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McDonough's resolution to this starved-for-natural-light condition was what he calls the "sugar house" solution. By creating the living room with wrap-around perimeter windows at the 12-foot level and punching up the roof pitch - imitating the impression of a Vermont maple sugar house - the room floods with light and retains the sense of privacy. "Had we not taken this route the only choice would be looking right at the neighbor's wall, and that's one we didn't want to make," says McDonough.

The interior of the home is a mixture of practicality, elegant materials, fine joinery and techniques to make what is essentially a brand new home appear a vintage restoration. "I have to credit Todd deBettencourt, the director of operations for our company, for so much of what happens," says McDonough, "Todd is without question in the handful of the finest craftsmen on the Vineyard."

Although the home has a formal entry hall - like most practical houses - the primary pathway is through a mudroom and the kitchen. In addition to top-flight cooking appliances, McDonough suggested dark-stained white-oak cabinets and dual dishwashers.

"This was practical advice for a family who really uses the house as it's meant, as a home to live in, not a museum piece to look at," says McDonough. "With the twin, drawer-style dishwashers, one is always clean, the other ready to wash, and no time is wasted putting things away."

Other touches in the galley kitchen include sculpted shell-designed brass drawer pulls and 16-inch square porcelain floor tiles. Counter-tops in both the kitchen and butler's pantry are fashioned from an exquisite, green-toned, honed verde marble from Brazil, rendering the cooking and food-prep areas both durable and beautiful. In the downstairs powder room a Persian marble of similar hue complements the tones.

One of the techniques McDonough employed to suggest antiquity - without sacrificing practicality and economy - was his use of medium density fiberboard wainscoting throughout the home. Manufactured to replicate Nantucket-style beadboard, the product is stable, does not swell and shrink with humidity, has no "bleeding knots," and takes paint like a champ. Because the sheets come in made-to-order-sizes - the product can be painted off-site and applied in large sections, saving time and money.

"And it looks - and certainly performs - better than the actual material it was designed to replicate," says McDonough. "Often purists have an out-of-hand prejudice against something new, and that's counterproductive for their wallets and aesthetics both."

If on the one hand, McDonough has any eye for innovation, he clings to old-world craftsmanship in the details. Some of that tradition he draws from his grandfather, whose drafting and architect's tools he still cherishes. His stint under the tutelage of renowned timber-frame master Ted Benson also informs McDonough's traditional methods. Throughout the house he uses raised-square bungs to cap countersunk fasteners and screws. "The square shape and the little bit of relief gives a special look and feel," says McDonough. Rosettes, pilasters and custom moldings are all crafted at McDonough's shop.

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