Jennifer Kain Defoe
Cape Cod Times

SOUTH ORLEANS — Douglas and Angela Parker’s home was built in the 1960s and has been added on to twice with architect Frank Shirley’s designs. Yet there’s no hint of renovation.

And that’s just the way they, and Shirley, wanted it.

The first addition was a second-story front dormer. The second was an airy dining room addition adjacent to a reconfigured and expanded kitchen. There was no change to the house’s footprint for the kitchen; instead, smaller rooms were opened up for a more spacious, user-friendly area.

But the first thing you don’t notice as you enter the Parkers’ living room is the dining room. Shirley’s purpose while working on historical, or even mid-20th-century homes, is to have his architectural work be invisible — and he has made it appear that this dining space was always there. A wide opening is flanked by floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, added during construction, and the new room just naturally flows from the older room.

The Parkers couldn’t be more pleased with Shirley’s plans and construction by von Thaden Builders Inc. of Orleans.

“We doubled the size of the kitchen by opening up the space,” says Mrs. Parker, pointing to where there used to be a cramped breakfast room.

A walk-through leads from the new portion of the kitchen into the dining room, allowing for an easy flow when the Parkers entertain. The dining room comfortably seats 10 at a wide-plank table on an Oriental carpet. A large buffet is set beneath some short windows set high into a wall.

The windows, which have no coverings, were not designed to accommodate the generously sized buffet. They are a thoughtful way of creating a sense of privacy from the neighboring house, while allowing light to flow in, according to Mrs. Parker.

“We didn’t want to sit at the table and look out at the house, and (the windows) give it more of a cottage-y feel,” she says.

Larger windows across the back allow for optimal views of the lush woods that line the back of the Parkers’ home.

The dining room addition is just as subtle from the outside as the inside; just a 2-foot jog comes off the home’s side, giving it dimension, but by no means screaming “addition inserted here.”