“Everything came from somewhere else.”

It’s called the Outer Lands region for a reason. In the midst of it sits Block Island, 9 square miles of land lined with beaches and red bluffs. Long on open space, short on resources required to build a home.

When Tom Risom and Pamela Austen embarked on a project to build a full-time home on what had been the Risom family’s summer habitat, they carried forward a tradition set by Tom’s father, Jens Risom, and his notorious A-frame on the property—utilizing home systems already designed and built by experts in their fields. A prefab house from Maine. Windows from Germany. And a Space Theory kitchen system from Seattle.

“Prefab suffers an undeserved reputation as being cheap and low quality,” says Risom. “Like all things, some of it is. More often, however, it can be high caliber, efficient, and create a better result than cobbling together a home the traditional way.”

“Simplicity is what we were after. But, as my father professed all his life, getting a simple result is hard,” says Risom. It requires precise execution, exacting standards, and practice. Product development, testing, and improvement. So your home is not the testing ground; rather, it is receiving proven performance. It’s what most of us experience and expect in many of the necessities in our lives—cars, electronics, etc.

And, furniture.”

In addition to simplicity, size was a major player. Especially when it came to the kitchen. Both in terms of the footprint of the kitchen itself but also because it occupied a spot in the main living space.

“We wanted the kitchen to be top notch,” says Austen. An academic, her propensity to deep research led her to Space Theory. “They have it all figured out in terms of how it works, which meant that we weren’t overwhelmed with too many decisions. And the decisions we did have were easy and up our alley.”

“It felt like we were kindred spirits,” said Risom. “It told me instantly that we would have a rapport, that we were after the same goals. Being honest with materials, considering function over form, but not too far ahead of it.”

“The nature of Space Theory’s design fits the kitchen to the people, rather than the other way around. It feels intuitive to use, all in the mechanism of preparing food,” says Risom. “The thing is, when it is intuitive it becomes invisible, fluid. When it isn’t, that is when you notice it. It becomes something you trip on everyday. Pam and I are left-handed; we know that story.”

Nature abounds on the island, the site, and through the windows of the home. Wood is used inside to echo its setting. The couple was drawn to Space Theory’s options to add a pop of color into the island—to break up the use of wood, add an element of fun, and give a nod to the legacy of the Risom A-frame.

A holistic approach to building and living. Signed, sealed, delivered.