Every project has its discerning clients, and for this new Edgartown, Massachusetts, home, two of its residents—Murphy and Benny—played an especially key role in the design choices. Murphy is nine years old and Benny is less than two, but as yellow labs, they use every room and expect to find comfort in each.
“Yellow labs rule our house,” admits Madeleine Blommer, principal of Madeleine Blommer Design and the interior designer for the residence, which is owned by her parents. “I feel fortunate that we have yellow labs because I’m always drawn to neutral color palettes, and I designed much of the house around the dogs. They’re both slightly different shades of yellow, and I was able to use those hues as my guiding force.”
Blommer and her parents had been coming to Martha’s Vineyard from their home in suburban Philadelphia for years, but when a vacant site near the town’s boat dock came available, her parents decided to build a five-bedroom home on it, along with separate guest quarters. Local architect Chuck Sullivan of Sullivan + Associates Architects responded by designing a classic Shingle-style house, but in a style he carefully calls “Modern Edgartown.” While he admits to not having a set aesthetic for the residences he designs, he did want to push this one beyond the traditional profile, something he accomplished by including a few larger glass panels in select areas of the house, a way to “downplay a little bit anything that might seem too predictable.” He used white cedar shingles as the prevailing exterior material, which will turn an appealing gray within a year’s time, given the winds and salt air.
Meanwhile, Blommer was intent on making sure that the rooms for her parents—as well as for her siblings and their spouses, and for her and her husband to use on visits—would be something other than those in just another Vineyard beach house. “At this stage of their lives, my parents are flexible,” she says. “My dad is retired, and they want to use this house and their boat well beyond the summer months.” Given that dynamic, the goal was to ensure that the house was as cozy and inviting in summer as it would be in the off seasons. “The primary driving force was to strike a balance between an overall sense of comfort and coziness with refinement and restraint.”
Interior designer Madeleine Blommer took on the task to design the rooms of her parents’ home, along with help from yellow labs Benny and Murphy.
The home’s side entry features a Casa Gusto bench with pillows in a Rose Tarlow fabric, and Harcock’s Pond by Nathan Wilson through Granary Gallery.
The living room design began with a pair of Casa Gusto chairs upholstered in a Schumacher fabric. Other elements include a Soane ceiling fixture, slipper chairs in an Elizabeth Eakins stripe, and Drawing 29, an abstract work by Joaquim Chancho from Richeldis Fine Art.
The den features a Holly Hunt linen wallcovering, a custom sofa with JB Martin green mohair and a large ottoman from Acquisitions Atlanta upholstered with a James Malone fabric, all situated on a Stark rug.
Counter stools from Memoire Design provide seating at the kitchen island, which is illuminated by Visual Comfort pendants.
A Galbraith & Paul wallpaper through Holland & Sherry is used in the pantry, and the cabinets are painted in Farrow & Ball’s Vert de Terre. The hardware is from Armac Martin.
The dining area, which melds with the open living room, is furnished with a Dunes and Duchess table and McGuire chairs upholstered in a Schumacher cotton check.
In the powder room, a Farrow & Ball wallpaper complements a custom vanity finished in Farrow & Ball’s Pigeon.
In the bunkroom, drapery fabric on the beds is a Mahala Textiles ikat, pillows are upholstered with Schumacher fabrics, and bolsters use a Fleurons D’Helene pattern through John Rosselli.
In a guest bedroom, a Kerry Joyce pattern was used for the headboard, ceiling and walls. The rug is through From Jaipur With Love, the lamps are from Objet Insolite, and the pillows feature a Claremont pattern. The sofa is from Charles Stewart, and the ceiling fixture is from Currey & Company.
“I kept hearing from friends in the design industry that it can be especially rough working with a friend or family, but, frankly, my parents are dream clients to have, especially for what really represents my first full project as an interior designer,” says Blommer. While Blommer’s vision for the rooms prevails, she and her mother gladly took off on joint shopping expeditions—to Texas’s Roundtop, antiquing treks through Provence, scouring Parisian flea markets. “What made the shopping especially fun is that we were looking for specific items for specific rooms, rather than just shopping for shopping’s sake.”
With, at last count, some 79 extended family members (excluding Murphy and Benny), according to Blommer, who have been known to gather at different times in the home, the living room took special precedence. There Blommer chose two rattan chairs from Casa Gusto. “I’ve never seen my dad so excited about any other piece of furniture before!” Blommer’s restrained palette carries through into the adjoining dining room. “My parents like this great flow of spaces. The number of times my parents talk about grandchildren—which don’t exist yet—is about them wanting rooms where everyone is around each other.”
Of her mother, Blommer says that her main language is “cooking. That’s her love language.” Her mother prepares many major meals in the kitchen for family and friends, with the island functioning as a metaphorical anchor spot, so that all cooking can be witnessed by those gathered there.
While there are many public areas for the family to be together, they often find themselves ensconced in the den, which Blommer defined with a deep-green sectional upholstered in a plush mohair. “It’s definitely more pigmented than the rest of the house.” She further quieted and softened the hip-roofed room by lining the ceiling with a Holly Hunt linen.
Even though Murphy and Benny were trained to stay off the furniture and beds, they ignore the requests. “They’re a part of our family and sit with us on the sofas,” notes Blommer. “They even run into the pool and swim with us.”
