Because the existing cottage on the site was
right on the water, the new house that Ken
and Dee Gray built was grandfathered, that
is, exempt from current building
restrictions. The Grays were allowed to
construct a new house as long as the front
of the structure was not any closer to the
water than that of the old cottage and no
more than 30 percent larger in volume.
Construction crews had to work with
the tides, giving them six-hour windows that
changed daily. Because the site is so tight
— only 50 feet between roadway and
high-water mark — the contractor leased
property a mile away for storing equipment.
The Federal Emergency Management
Agency does not allow the construction of
foundations in the flood plain, so the house
had to be built on pilings. When a granite
ledge made it impossible to drive the
fiberglass piers into the ground, a concrete
pad 12 to 24 inches thick was poured
directly on the ledge. Vertical rebar was
embedded in the concrete pad so that the
20 hollow pier forms, each 14 inches in
diameter, could be lowered over the
protruding metal. Concrete (nine fully
loaded mixer trucks’ worth) was then
poured into each hollow form. The resulting
solid piers support the weight of the house.
design decision
Building Over Water
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rowing shell suspended beneath the house.
“It is like being on a boat,” says Ken,
“except it’s rock solid.”
Solid idea, both in design and con-
struction. Time and tide may bear away
all things, but this house over the sea looks
very much as though it will be here 200
years from now.
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“it moves your shade so you don’t have to.”
