On the outside, the Greek Revival house is sweetly traditional. The gabled front, clearly the original section likely dating to the 1820s, displays the hallmarks of the Greek Revival style: pilaster corner boards, a fluted door surround, transom and sidelights around the entry door. The rear addition is plainer but also of the 19th century. A carved plaque in the peak proclaims the home’s name, Time Out.

Time Out, neither grand nor imposing, is nonetheless an exemplar of vernacular, or colloquial, style. The 3,344-square-foot house is an intrinsic element in Chatham’s Old Village Historic District and the winner of a 2015 Chatham Preservation Award. Clad in white-cedar shingles, Cape Cod’s house siding of choice, it faces the water across a narrow street, part of a close-built collection of homes dating from about 1730 to the 20th century. The neighborhood personifies the unpretentious but authentic historic charm that draws visitors to the Cape.

The interior, however, is of today. Behind the carefully restored facade is a very contemporary house with features desired by homeowners now: a superbly outfitted kitchen that flows into the dining and living rooms in an open floor plan, a practical mudroom and adjoining bath just inside the back door, a home office tucked into a quiet corner close to the action, a basement given over to playing children. The decor incorporates natural wood, stone, rattan, driftwood, and the colors of the sand and the sea. Through the windows are drop-dead gorgeous views of Chatham Harbor Inlet.

Time Out is a piece of the past, its Greek Revival style important to a village steeped in history. It is also the newly renovated four-bedroom vacation home of a young family.

In college, Julie Stein, an interior designer based in Wilton, Conn., became friends with the lady of the house, a cofounder of Victress Capital, an investment firm focused on women-owned businesses.

“They bought this to be their vacation home in 2009,’’ Stein said. “It’s a perfect spot for them. They can walk downtown and to the beach. And, the house came with a perfect name.

“For four summers, they lived in the house as it was, but then she called me for help. They wanted to turn an awkward layout into a contemporary, open one with a big focus on the views.’’

The homeowners turned to Polhemus Savery DaSilva Architects Builders, a Cape Cod firm with a long history of working in historic districts.

John DaSilva, design principal of the architecture and construction firm, calls the design of the house “bar and gable,’’ pointing to its popularity as a vernacular building form on the Cape. He oversaw an ambitious project that ended in late 2014; it restored historic architectural elements to the house’s front and removed a series of telescoping rear additions, replacing them with a two-story ell. The original front section of the home now houses the kitchen, dining room, home office, and, upstairs, a master suite. On the first floor, the new rear section holds the living room, a sitting room, the stair hall, and a guest bedroom while also providing easy access to the backyard. Upstairs are children’s bedrooms.

“It’s complex to transform a historic house for modern living,’’ DaSilva said, pointing out that starting fresh is usually much easier and sometimes even less expensive. “To begin, we lifted up the old house, built a new foundation underneath, and set it back down.

“But while it was up in the air,’’ he recalled, “a big storm was forecast. We had to put it back down so the house would not get blown over.’’

The structure was “rickety,’’ he said, noting that historic does not necessarily mean well built.

“While the original vernacular proportions and details were not beautifully executed, the house contributed significantly to the fabric of the village and was a protected historic structure,’’ he said. “A sense of history was maintained for the public good.’’

Historic district regulations generally govern a building’s exterior, leaving homeowners to renovate interiors as they wish.

Polhemus Savery DaSilva reused original framing and sheathing boards whenever possible, but the firm also introduced modern materials like spray-foam insulation and steel beams, which can carry the weight above the wide-open spaces of the kitchen and living room.

The front door now leads directly into the kitchen, which boasts two large islands and a six-burner gas stove crowned with a custom zinc vent hood. The honed-glass backsplash, rattan counter stools, and soft grayish blue on the walls speak of the beach. To the right is the dining room, also furnished with rattan, glass, and a pierced-resin chandelier that evokes coral.

“We wanted a seaside feel without going overboard with shells, et cetera,’’ Stein said. “The interior is comfortable and heavily textured but not busy. And while there are pops of color, we look toward the outside for color inspiration.’’

Like the kitchen, the dining room has wooden shutters at the bottoms of the east-facing windows. They provide privacy without blocking light or views. The living room is at the center of the house, open to the kitchen and dining room, while French doors lead out to the side yard. The wood-burning fireplace is tucked into a corner. Above the seating, butted boards applied to the ceiling in a geometric pattern are painted a high-gloss white.

“With the open plan, the ceiling is a large, expansive, flat surface,’’ Stein explained. “The pattern adds interest to the ceiling, defines the space, and cozies things up.’’

A side door near the kitchen accesses the mudroom; at the rear of the house, a pair of French doors in the sitting room open to an outdoor living space paved with flagstone and furnished with a spa, shade umbrella, and lounging and dining furniture.

The process of redesigning the interior added a few inches of ceiling height to first-floor spaces and took them from the master bedroom, where a newly peaked ceiling (thanks to space stolen from the attic) would compensate. As a result, three windows facing the water in the gable’s peak are lower than you would normally see today. Their placement, however, was driven by exterior forces. Historic-district zoning ordinances stipulated that the new room configurations had to incorporate the front facade’s original window locations and proportions.

With the same fealty to history, the new rear addition is only seamless on the inside: DaSilva’s exterior design makes it clear that this is a later section of the house.

“It represents two local building traditions,’’ he said. “The front is a more detailed and formal Greek Revival section that represents the sea captain’s vernacular, while the plainer rear section represents the fisherman’s vernacular.’’

Both he and Stein point to this as a great marriage of historic preservation and summer vacation.

“The great thing about vacation and second houses,’’ Stein explained, “is that they free you up to collaborate with the clients to create exactly the environment where they will feel comfortable relaxing with family and friends.’’

“This house was designed for a young family as they live today,’’ DaSilva said. “We had to devise a way to make this the perfect house for them while at the same time retaining its historic lineage.’’

Regina Cole writes about architecture and design. Send comments to coleregina@mac.com.