GREAT BONES: Grayer Home, Rye Beach Avenue
Kelly Grayer has great style, so she knew precisely what she wanted when she downsized from a larger home to a stately yet significantly smaller 1924 home on Rye Beach Avenue.

 

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By Caroline Walker

Kelly Grayer has great style, so she knew precisely what she wanted when she downsized from a larger home to a stately yet significantly smaller 1924 home on Rye Beach Avenue.

While the house had been well cared for over the years, Kelly and her architect Paul Shainberg had big plans to take it from charming to an ideal, gracious family home for Kelly and her boys, who are 5 and 8.  

While retaining the historic integrity of the house, Kelly and Paul had a vision to create a more open floor plan and change the way the flow of the house actually worked, to better accommodate modern family living.  

“I love old houses, and wanted to keep as much of the character as I could — the leaded-glass built-in bookcases in the living room and the coffered ceiling in the dining room — but be able to use all the rooms,” said Kelly.

In light of her home’s location near Oakland Beach, she also wanted to bring in sand and sea. The ceiling in the living room is wallpapered to look like sand. The dining room walls shimmer with lacquered paint. The first-floor palette is soft blue and green hues mixed with neutrals. The Calcutta Gold kitchen countertops are a nice complement to the stainless steel light fixtures and appliances.

On the third floor is a guest room under the eaves that is intimate and inviting. The basement has been transformed into a well-organized mudroom, large play spaces for the children, and an office beyond for Kelly, who is on the board of Community Synagogue and is involved with the Community Resource Center in Mamaroneck.

While the family doesn’t have a large backyard, they do have Rye Town Park across the street, and Kelly and crew are working on creating a private and peaceful patio space in the backyard.