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ONCE USED AS A MONASTERY, A HISTORIC HOME OVERLOOKING NOYAC BAY IS GIVEN AN ALTER EGO IN PRIMARY COLORS

Waters run deep at the North Haven home built in 1910 by Reginald Barclay, a yachtsman and socialite. Originally dubbed West Banks, it sits high on a bluff overlooking Noyac Bay. Some 40 years later, the monks of the Pallotine Fathers made it their monastery, and while they weren't yachtsmen, they did enjoy a daily dip in the bay. Later, when the house reverted to private ownership, pools were added, as well as a pond complete with a waterfall and meandering stream.

When Lisa Perry and her family, the home's most recent owners, moved in eight years ago, they were fortunate that those water views, pond, plantings and emerald green lawn were already in place. That was the good news. As for the "heavy, ornate" style that the previous owners had favored inside the house, "that was not an interior design I was going to be comfortable with," says Perry.

In a sense, this uncomfortable interior was also good news for a woman who has always found happiness in a design challenge. At age 10, Perry's entire bedroom was Marimekko. It was a sensibility she came by naturally, growing up in a Japanese-inspired minimalist home in Chicago, part of a household whose every member was involved in the family textile business, Dana Mills.