Summer House on Martha's Vineyard

Beautiful sunny Saturday here. Let's stop on Martha's Vineyard and visit this grand summer house built by Hutker Architects and decorated by Jerry Twetten and Michael Van Valkenburgh.

The entrance courtyard. Landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh used native trees and plants.

Beautiful deck to sit back and enjoy.


In the great room, “a timber frame composed of a series of arch forms was made by cutting and integrating curved trees into the assembly,” says the architect.

A lantern purchased in Paris hangs in the cedar-and-glass conservatory, which links the adjacent great room to the landscape facing the ocean and can be used all year. The limestone floor allows easy plant maintenance—it can be soaked with water.

Located in the guest wing, the recreation room’s exposed timbers, wide-plank floors and weathered paneling suggest a converted barn. A secret door, disguised as a bookcase and built on a steel frame to swing open effortlessly, reveals an art studio, a powder room and stairs to a loft.

To take full advantage of the sun and views of the 15-acre property, the master bedroom was located at the front of the residence.

A pergola marks the western edge of the pool courtyard and leads to the living areas of the main house.

All of the guest rooms have shed roofs and exposed-stud structure. Collections from beach trips and visits to yard sales are displayed in shelves and top ledges in a guest room.

Flanking the pool courtyard are the pergola and guest and main wings of the house. With his practice based on the island, Hutker believes his “understanding of Vineyard agrarian landscapes and building types led the composition of the site to a grouping of linked small forms rather than a single structure.”

Hidden behind a fieldstone fireplace, an outdoor path leads to the beach.



Photography by Brian Vanden Brink
All images and information from Architectural Digest.