An architect, an author, and a house that?s new and old When architect Thomas A. Kligerman of Ike Kligerman Barkley talks about shingle-style homes, he waxes a bit romantic. ?If you asked a child to draw a cartoon of a house, it would likely look like a shingle-style dwelling,? he says. ?Everyone has one in their history, so they all appear familiar. Homes like this are like a soft, comfortable sweater.?
So, when his client Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg (author of the novel Eden) and her family approached him about building an modern, flat-roof home on the water in Watch Hill, Rhode Island, he asked them to rethink the concept. ?The area is full of classic Shingle style homes, and I urged them to build something that respects that,? he says.
Architect Thomas A. Kligerman designed a modern take on a traditional shingle-style house.

Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg in front of her family home.

The house sits on the Block Island Sound.

Blasberg and her family had been living in Switzerland, where they fell in love with clean lines and uncluttered interiors. ?We toyed with building a glass box, but we are also fans of the charming homes you find in these summer communities,? she says. ?Tom convinced us we could blend both aesthetics?and that we could have that clean box inside a Shingle style house.?
Kligerman explains what that looks like: ?On the outside, you see a huge, exaggerated, triangular gable and an over...