A Timber Frame Cottage In Downeast Maine

The first thing that caught my eye about this timber frame wasn’t anything to do with it being a post and beam home, it was the fantastic porches. Done to perfection in turn of the century shingle style and that wonderful shade of green often used to complement weathering cedar shakes, my architecture loving brain said “Oo la la”.

From the elegant eyebrow arch of the column connectors (not too pronounced), to the slight taper of the cylindrical columns, to the style of lattice used for the porch skirt, this home stayed true to the original Shingle Style of the late 19th Century. This is an excellent “teachable moment” that I can not pass up.  Though this house size is not on the grand scale of the originals, it took all the notable features of the style, scaled them correctly for the size of this house (an extremely important step), and stayed true to the style right down to the fine details found in the porches. For example, take a close look at the lattice; it’s a very heavy grade wood (not thin and lathe-like) with small square openings. This is exactly how lattice of the late 1800′s appeared. It was never turned on its side to exhibit a diamond pattern (that came later) and the wood had a noticeable girth to it so it looked three-dimensional when viewing it. Notice the shadows the top pieces cast in the picture. This tells you the wood used in the lattice has depth.

Having spent summers since I was a small girl in Maine, just looking at pictures of this house makes me homesick for that wonderful place and time, as this house typifies all that is good about Downeast Maine. Even the walkway to the house let’s you know you’re “going to camp”, where fun and flights of fancy are the order of the day.

Now let’s go inside. You may be a bit surprised, but you will not be disappointed. While you might expect the Victorian era to continue on the interior, instead what you see is a beautifully open expanse with nods here and there to the past, but nothing overly done. This is a home for people who live in the 21st Century while also paying respect to the 19th Century through the use of some wonderful details.

With such an energy-efficient structure the owners didn’t need to worry about all the open space, so took total advantage of an open floor plan with vaulted ceilings.

The atmosphere is kept lite and light by using white-washed pine boards throughout the house, a common technique found in coastal homes.

Nods to the past are everywhere, while not overwhelming. The use of bead board in the kitchen area is one example, while an even more subtle one is found in the use of pegs as the means of joinery in the timber frame itself. This is a building technique brought forward from the past.

Even the light fixtures are replicas of those from the late 19th Century.

Definitely one of the best features of this kitchen, while simultaneously providing a nod to the Victorian kitchens of old, is the pantry. Located just off the kitchen, it is a room unto itself used specifically for food storage and preparation. In older houses, they often had stairways leading directly down to the root cellar so one could bring up stored vegetables, prepare them and serve them all from one conveniently located space. What a useful concept; one today often combined with a back or side entryway, called a mudroom.

Finally, the master bedroom. I love this room because the decor stays true to the Victorian era cottages that dot the coast of Maine (what we today like to call “Shabby Chic”).  Right down to the fact it looks like an old sleeping porch, complete with hammock just out the bedroom door, this space is a private area for total immersion in a little “me time”. Oh my gosh, I SO want this house!!!