Southern Charm

Audrey Sterk's interior design on the South Shore

Written by Brian Bushard

Interior Design by Audrey Sterk Design

Architect: Benjamin Normand Residential Design

Builder: RPF Built, Ryan Fitch

Landscape Architect: Julie Jordin, Garden Design Company

Photography by Matt Kisiday

Each house is supposed to tell a story, according to interior designer Audrey Sterk. Sometimes, when the house is just built, that story has to be created. If that’s the case, then the story for the new house on the island’s south shore is more of a travel essay.

Sterk, of Audrey Sterk Design, laid out the interior with a “traveled feel” in mind. The homeowner is a traveler and had collected artwork and knickknacks along the way. It only made sense that the home would include its fair share of vintage items, from the glassware on the bar to the thrifted art pieces from island estate sales.

"Every single bar should have a set of vintage glasses, period, full stop,” Sterk said. “Every bar should have a touch of vintage, something to root it in history. Even if it didn’t originate from you. It could be somebody else. It doesn’t matter where it’s from. You don’t need to spend a million dollars on vintage accessories."

Each room in the house carries that theme. The idea is to keep it clean and durable, modern with a look of being old-fashioned. “Light, sandy-colored oak is very popular, and it’s also timeless,” said Sterk, now in her 30th year in business on Nantucket. “It’s like a pair of blue jeans. It’s never going to go out of style.” If there’s a color palette to the house, it’s moody dark teal, as well as light cream and ebonized wood. The pantry area is one example. The cabinets are painted poplar in dark teal.

The ceiling wallpaper has the look of a watercolor storm or a wave reaching its crescendo. A painting by island artist Julija Mostykanova hangs in the living room—a foggy seascape. Upstairs, a sitting room flanked by two bedrooms offers a perch over the Atlantic. One of the bedrooms, which also looks over the ocean, features a modified wingback chair and an ebonized wood frame.

“It’s like somebody had a lazy Sunday morning and they read their favorite book, and they get to look at the ocean and sit in bed,” Sterk said. “It’s very rooted in tradition, and because we’re situated on the island, and on the south shore, we definitely leaned into it being more of a beach-focused house because of its location,” she said. "You can’t get away from the fact that sand is going to travel through this home.