Spaces: Grand Plans Turn into Grand Results

To add a beachy, whimsical pop of color to a Jamestown estate, Galen Haas of Haas Design painted portions of the grand staircase in Benjamin Moore’s “Summer Day.” Photography by Maaike Bernstrom and Shannon Hammond

The grand old dame had been perched on a rise overlooking Jamestown’s East Passage for more than a century, its lawn gently sloping down to the sea, housing four generations of families during the island’s carefree summers.

Haas chose lightly whitewashed brick herringbone for the mudroom floor and paired it with walls, trim and doors done in “Louisburg Green” by Benjamin Moore, a color inspired by eighteenth- and nineteenth-century American landmarks. Photography by Maaike Bernstrom and Shannon Hammond

When new owners purchased the shingle-style manse in 2011, they knew it needed some modern-day upgrades. The summer cottage lacked heat, for one thing. And the electrical system was shot. The plumbing, too.

“She was hurting,” says architect Ron DiMauro, principal at DiMauro Architects. “She needed a little love.”

The owners adored its historic charm — the home was built in 1895 — and wanted to preserve as much as they could while updating it to fit their needs. They fell in love with the old floors — a mix of Southern yellow pine, hickory, red oak and fir — the vintage hardware, the grand staircase, the exquisite millwork, all of it.

But with ten bedrooms and seven baths in 8,100 square feet of space, it was a formidable job.

“How do you keep an old home looking and feeling like an old home while you modernize almost every aspect of her? That was our largest challenge,” DiMauro says.   

The devil, as always, was in the details.

Working with Behan Bros. of Middletown, DiMauro tried to preserve as much as possible: the twelve-over-one windows on the first and second floors; the nine-over-one windows on the third floor; the interior millwork; the crown work; the coffered ceilings and exposed beams. What they couldn’t preserve they recreated as faithfully as possible.

The home’s dark brown shingles were softened to a bleached gray cedar. Photography by Maaike Bernstrom and Shannon Hammond

On the exterior, they exchanged drab brown shingles for smart gray cedar ones, with crisp white board-and-batten siding topping off the gables, and lined the foundation with fieldstone to anchor the home to the ground.

Inside, the homeowners wanted to open up the dark and cramped spaces on the first floor to create a spacious kitchen, dining and sitting area complete with a full bar for celebrations. The avid cooks have a large family and love to entertain, and wanted a great room that would house family and guests comfortably.

A French antique table, sourced from a shop in High Point, North Carolina, has room for eighteen guests. Photography by Maaike Bernstrom and Shannon Hammond

The dining room is the largest DiMauro’s ever designed, tailored to hold an eighteen-seat antique table that designer Galen Haas of Newport’s Haas Design sourced from France. In the kitchen, elegant white shaker cabinets contrast nicely with the transom windows that let in natural light, and a split thick Carrara marble and butcher block island can seat six to eight people comfortably.

In her design, Haas tried to emulate the quintessential new England summer home while prioritizing the character of the original cottage. She used soft oaks, walnuts, creamy whites and  neutrals as well as pops of coastal blue and subtle earth-green tones to give the space a timeless aesthetic.

“We were bringing in a lot of new colors and patterns and textiles and wall coverings, but everything was done with the intention of it feeling like it was always meant to be there,” she says.

The home’s meticulously restored candy-colored staircase. Photography by Maaike Bernstrom and Shannon Hammond

One of her favorite parts of the home is the restored grand staircase, done in a powder blue shade (“Summer Day” by Benjamin Moore) for a pop of coastal whimsy. Some parts of the staircase were sanded and saved; other parts were replicated.

“It’s such a bold choice, and then we painted all the walls white,” she says. “We did the inverse of what is typically done and we really carried that throughout the house.”

The playfulness continues upstairs, with blue cabana stripes in a bunk bedroom that can house the owners’ grandchildren and other young guests. The stripes are echoed in the shower of the primary bath, with fun wallpapers and colors intertwining in the many bedrooms.

For her work on the project, Haas won several accolades in the 2026 Rhode Island Monthly Design Awards: first place for Residential Interior Design, second place in Historic Renovation, Residential, and second place for Bathroom.

The owners are thrilled with how the project turned out. They spend their summers in the home and return every year for Christmas, which they say is “magical” on the island.

And their stately grand dame will be waiting for them, as she’s been for countless generations, welcoming them to their haven by the sea.