Budget Breakdown: Is This $590K Rhode Island Home "Too California?" Not for Its Owners

While Lauren and Ryan Tracy were visiting his parents in Newport, Rhode Island, over the winter holidays in 2023, the couple’s then-toddler daughter, Renny, needed a car nap. Driving around Jamestown on the adjacent Conanicut Island, the San Diego family toured a dilapidated 1950s cottage for sale. Though the small home had "zero curb appeal" and a distinct cat-like smell, it did have an ocean view from the backyard, says Lauren. The price was also attractive: $265,000, a far cry from the overinflated California market they were used to. Having renovated several homes before with their design-build company, Shelter Residential, it was easy for the Tracys to imagine it as their next project: a summer home for their growing family (which now includes new baby Lottie and miniature bull terrier, Hank), located just 15 minutes away from the grandparents.

After purchasing the roughly 1,000-square-foot saltbox-style house, which had a flat-roofed extension, they began redesigning it as a minimalist gable home. Lauren and Ryan also wanted to explore passive design principles to make it as energy efficient as possible, all while staying within a $550,000 budget, home purchase price included. However, after opening the walls, they discovered mold all the way to the studs, learning it’d be a longer journey than they’d thought. The couple demolished two-thirds of the original structure before assembling a scant but mighty team of local consultants, with Ryan taking on a lot of the new construction himself to keep costs low.

Setback Requirements

Ryan: The front of the house was built with a zoning variance that allowed it to be closer to the street, so if we had touched that part, we wouldn’t have been able to secure a remodel permit. The facade was so ugly, but in the end, we just embraced it and said, Okay, let’s just take this shape and carry it all the way through, and make it like it look like a wool shed. In the drawings it looked like a mobile home. But when it actually came to fruition, it looked pretty cool.