To purchase a lighthouse at auction in a gesture of civic devotion is not for the faint-hearted. It is an act of preservation that the Pettee family undertook in 2016 to ensure the historic Greens Ledge Lighthouse remained part of the local character of Rowayton. But that, my friends, is another story. This story is about decorating.
Before the aforementioned purchase of the lighthouse, Sheila and Tim Pettee settled in Rowayton, downsizing from their New Canaan house to a townhouse on the Five Mile River. The couple, empty nesters, had been in Rowayton several years before they decided they needed to rehaul the interiors with a more coastal vibe. As luck would have it, a neighbor’s house was designed by another Rowayton fixture, Lynn Morgan of her eponymous design firm, and in line with what the Pettees wanted for their own home. Says Sheila, “I love her style, which is that blue and white, clean and crisp look we wanted. We had a mixture of things after downsizing to the water, and we needed someone to make things look cohesive.”
The decorating direction from the clients was simple: The color palette was to be limited to blue and white; the spaces were to have better flow. Morgan, along with her firm’s senior designer, Jim Ribaudo, took to task with their usual choreography, stripping out any overwhelming moldings and cabinets, painting over the ’90s gray with a crisp shade of white, and reconfiguring furniture layouts to create spaces for gathering with friends and family; all while focused on one thing—the view of the water.
In the kitchen, the designers replaced the dated tile and countertops, added doors to the island, and painted the cabinetry a glossy white. An arch over the kitchen sink was removed for an unobstructed view over the dining room to the water. They kept the client’s dining chairs but had them reupholstered in a blue and white China Seas textile.
The clients’ dining room table, which they had made by a local craftsman, was special to them for a detail you might miss if you didn’t grow up in coastal Connecticut: The base is a pair of old beach trashcans. Tim wanted to keep the tabletop and the bases that were “painted a drab green, and Lynn suggested we paint it white. Obviously, if Lynn thought it wouldn’t work, she would have said o—because she did say that often!—but she was intrigued.”
The square coffee table in the living room is custom by Lynn Morgan Design. The swivel chairs, also custom, are covered in a China Seas fabric through Quadrille Fabrics, and the rug is from A.T. Proudian.
In the kitchen, a nautical blue tile backsplash from Tile & Stone Techniques is paired with glossy white cabinets.
An unused portion of the entry was transformed into a bar that boasts cabinets painted in Benjamin Moore’s Waterloo with boat cleats used as hardware, complemented by a Sister Parish backsplash tile through Country Floors.
The clients had their dining room table made by a local craftsman, and Morgan had the base painted white, while the clients’ own mirror was repainted in Benjamin Moore’s Sapphire Ice in a high-gloss finish.
About the powder-room wallpaper—Hinson’s Fireworks through Scalamandré—Sheila says: “We were married on the Fourth of July weekend, and the wallpaper is perfect for us.”
A pair of club chairs are upholstered in China Sea’s Panama II print in the primary bedroom, and the custom bench at the end of the bed wears a Palm Orleans Stripe.
The townhouse takes advantage of the water views of the Five Mile River from almost every vantage point.
Finding a seat for everyone (in this case four grown children and a grandchild that visit) can be daunting in a smaller space, but Morgan and Ribaudo doubled the seating in the living room with a custom sofa and four swivel chairs anchored by a white 50-inch coffee table. A pair of X benches covered in, of course, a blue and white stripe, are easily pulled in or out of the arrangement as needed. “Lynn took a space problem that we didn’t see and created space to gather,” says Sheila. “We are very grateful for that, and that’s what it is all about: getting together with family in a beautiful setting.”
“The biggest thing she did for us, which we love,” adds Tim, “is transforming dead space just inside the front door into a bar, which is fantastic. Lynn was like, ‘who doesn’t want a drink when they come in?’” The bar is painted in navy lacquer with blue and white Sister Parish tile to add some pizzazz. “They love to entertain,” says Morgan, “so why not a nautical-themed bar?”
In less-skilled hands, the transition from navy lacquer to a suite of graduating blues might feel stiflingly nautical—more like a themed gift shop than a home. Every space is a tribute to the masterful way Morgan and Ribaudo balance colors and hues. “Think about the sky or the sea,” says Ribaudo. “Those are all different colors, and it works. The key is to never try to match it totally—that gets boring.”
“The before and after is 180,” says Tim. “Before, we had a lot of gray and low functionality. Now when I wake up, it’s the same gorgeous view of water, but so bright, open, airy and cheery. It sets your mood for the day.”
