Nantucket Railings and Stairs

Modern Staircases and Railings on Nantucket

The natural beauty and rich history of Nantucket make the island both a tourist destination and a summer colony. When you arrive in Nantucket, you see unpainted cedar-shingled buildings and cobblestone streets. A visit to the island truly feels like a step back in time.

To maintain the island’s culture, the exterior of the homes must meet strict building requirements set by the town. This limits the changes homeowners can make to their home exteriors. On the inside, however, homeowners have more freedom to renovate. While some of our customers want to embrace Nantucket’s classic style with rustic railings and stairs, others want to create contrast. These clients envision a clean, coastal aesthetic for their interior architecture and decor. At Keuka Studios, we have the flexibility to cater to both design styles.

Need ideas for your Nantucket home’s stairs or railings? Check out a few projects that we’ve completed for Nantucket properties.

1. Eel Point Residence

One of our clients in Nantucket owns a beautiful beach cottage with a modern nautical design scheme. For example, the home features a contemporary white electric fireplace with blue accents.

The homeowners wanted to carry this maritime design all throughout the house including the stairwell. To achieve this look, they asked Keuka Studios to design a glass railing. The clients wanted the structure to seamlessly blend with their white staircase and white shiplap paneled walls. Our team designed a glass infill railing with custom stainless steel posts and a round top rail. As a result, the stairway now has a very open feel. Because of the railing’s transparency, the natural sunlight from the window passes through the stairs and into the main room.

2. Siasconset Cottage Remodel

A client in Nantucket wanted to modernize their home yet maintain the home’s historical features and 19th-century architecture. When they began planning for the renovation, they had to follow Nantucket’s local building code and historic preservation regulations. To maintain the existing structure, the homeowners converted the original building into the entryway of their colossal new abode. They built a large addition to the house and an inground pool in the backyard.

As part of the renovation, our clients wanted to add a staircase to the entryway to provide access to the loft. Our design team worked with architect Steven Roethke to design a custom spiral staircase and landing for the tight space. We also made a cable railing system for the spiral staircase.

The addition to the home also included a finished basement, requiring another staircase to access the lower level. Keuka Studios designed and fabricated a double-stringer staircase with open risers and wood treads in a similar style to the spiral staircase.

3. Polpis Home

Keuka Studios also designed and fabricated a modern staircase and railing system for the interior of a traditional Nantucket home. We custom designed posts with a tapered shape that wrap around the tread and bolt below. The slim posts and exposed hardware give the staircase a sleek and industrial look that complements the home’s traditional architecture.  

4. Surfside Beach Home

Keuka Studios worked with Cross Rip Builders, a custom home builder in Nantucket, on the renovation of a surfside beach house. Our clients wanted a modern nautical style for their entire home interior, including the stairwell.

They asked for a minimalist railing that would preserve the multi-tier staircases’ existing white wood newel posts. Keuka Studios developed a custom cable railing that attaches to the thick square posts. We also designed a brushed stainless steel handrail and a custom attachment to integrate our cable infill into the staircase structure.

Our client also wanted our metalwork in their kitchen. As a centerpiece for their nautical-themed kitchen, the homeowners made a custom glass table in the shape of a boat. They asked us to design a stainless steel footrest to run around the base of the table and complete the modern ship-like look they desired. Our talented craftsmen at Keuka Studios gladly took on the project and put to use their expertise that includes more than stair and railing design.  

Design, Build, Ship

While Keuka Studios operates entirely from our facility in Upstate New York, we sell our products to clients across the U.S. and the Caribbean islands. Our unique manufacturing process enables us to work with clients remotely throughout the design phase.

Using measurements taken by the client, the engineers at Keuka Studios use CAD software to digitally render our railing and stair designs. This allows our clients to see how our product will fit with their home’s existing infrastructure. For large-scale jobs, we can visit the site and use a laser scanner to capture a complete 3D survey of the property.

Next, our fabrication team builds the complete railing system or staircase all at our shop in Rush, New York. We disassemble and package the components so they arrive at the worksite ready for installation. To get our cable railing to clients in Nantucket, we send our finished stairs and railings via truck to Hyannis Port and then a ferry takes them across the Nantucket Sound. Upon arrival, a local Nantucket freight company delivers the product to the building site.