Through sleet and snow, the construction of a gracious and spacious Shingle Style home in the heart of town has continued unabated this winter.

By Robin Jovanovich

Through sleet and snow, the construction of a gracious and spacious Shingle Style home in the heart of town has continued unabated this winter. Unlike much of the new construction going up around Rye, the feel is more old school than new, and the team involved is local, hyperlocal, in fact. The contractor is Brendan O’Reilly of Kells Construction, the architect is Paul Shainberg, and Mary Ellen Byrne of Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s is the listing agent; all are longtime Rye residents.
O’Reilly was born in Ireland, one of 18 children, six of whom went into the construction field, he says proudly. He’s prouder still to have his son Rory nowworking alongside him. Rory, a Rye High School graduate, worked with his dad over the summers, but after graduating from college went off to Manhattan and a job in finance as a broker/trader.

But something kept tugging at Rory — the fact that his father truly enjoyed his work — and that got him thinking about coming home to Rye and the “family firm.”
While Brendan has built the business slowly and quietly over the years, it’s been Kells bells in shelter magazines in recent weeks; they were cited as one of the area’s top contractors in the 2014 Westchester Home issue; and their renovation handiwork on a Rye Tudor with Manhattan designer Sara Gilbane can be seen in an article in the February issue of House Beautiful.

O’Reilly has built several other new houses in Rye, but none as grand as the one going up at 241 Milton Road, across from the high school. The stone and shingle home is indeed large at 8,368 square feet, but it’s well proportioned and sits on .63 acres. And the team went out of their way to preserve old-growth trees and has a lush landscape plan ready to be planted once spring arrives.

And the beauty of this spec house is in the details, which include: six-foot wainscoting in the dining room, white oak random plank floors, a real pantry, a covered portico, heated towel warmers, and radiant heat throughout.

The house should be ready for its close-up by the time the tulips are blooming and ready for a family to call home in time for the first bell of the 2014-15 school year.