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Dream Home

Steve Landwehr
Published: October 19, 2007

IPSWICH | It looks old-fashioned but feels modern; that's the best way to describe it. From the barrel ceiling in the living room to the wide pine floorboards, Mat and Sarah Cummings' Ipswich home has the appearance of being from another era, or maybe several eras, yet at the same time contemporary.

The couple and the building of their new home were subjects of a Salem News series that ended in December 2005, before they had moved in. Tomorrow, their house will be one of 10 Ipswich homes open to the public as a fundraiser for the Ipswich Visitor Center.

Now that they've got the place finished and furnished, mostly, and been living in it for a while, we decided to see if it is living up to their hopes.

"It's great, now that I'm used to the size," Sarah says.

Their old house, just up the driveway on Center Street, was a three-family, and they lived on the first floor. They still own it, renting out the two upper floors while Mat has his office on the first.

An architect, he says he attempted to make the house feel bigger than its 2,401 square feet and feel thoroughly modern, by designing spaces that flow into each other. Guests seated in the dining area can converse with their hosts working in the kitchen or with other guests in the living room.

The focal point of all three rooms is a massive limestone fireplace in the living room. Mat says it took eight guys to lift the custom-cut mantel into place.

Just off the kitchen is a room Sarah's not so happy with. It looks like it is right out of the 1920s, which is great, she says; the problem is the floor. It's made of marble tiles that create a rattanlike pattern, and it turns out they're more delicate than they look.

"Ipswich water stains it," Sarah says. "I'd think twice about doing it again."

Although it seems every room is a different color, Sarah says there are only four basic hues.

"They're all historic, traditional colors," she says.

Visitors may be most impressed with the oversized, walk-in closet off the master bedroom. Woodworker Kevin Hayes made all the built-in cabinets. They feature inlaid wood on the countertops and frame-and-panel doors with frosted glass windows.

Mat acknowledges one of the reasons it took so long to complete the house is that he kept giving Hayes more projects because he liked his work. He and Hayes graduated from Northeast Regional Vocational School in Wakefield in 1986.

"He lived here literally a year," Sarah says.

Hayes also installed the pine flooring in the house, which is held down with rosehead nails that are left visible. Mat says a combination of stain and tung oil makes the flooring look like it is 50 years old, and it will only improve from now on.

"The more beat up it gets," he says, "the better it looks."

Home at last

Mat's only regret is that he decided not to use a relatively new type of foam insulation in the roof. Instead, he stuck with traditional glass fiber batting.

"I was thinking like a homeowner, trying to save a few bucks, instead of like an architect," he says.

As far as money goes, Sarah was worried about how the couple would cope with the expenses of two houses. So far, the biggest challenge is one they share with many homeowners.

"The only bill that kills us is the heating bill," she says.

Sarah's only other quibble with the house?

"There are so many windows, you don't feel really private all the time," she says.

Mat got an estimate to have the windows cleaned professionally | $600 | so they don't plan to do that anytime soon.

The house has turned out to be a pretty good one for hosting parties, particularly in the backyard. A huge brick fireplace gets a lot of use, and friends enjoy sitting around it until the wee hours on cool nights.

The couple have also enjoyed having friends from out of town, now that they have rooms for them to stay in.

When we left Mat and Sarah nearly two years ago, we said their house would not be a home until they shared life's joys and sorrows within its walls. It was probably inevitable they'd soon experience both.

Sarah's father died last December. He left her some money, not a lot, but enough that she decided to splurge. There in the garage | their other two cars get parked outside | is a shiny, red, '72 Ford LTD convertible with a black interior and 121,390 miles on the odometer. Sarah bought it because she got a deal, and because her father once owned the same model car.

A week later, she found out she's pregnant, and the couple expect their first child in January. They know it's going to be a boy, and he'll sleep in the octagonal turret room on the second floor, under a painted-sky ceiling that is forever blue, with puffy white clouds scudding across it.

They've got a name picked out, Liam James Walsh Cummings. He will never meet his grandfather, but James Walsh will live on in this house that is now home.



Ipswich opens its doors

The 10 homes that will be open to the public on tomorrow's house tour represent a wide range of styles. The oldest was built around 1660, the newest in 2006. The two featured homes on Great Neck have sweeping views of Plum Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean. The owner of the former Boardman House on Candlewood Drive completed a renovation of the property in 2006, and this year was given an award for extraordinary efforts to preserve the town's history.

The event will be held rain or shine.

What: Ipswich House Tour

When: Tomorrow, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Where: Pick up tour maps at the Ipswich Visitor Center, 34 S. Main St., or at any ticket outlet.

Cost: $23

Tickets: Available at Ipswich Visitor Center, 34 S. Main St.; Institute for Savings, 2 Depot Square; Ipswich Shellfish Market, 8 Hayward St.

To benefit: Ipswich Visitor Center

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