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The Maine House
Houzz Contributor. Hi There! I currently live in a 1920s cottage in Atlanta that I'll describe as "collected."
I got into design via Landscape Architecture, which I studied at the University of Virginia. I've been writing about design online for quite a few years over at Hatch: The Design Public Blog.
Houzz Contributor. Hi There! I currently live in a 1920s cottage in Atlanta... More »
Right now I am a lucky duck and I've escaped to Maine from Atlanta. This is my favorite spot in the world - it's very simple but I thought it would be fun to share it with you anyway. Many moons ago my great grandfather (Grampa) packed up the car and drove up here with his family. This is back when you had to light car headlights with a match, and the island was not attached to the mainland with a bridge. Very adventurous indeed. He fell in love with this small lobstering island and decided then and there to erect the first vacation home on the island.
Fast forward about 90 years and the little camp various members of my family have shared for decades was literally falling into the ground, unwinterized and full of mold and various insects. Sadly, the place had to be torn down, but valiant efforts were made to keep the character of the original shack we all knew and loved. Here are a few of the ways we brought the house up to date while keeping a sense of history.
Fast forward about 90 years and the little camp various members of my family have shared for decades was literally falling into the ground, unwinterized and full of mold and various insects. Sadly, the place had to be torn down, but valiant efforts were made to keep the character of the original shack we all knew and loved. Here are a few of the ways we brought the house up to date while keeping a sense of history.
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| First you pull up to the garage, the original hip-roof building with its same old lobster weathervane. It had a few new windows added (I have big plans to make this my little bunkhouse someday), and the old outhouse subtracted. Yup, that's right. I said outhouse. This place did not have a proper bathroom until about 30 years ago. The view was worth it. |
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| The back of the house has a path fashioned from rocks found on-site and in a nearby field. You can catch a peek of the view through the window next to the front door. |
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Two antique lanterns that were always displayed in the old living room have been rewired and serve as exterior lights.
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A slate floor and a bench encourage everyone to slip off their dusty shoes and hang up their coats by the backdoor. A picture of the current owners as kids up here greets visitors.
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The new fireplace was created using stones from a nearby field. That crazy carved head was given to my great Grampa by a friend.
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This cabinet was originally in Grampa's office when he was a doctor (he made house calls in a horse and buggy in Utica NY, if that gives you a sense of time), and was used as the sole kitchen cabinet in the old house. Now it has a prominent position in the hallway atop a shelf of local Mid-Coast Maine granite.
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| We were careful to keep the same views from the living room, deck, and the one bedroom that had a water view. |
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| The dining table remains in the same spot. This trestle table came from The Berkshires, it's made from wormy repurposed barn wood. |
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| This is the view from the deck. Usually all the lobster boats face the same way due to the wind, but this picture was taken during a rare, no-wind, "higgely piggely" moment! |
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| The little Scandanavian rocker was purchased by my grandmother many years ago during a mid-century modern makeover (it was the last makeover the cottage had, and it used to be orange). Now it has been refinished and recovered in a burgundy fabric. The table and lantern light have always been a part of the cottage, and the coaster set is made of old pictures of people enjoying the cottage about 70 years ago! |
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| This guy has always lived here, and he's not going anywhere anytime soon. I'm not sure what his story is! |
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The cabinets were a part of the old cottage. They were repurposed to flank the fireplace, and topped with a coordinating granite from a nearby quarry.
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We usually pick local wildflowers and sea lavender to put in vases around the house.
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(great) Grampa, who had the house built, gets a a position of honor next to a gorgeous old map that was found during the final cleanout of the old house.
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The beautiful carved bird was found at Art of the Sea, a favorite local gallery, and continues the tradition of keeping carved birds around the house. The originals were made by Mr. Ware, who used to own a large portion of the island many years ago, and was always generous with sharing his land and his carved birds with everyone else on the island.
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The green chairs have always been a part of this cottage, and are pulled from various bedrooms when extra seating is needed for dinner guests.
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My grandparents spent many hours reading us Babar books, so we added this poster in memory of them.
We picked up the accent pillows at the Angela Adams studio in Portland. The beds were once bunk beds in the original cottage many years ago. The duvets are from Ikea.
We picked up the accent pillows at the Angela Adams studio in Portland. The beds were once bunk beds in the original cottage many years ago. The duvets are from Ikea.
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The Farnsworth Museum in Rockland is a favorite spot to find great posters from artists who work(ed) locally, like the Wyeths, Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper, Alex Katz and Fairfield Porter (shown here).
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This lamp was fashioned from a bottle found at a local antiques store for around $25. My mom is totally Peter Dunham like that.
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The new layout makes sure each of the three bedrooms gets a bit of water view.
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| Lobstering is still the number one profession on the island, and we love to keep old wooden lobster crates and buoys around. |
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The sign was retired by our favorite lobster stand. The board on the walls was saved from the old cottage and reused here. By the way, this lobster stand won a James Beard Award and did not even know what a James Beard Award was - they rock!
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Just for fun - my grandparents borrowed the house for their honeymoon in 1938.
Oh, and I realized I did not give credit to the greatest builder/contractor/caretaker around, John Levenseler, who is one of the nicest people I've ever met. He did a heroic job on this job and rose to meet many many challenges!
More:
20 Spectacular Beach Houses
Oh, and I realized I did not give credit to the greatest builder/contractor/caretaker around, John Levenseler, who is one of the nicest people I've ever met. He did a heroic job on this job and rose to meet many many challenges!
More:
20 Spectacular Beach Houses
Ideabook updated on Aug. 31, 2011.
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I read that ancestor worship keeps past and present members together - I can see the point!
Have a great vacation~
Sue
Everything is just beautiful!
ps I absolute love the old photo of your grandparents!
Thank you!
Bferlchr, I love Idaho, what a sublimely beautiful place!
Lacausey, I went to a camp in the Belgrade lakes area once. It was a hoot - all these folks with their big Cadillaces "roughing it" in small rustic cabins and meeting for dinners at the main house, complaining about the food and loving every minute of it!
sdench, you are lucky to live in such a beautiful state. I know the winters are long, but summer and fall are heavenly here!
You're right about it tying family together too - part of improving it had to do with realizing that instead of taking turns with the cottage, the brothers and sisters and cousins all wanted to be able to enjoy the cottage and each other all at the same time, so now there are two bathrooms and a little bit more privacy than one layer of barn wood in between the bedrooms. I used to be able to look through a hole in the old paneling and see people in the kitchen from one of the bedrooms, and the noise from the ancient fridge that was inches from my bed (through the wall) would wake me up in the middle of the night.
Cudos to you and your family for continuing the
Maine tradition!