce. “She has excellent style.” She also has computer savvy, adds Gail, saying that her knowledge of architectural software made it easy to review drawings and plans.
From the beginning, the two saw eye-to-eye on the role this home needed to play in this historic pocket of Narragansett. “We were really careful to build it like it belonged,” explains Gail. Though there are always surprises that come along when building a home from scratch, Joyce and Gail made a wondrous discov- ery as they built upward. Though they expected to have some views of Narragansett Bay by the time they reached the 3rd floor, what they found when they got there took their collective breath away. “We found stunning, 360-degree views,” she says, which they capitalized on by adding expansive windows and peaked dormers rich with detail.
After meeting with a number of builders, Joyce and Dennis selected Steve Lawrence of Narragansett-based Lawrence Builders Inc. to execute their vision. “We just felt so lucky that Steve has such talented subcontractors; just really nice people that worked hard, got along, put their hearts into it and took a lot of pride in it – and it really shows. It creates an actual feeling in the house.”
The kitchen was a critical component to the home and Joyce was very particular about the look, feel and function of the one they would create. She worked with Audrey Anderson of Apex Kitchens & Baths in Middletown. “It was a lot of fun working with Audrey. She knows her stuff – she’s been doing it a long time,” says Joyce. It’s a good thing too, because Joyce had a somewhat challenging kitchen in mind. “I wanted a light kitchen, but I love cherry wood,” she says, acknowledging that the two aesthetics are not commonly complementary. “You have to see it to believe it.”
Today, the family, their children and Sky and Cozmo – a pair of adorable Shelties best known as “the Boyz” – are comfortable in the house they made a home.
But like anything great, Joyce and Dennis’ home took a village – just ask any “behind the scenes” team in home construction. The couple was nothing short of awe-struck by the work of Wilcox & Sons Excavation. “The amazing Paul Wilcox and [his] sons of WE DIG,” Joyce says. Other key players include Richard Hight of North East Marble, Granite and Tile, Master Carpenter John Meegan, carpenter Ben Lundgren, framer David Dinucci, the crews from Somers Painting, Mike Rossi of New England Wood Floors and Stony Lane Electric, MRD and RJM Woodworking, and land surveyor Amy Sonder “And many more,” says Joyce. “This has been an incredible team effort and we feel so fortunate to have worked with such fine craftsmen that put their hearts into building our home. I think the cellos come in about now...”
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here