Contemporary and Minimal in Maine

A ledge outcropping on the site dictated the positioning of the house, says architect JT Loomis. The lower level parallels the ledge, while the acute angle of the upper level visually connects the ledge to the water and takes advantage of a gap in the trees to maximize coastal views from the primary bedroom

The home’s upper level utilizes wood-fiber-and-resin composite Trespa panels for a lofty feeling. “The Trespa panels are used across a wide array of construction genres, but this was our first experience using the product in a residential application,” says builder Ken Hough. “Our craftsmen found that working with the Trespa was straightforward and required the same skills and tooling that are needed to work with hardwood and large sheet stock.”

A Lumina suspension lamp hangs above a smoked-glass dining table that expands to seat ten thanks to a concealed mechanized rack system, says interior designer Tracy Davis

Guests enter the home via sliding-glass doors sheltered by the upper level. There’s a glimpse of the home’s roof-deck, accessible from the second-floor landing, in the upper left.

The striking staircase with its wood treads and glass-and-steel railing is bolted to the concrete wall without any further supports.

In the living room, a Thayer Coggin sectional and Herman Miller lounge chair make it comfortable to revel in the water views; the entire ground level features polished-concrete floors.

A grid-tied eleven-kilowatt rooftop solar array offsets the heating and cooling supplied by high-efficiency heat pumps.

The primary bedroom, located at one end of the second floor, feels like it’s soaring above the water; the artwork is by Maine artist Michel Droge.

The team at Warren Construction Group built the Corian sink and vanity in the second-floor guest bathroom.

On the second floor, opposite the primary bedroom, the office juts out into the forest. “When you’re in that room, it feels like you’re floating in the trees,” says Davis. Below, the garage door is clad in stained cedar.

Frank Sinatra once said being modern isn’t about the future; it’s about the present. And the team that designed this 5,500-square-foot, two-story, orthogonal home in mid-coast Maine went to great lengths to make sure nothing distracts their client from being present. Save for a thoughtfully curated art collection, the immediacy of the landscape—and the occasionally dramatic coastal weather—is in the pilot’s seat.

“Design like this fosters an uncluttered mind and sense of calm,” says interior designer Tracy Davis.

Nature drove most of the design decisions, explains project architect JT Loomis, in both subtle and obvious ways. There are the expanses of glass, of course, that frame are-you-kidding-me views of the ocean. In one of several nods to the trees on the three-and-a-half-acre parcel of land, builder Ken Hough used hemlock planks to achieve the right texture for the board-formed concrete that clads the lower level. Loomis points to the galvanized-steel columns that support the upper level. “Some are angled, and some are plumb,” he explains. “Not only does that reinforce the structure’s lightness, it also relates to the landscape. Trees don’t always grow straight; the scale and geometry of the columns relate to the trunks in the forest.”

Speaking of the upper level, airy phenolic panels contribute to the sense that it’s ready to take flight. “We wanted to contrast the two volumes,” says Loomis. “The bottom feels grounded, while the upper almost seems to float.”

That floating sensation continues inside where an Escher-esque glass-and-steel staircase with wood treads cantilevers above the dining area. Floating walnut-veneer kitchen cabinetry opens pneumatically; a stand-alone section that houses appliances on the kitchen side boasts a drop kiosk and coat-closet storage on the opposite entry side. Rather than use walls to distinguish the kitchen from other living spaces, a configuration of seventy pendant lights acts as a divider while bringing a sense of scale to fourteen-foot-tall ceilings.

In the living room, Davis custom designed a freestanding quartz-and-metal alcohol-burning fire element to break up that expanse. And upstairs, the homeowner’s office seems to flow out into the surrounding trees. A glass desk and linear lighting all but disappear, while a custom credenza hides every last cord, printer, and sheet of paper. “We did not want the furniture to steal from the show,” Davis says.

Indeed, indoors and out, the home blends and recedes into the surrounding environment, at once both rooted and ready for liftoff. “With a project like this, you start with a concept then set up a framework of rules and make decisions that reinforce an expression of that concept,” says Loomis. “But at a certain point, the project takes on a life of its own. When it’s done well, the decisions are made for themselves.”

Project Team
Architecture: Elliott Architects
Interior design: Urban Dwellings
Builder: Warren Construction Group
Landscape design: Michael Boucher Landscape Architecture