A cumbersome voice delay hinders an already spotty connection, but the
delight in Hilary Latham’s voice is still audible. An interior designer, she is speaking of her next
project. To be sure, it will be a grand endeavor in both scope and sentimentality: her own newly
completed custom home in Barrington, which just happens to be 3,000 miles from her family’s
current home in England, where she is now.
“It’s sort of a blank canvas,” she says of the 7,000 square feet
awaiting her on this side of the pond. “We’ve done everything
so far remotely. I’m looking forward to spending some time in
the house to think about the color schemes.”
Hilary’s all-encompassing “everything” isn’t an exaggeration. Working with Alex and Rod Mitchell of Providencebased Meridian Custom Homes, Hilary and her husband, Paul
Latham, oversaw the design and construction of their New
England home from old England’s shores. “The things you
couldn’t possibly choose via email, we put on an agenda,” says
Hilary. “We visited three times during the build process and
Meridian had it all organized for us so we were able to make
the most important decisions on site.”
Having previously renovated a 250-year-old Georgian in England, the Lathams weren’t oblivious to the process, but a transAtlantic build was unchartered territory for all involved. “It
could have been scary, but it wasn’t,” admits Paul Latham. “We
had weekly conference calls, emails; we were able to see what
was happening in real time. I don’t know that we could have
done it fifteen years ago without the technology we have today.”
“It’s a process we’re very adept at managing,” says Alex
Mitchell. “The customer is always in control.”
After three months of design development, site work
began in April 2010. A pre-existing home on the three-acre
property was demolished and the land, which was densely
overgrown, was cleared to reveal the water view. Although
building code restricted the structure’s height, Meridian
made advantageous use of the property’s slope — which is
fairly steep from front to back — to achieve maximum interior
space. Aesthetically, the result is also in keeping with the
Latham’s preference: driving up to the home, it is elegant yet
unimposing. From the back, its true scale is more apparent,
but the view is private.
The traditional New England shingle-style architecture is
infused with British influences — the dormers and grill patterns, the octagonal design of the wraparound mahogany
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