A Shore Thing

On Cape Cod, a historic artist's studio is taken apart and lovingly reassembled.

- By Camille Okhio

Transformation is par for the course in any town, and certainly in one as his toric as Province town, Massachusetts. What began as a 17th-century fishing village later evolved into a retreat for artists and writers and a refuge for the LGBTQ community. Today, visitors flock to this picturesque destination at the extreme tip of Cape Cod, and the town's charming shingled homes have become highly coveted.

For Terrence Meck and Bret Alberti, Provincetown has been their primary home year round for almost a decade. The couple met 12 years ago at a flying trapeze class; Alberti was the teacher. Now he tends to their homes and life together, while Meck runs the Palette Fund a philanthropic foundation started in honor of his late former husband.

In 2018, Meck and Alberti were looking for help with a historic cottage they had purchased in town. The choice of designer was easy: David Cafiero, who is based in New York and has a home in Provincetown, had already worked with Meck on his New York apartment and several other homes. "I met David on the beach during one of my early trips to Provincetown," Meck says.