This was a chance to do an in-town house in one of the towns on Mt. Desert Island. It’s on a heavily wooded site within a subdivision—so houses close by.

This house sits on the last lot and I felt it could sort of back itself into the forest. For the street face we have the garage (required) and a connector (to the kitchen door, which is the one everyone uses) with an arched opening in it that leads to a small landscaped courtyard that is a buffer before the formal entry into the living room.

One of the things I wanted to make sure we kept was the sense of being in a forest, even though the house is in the village—so most of the living spaces look into the forest which we kept as close to house as we could. It’s a uniform growth spruce/fir/pine forest with a few hardwoods and you look out past the trunks on the ground floor and into the canopy on the second—and you are removed from the town.

The husband is a major cook so the kitchen is the center of life in the house. Some interesting and funky furniture from parents sits quite comfortably to my eye in this very contemporary space.

Our clients bought one of the oldest houses in the town, with the initial intention of renovation.

But the building was not recoverable. Even with endless money, there would have been so little of the existing building in the new one, that it made no sense. So we attempted to capture what the old building felt like on the site, and get the essence of its design, even though the new building was somewhat bigger. We sited the new building on the old building’s footprint (actually moved it away from big trees and a stone wall by about 10’) but it feels like it’s in the same place, and we kept the interior understated and reused parts (ship’s knees, window sashes etc.) of the old building where we could.

We tore down the house that was here because it wasn’t very interesting, it was exhausted, and it didn’t fit the clients program–but we wanted the replacement to feel about the same. So we put it on the same footprint and gave it a similar personality. I hope that someone canoeing by would think “Gee I never thought that house was so good looking.”

A very contemporary interpretation of the connected New England farmhouse.

Looking south over a quiet estuary this house takes advantage of the sun all day long.

A small self sufficient two bedroom guest house that goes with a home we designed some years ago.

A modest waterfront home where we built the garage and guest quarters first (no pictures of this phase). The clients lived in that on vacations until ready to retire, then we did the rest of the house and now the whole composition can work together.

A bold west facing site created the opportunity to build this “cottage” that is comfortable with the 19th century houses in the area.

This was our house. It was built in the 1790’s by George Morse. In 1990 we totally renovated it. Lucia, our son Jesse, and I (and earlier, our two older boys) were sheltered by this wonderful house since 1976.

A 3 bedroom retirement home that is nestled onto a bench in a hillside that falls toward a north facing view of a beautiful bay.

This house was created for a husband and wife in the graphic design business. It’s always fun– if a bit nervous making– to work with designers and fine-artists because they stretch you. This house sits on a south facing bay front site with a spectacular view and is surrounded by an apple orchard that the owner has rejuvenated. I felt that the house needed to be very simple to be strong enough to hold it’s own on this site. Simple and clear were what the clients were looking for. We did this house more than 20 years ago and it remains one of my favorites.

A smaller retirement home sits on the edge of a blueberry field.

Sitting high above a large lake in Western Maine, this year round house has a Southerly view to the lake. Although the house is largely masked by trees in the summer, in the winter when it’s more exposed we wanted it to be seen as pieces that fit together. To that end we varied the exterior finishes so that you would see the house as a composition of parts.

A small footprint enabled us to fit this house into an old granite quarry. The third floor room gives glimpses into the distance beyond the trees.

A house stretched out parallel to the water with an approach across a long footbridge over a wetland that we were able to leave untouched.

A slightly updated version of the nineteenth century shingled houses that dot the Maine coast.

Inspired by Greene and Greene on the west coast, we tried to adapt that feeling and sense of detailing to a slightly more East coast version of Arts and Crafts.

A year round house that feels like a Maine “Cabin”

Sited on a bench in the ledge above Penobscot Bay, this house is a contemporary design to fit a difficult site. “Context” doesn’t mean much here, because no 19th century builder would have ever sited a house on this cliff.

Perched on a hillside, this house anchors you to the land while giving you focused views over the water.

A new home that captures the spirit and detail of an authentic Queen Anne home.

Presenting a somewhat formal composition on the north side that faces the field, the southern side facing the water opens up for sun and view.

Designed to snuggle down into the landscape and not dominate a very quiet and beautiful site.

A house on a hilltop that stretches itself out to maximize contact between inside and outside

Situated to take advantage of a strong northwest long distance view and a closer more intimate southwest view. We dug it into the hillside so that it turns it’s back on the north wind.

A larger house on the southern Maine coast. This style refers to late “Queen Anne” or very early “Shingle” style, which is the predominate style in this area.

A very compact house designed to make a very delicate imprint on the forest.

Facing north on a hostile site, we cut into the hillside to make a sheltered south facing courtyard. A mass of windows on the stair allows the low angle winter sun to penetrate all the way through the house.

In a scale and style to fit in with houses along the road, this house must also be strong enough to be seen as you approach it from the sea.

This small cottage is our own house at the end of a peninsula. It looks north into the river and south over a pasture with guest horses in the summer.

High on a cliff, a new family getaway that looks out over the bay.

A home with a Craftsman Style influence, overlooking blueberry fields and the distant bay.

A vacation house that will become a year round retirement home in the near future. All on one story and with an easy going form that doesn’t overpower this very subtle site of lichens and blueberries.

A “Lodge” on a lake for gatherings of kids and someday grandkids. The living room opens out into a huge

screened porch that wraps around the north and west sides.

A stately Italianate townhouse gets returned to its original 19th century glory.

A house built in Phases–showing both phases. First we built the Living room with a small bedroom. Phase 2 moved bedroom and added the rest of the house.

A single story house that nestles into a bench on a hillside, this house was created for a painter looking for an unassuming structure with great interior light quality.

This house design was driven by a desire for the house to sit comfortably on a small knoll in a hillside that falls towards the water.

An old roominghouse gets a complete refit to become a land base for a family with a rustic cabin on a nearby island.

A lakefront home in Illinois with an interior that is inspired by the Prairie variant of the Craftsman style. Our clients wanted the house to fit in on the lake, but be exciting to live in at the same time.

A house with a large central gathering place, and more intimate spaces gathered under a cascading roof.

A Net Zero house with a Maine vernacular personality.

A take on a 21st century farmhouse. Our clients have horses here. We wanted a house that felt at home on a farm in Maine, but had a more open interior. Very subtle color changes inside from a friend of the clients who is a fine artist.

A summer centered island house for gathering the family.

A new house with a 30% expansion built on a small camp’s footprint.

An understated waterfront home in the forest.

Built for clients who are avid boaters, they wanted a very low and understated house. We found a bench of land that faced west and was right at the water’s edge and we ran the house along that shoreline. All the rooms have water views, and on the land side of the house a hallway, opened to the main space with low walls acts like a spine that ties it all together.

An oceanfront bungalow stretched out to maximize the southerly water views.

We began this house in 1987 on the tip of a peninsula. The clients moved into the shell and finished it with a great deal of work from spectacular local craftsmen over the next 20 years. During that time, visits to Japan formed their ideas for finishing the grounds.

Wonderful shore front home built about 90 years ago gets an entire rebuild so it will last another 100 years.

A new contemporary house high in the Colorado rockies.

This is a work studio and get-away for the owners when they have guests in their primary house. My client calls it- ‘The big house’s edgier little sister.’

We did this house in two phases. For 10± years the owners camped out in an unfinished shell. When the kids were grown up we added a garage and master bedroom and finished the entire interior, because now they have time to spend here.

A very small house built as a trial to see if the clients wanted to build a larger retirement home on this piece of property. Intentionally unfinished inside—a summer camp. After a number of years we added on two bedrooms and two baths, turned the original bedroom into an entry, and enlarged the kitchen, but it’s still mighty cozy. An article on this house is in Fine Homebuilding September 2001 “Building Smaller for Now.