The Unexpected discovery of a Historic Garden
Photographed by joseph St.Pierre
Produced by Marsha Jusczak
 Grim is not a word often used to describe a garden, let alone a garden designed by Ellen Shipman, one of the first female landscape architects in the United States. But that is how Joyce Hamilton described her first encounter with the Shipman garden that she and her husband Robert (Bob) were about to purchase.
The Hamiltons were combing the coast of New Hampshire in the spring of 2000 looking to purchase a farm. A wrong turn and a for sale sign drew them to a home that was obscured by overgrown lilacs in the Village District of Little Boar’s Head, North Hampton. “It was grim,” said Joyce. “It looked like an abandoned property, but there was land and a barn so we thought we’d pursue it.” They met with a realtor who informed them that the garden was designed by “a famous landscape architect.” Barely discernable paths overrun with weeds and bits of jagged bluestone protruding from the ground offered only an inkling of a garden. But that was enough to entice Bob. “The bluestone walks were so beautifully laid out even though they were heaved that it struck me it had a lot of potential.”
The couple discovered that Ellen Shipman designed the gardens. “Neither of us had ever heard of Ellen Biddle Shipman,” said Joyce, “but we immediately set about researching her.” They conducted an Internet search, talked with a previous owner of the home who had great respect for its history and purchased The Gardens of Ellen Biddle Shipman by Judith B. Tankard (Sagapress Inc., 1996). In an appendix to Tankard’s book was a reference to a garden in Little Boar’s Head and the acronym CU, referring to Cornell University. The Hamiltons contacted the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections at Cornell and found the “Ellen McGowan Biddle Shipman papers” that included photos and original landscape plans. They subsequently learned that the house was one of the original early nineteenth-century homes in Little Boar’s Head; that it was owned from 1937-1965 by Theodore and Helen Griffith, a department store magnate and heiress; and that in 1941, Helen Griffith commissioned Ellen Shipman to design a garden within which to entertain friends and neighbors who summered in the area (including such notables as poet Ogden Nash).
The Hamiltons then contacted Daniel Krall, associate professor of landscape architecture at Cornell, who informed them that Shipman designed nearly six hundred gardens, and that as few as twelve existed. “There were only twelve or so left because most were on estates, and over a period of time estates change and gardens don’t last,” explained Bob. “When we realized that we had a well-known, well-respected landscape architect and a garden whose bones were undisturbed, we thought ‘my God’ we have the responsibility and the opportunity to restore the garden. We knew we had to do it.” The Hamiltons have devoted nearly ten years to restoring one of Shipman’s last private commissions. Ellen Shipman designed the Griffiths’ garden at age seventy-one; she passed away in 1950 at age eighty.
 Shipman’s New Hampshire Roots
The discovery in North Hampton of one of Shipman’s last commissions is especially meaningful given that Shipman’s career began in New Hampshire. In the summer of 1894, Shipman and her husband, playwright Louis Shipman, moved from Cambridge, Massachusetts to Cornish, New Hampshire to join the Cornish Colony. Founded in 1885 by sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, the Cornish Colony included members of the art elite who sought to escape the summer heat of the cities. As a young woman and mother of a newborn girl, Shipman’s world expanded at the Cornish Colony. And the seeds of her future as a garden-maker were planted.
“The valley was still filled with rolling clouds . . . [and] in the distance was Ascutney Mountain,” wrote Shipman in a letter about her first night in Cornish. “Just a few feet below, where we stood upon a terrace, was a Sunken Garden with rows bathed in moonlight of white lilies standing as an alter for Ascutney. As I look back I realize it was at that moment that a garden became for me the most essential part of a home. But years of work had to intervene before I could put this belief, born that glorious night, into actual practice.”
The years of work to which Shipman referred consisted of home-schooling a family, sharing in the garden-making of Cornish Colony friends and studying garden trends through books and magazines. Unlike her more wealthy friends, Shipman could not afford formal landscape training or to visit European gardens for inspiration. Perhaps most pivotally, however, Shipman devoted many years to renovating Poins House and the gardens at Brook Place, the family’s two-hundred-acre farmhouse property in Plainfield, New Hampshire. She did so as Louis’s career as a playwright grew, and amid rumors of his infidelity.
In 1910, Louis Shipman abandoned his family without any means of support. Fortunately, growth in the nation’s economy and a corresponding Colonial Revival movement opened doors for women in the fields of art and design. According to Tankard, around 1910, landscape architect Charles Platt, a friend at the Cornish Colony, told Shipman “he liked the outcome of [her] efforts at Brook Place” and asked that she “do the planting for the places he was building.” Shipman apprenticed with Platt, preparing construction drawings for walls, pools and small buildings, in addition to designing gardens. Her work attracted other prominent architects as well. “Shipman collaborated with . . . the Olmsted Brothers and James Greenleaf,” wrote Tankard. “Warren Manning, with whom she collaborated on many projects, considered her ‘one of the best, if not the very best, Flower Garden Makers in America.’”
The attention Shipman paid to the plants within her gardens distinguished her from her counterparts at the time, including Beatrix Farrand, Marian Coffin and Martha Brookes Hutcheson. “Shipman brought a fine-tuned artistic sensitivity to garden design,” wrote Tankard. “She transformed the flower border into an art form by using carefully articulated compositions of flowers, foliage, and color, thoroughly grounded in her exceptional knowledge of plants.”
Though she continued to work with Platt, Shipman increasingly accepted independent commissions, and in 1920, she opened a landscape design firm at Beekman Place in New York City, employing women exclusively. “The rapidity with which Shipman’s fame spread during the early 1920s is staggering,” wrote Tankard. By the mid-1940s, she had commissions in twenty-six states and in Quebec and Bermuda (where she had a second home) for clients that included the Fords, Asters, DuPonts and Duke University.
World War II and periodic bouts with pneumonia slowed Shipman down. “Shipman had almost no work during the war . . . and her business was running in the red,” wrote Tankard. “Labor and materials were in short supply; lifestyles had changed dramatically. She borrowed money to keep the office open [and] no longer paid herself a salary.” Shipman’s records reveal only twenty-three active clients in 1945, and in 1947, at the age of seventy-eight, Shipman closed her practice.
 The Shipman Aesthetic/The Hamiltons’ Restoration
According to Tankard, there are two primary challenges to restoring a Shipman garden: the presence of overgrown trees and shrubs, and the density of her planting plans. “Shipman always used generous quantities of small flowering trees, shrubs, vines and standards (such as roses, lilacs or wisteria) to create structural notes and cast shadows over the borders.” Within the structures, the beds were brimming with hardy perennials that included irises, peonies, roses, daylilies and phlox. The plans the Hamiltons unearthed from Cornell reveal an extensive plant-based design that features eight beds filled with perennials, shrubs and topiaries in the center axes, a rose garden, a perennial and shrub bed along the house, walkways and a dais, all enclosed by shrubs, apple trees and lilacs.
Committed to restoring the garden properly, in 2002 the Hamiltons contacted Gary Wetzel, landscape manager for Historic New England, who referred them to arborist Philip Goff and garden historian Anne Duncan, former director of the Historic Landscapes Department at Strawbery Banke in Portsmouth. Duncan specialized in neighborhood gardens and the Victory Garden movement of the 1940s, and has managed the restoration of the Hamiltons’ garden since 2002.
“The Hamiltons’ enthusiasm is certainly contagious; the process is as important to them as the product,” said Duncan. “The initial project was to bring the street border under some control. Once we started working on the lilacs, we realized the bones of the garden were still very present.” Goff removed the lilacs that had overtaken the garden and pruned the original trees. With the help of Duncan and Ben King of North Hampton, he reset the bluestone borders and paths while Bob and Joyce began locating the plants.
In the early years of the restoration, the couple was strict about finding the precise plants on Shipman’s plan. Bob created a spreadsheet listing every plant as a way to manage the search. Their research—conducted via Internet, e-mail and telephone—led them to the Royal Horticultural Society Database and to the Andersen Horticultural Library at the University of Minnesota, and they traveled to multiple nurseries in New England that specialize in heirloom plants. “Look at the thing,” said Bob, referring to the plan. “There have to be 2,000 plants in the triangle beds alone.” In one “triangle,” for example, Bob noted the plan called for three species or cultivars of Hemerocallis (Daylily), including ‘Mrs. W.H. Wyman’, a cultivar introduced in 1928 the Hamiltons located at the University of North Dakota at Fargo after a months-long search. “One inch equals four feet,” said Bob. “And there are three types of Hemerocallis in that one spot. This restoration requires that we get out there with a tape measure, which we do, to determine where each plant should be. Does it work? Yes. Who are we to say it doesn’t?”
For Joyce, the joy of the restoration relates to Shipman’s design acumen. “I’m so impressed with the genius of how you bring together this volume of plantings, for not only seasonal effect, but bloom time. For every major grouping, there’s an early, middle and late bloom; there are height differentials that complement; there are so many variables that it is just mind-boggling.”
Today, the center gardens include seventy-to-eighty-percent of the plants enumerated on Shipman’s plan, an impressive accomplishment by any standard of garden restoration and a tribute to the Hamiltons’ passion and tenacity. According to Joyce, the passage of time, the practice of hybridizing plants and stricter rules after 9/11 on the importation of plants, have conspired to make it difficult to locate the rest. After much deliberation, the Hamiltons have decided to fill the remaining areas with cultivars that closely resemble those on the plan. “We tried for years to be true to the plan,” said Joyce, “and have decided now that where we can find a plant that looks like one Shipman specified, we will.” Bob echoed Joyce’s sentiment. “We want this garden to look like it did in 1941 so we can say this is what existed; this is what Shipman intended; and this is what it looked like. Where we know what a plant looks like, we’re willing to put in a substitute cultivar of the same genus or species.”
Finding the varieties appropriate to a specific period is one of the most challenging parts of any restoration, Duncan noted. “Because of the ephemeral quality of plants in a garden, I think every restoration includes a bit of re-creation,” she added. “That’s much easier now than it was twenty years ago, thanks to a growing interest in heirloom varieties.”
The Hamiltons and Duncan have unearthed treasures and solved mysteries throughout the years of restoration. From finding ‘Mrs. W.H. Wyman’ to the discovery on various parts of the property of every one of eleven peony cultivars Shipman specified, restoring one of Shipman’s final garden commissions has been supremely rewarding. “It’s an incredibly lovely garden,” said Bob. “We learn from it all the time. It teaches us things.”
“We are grateful that no one ever disturbed what was there,” added Joyce. |
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| A Tale of Two Spaces
With today’s condos, a distinctive new lifestyle has arrived
Written by Crystal Ward Kent
Photographed by Greg West
Produced and Styled by Marsha Jusczak
Sunset streaks the western sky with gold and pink, the colors reflected in the fast-flowing Piscataqua River. At the same time, lights along the waterfront come on, creating a glittering display against the deepening dusk.
On Badger’s Island in Kittery, Maine, Betty and Jim LaBranche watch the setting sun from their condo, while on the Portsmouth, New Hampshire side of the river, Renée and Dan Plummer share a similar view from their elegant brick space in Harbour Place. Both couples traded traditional homes for condo living, and both would never go back.
 The Plummer Home
When Renée Plummer closed the door of her 250-year-old Stratham farmhouse, she never looked back. “I thought I would miss having the larger place and all the land,” she recalled. “But I haven’t, not one bit, and Dan, who’s always been an outdoor guy, hasn’t even missed working outside.” The Plummers, who own the Harbour Place building in Portsmouth, were eager to live in the city, with easy access to shopping, restaurants and events, and the move didn’t disappoint. “There’s always so much to do; we haven’t had time to feel a moment of regret,” said Dan. “I’m never bored.”
The Plummers’ unit has striking waterfront views from every room. Dramatic arched windows, carved from the brick facade, command attention in the living and dining areas. Because of the many large windows, and the fact that their unit is on the top floor and fifth story of the building, the rooms seem to float in the air. Everywhere there is the sweep of sky and water, with the steel arches of the Memorial Bridge rising up like sculpture.
The Plummers worked closely with architect Dann Norris Batting of Chester, New Hampshire, in designing their condo. Dann said his biggest challenge was working within the existing structure and dividing up the space, but his experience with other condo projects served him well. Upon entering the condo, guests are immediately transported to a space both beautiful and distinctive.
 The Plummers’ kitchen, dining room and living room flow together. Renée selected a palette of white, ivory and cream for the walls and major pieces, but brought the colors of earth, sea and sky into the living room area with blue-and-white-striped dining room chairs, a taupe sofa and upholstered side chairs in blue and yellow. The glass coffee table immediately intrigues, as it turns out to be not just one piece, but four glass cubes working together. Renée kept the accents simple—a few nautical elements, such as a ship’s model which echoes the working harbor outside, a striking mirror framed in blue glass, photographs and, above the dining room table, a lovely crystal chandelier. Brought from Venice, it is crafted to resemble a glass bouquet of flowers.
The Plummers love to entertain, but also enjoy more intimate suppers, so Renée placed a game table, which can easily seat two or four, by the windows for use on cozier occasions. The kitchen has a Tuscan feel, with a graceful tiled arch behind the stove, images of grape leaves set into the tiles and a handcrafted metal chandelier over the island. The tile work is soft taupe, which contrasts nicely with the bold black granite countertops and white cabinetry.
The most striking element in the kitchen is the island, which has a raised top of smoked glass, and was designed by Dann. Ivory high-backed chairs with tan seats line one side, making this a popular gathering spot. The kitchen is also a masterpiece of built-ins, with every conceivable nook designed to accommodate Renée’s cookbooks, spices, utensils and pots and pans. “It’s like a ship,” she laughed. “Everything has its space and all the items I need are right at hand.”
Just off the kitchen, a set of etched glass pocket doors open into Dan’s office. Bookshelves line the paneled walls and a fireplace makes the room instantly welcoming. The desk, facing yet another amazing view, is one of a kind. Handcrafted by Tom McLaughlin of Canterbury, New Hampshire, it features sweeping lines of Cuban mahogany and is inlaid with ebony. About the room are mementos of the couple’s travels—a model of a Blue Angels fighter jet and, over the mantle, a painting of an Italian harbor.
The condo has several guest rooms and baths, but by far the most distinctive space is the master bedroom and bath. Double doors lead into a room that is a vision of pale gold and cream. The coffered ceiling, fabricated by David Drapeau of Drayco Builders in North Hampton, New Hampshire, features a dramatic circular relief, which Renée had fitted with a chandelier. Crystal sconces flank the fireplace, while tall lamps of amber glass provide soft lighting elsewhere. Deep tan upholstered chairs sit cozily by the window, inviting one to linger and enjoy the view. The bedroom also has its own private balcony, perfect for that late day glass of wine or early morning coffee.
 In the master bath, which Renée designed in neutral tones, Dann positioned a small pass-through window so one could enjoy the view from the soaking tub. The bath also features his-and-her sinks and a walk-in shower, as well as Renée’s favorite part—a recessed vanity set into a graceful alcove and matched by a lovely curved mirror that follows the archway.
Although everything is on one floor, no amenity was overlooked. The kitchen opens onto a small sheltered deck, where the couple likes to grill year-round, and one guest room also enjoys a balcony. The laundry room contains space for ironing, storage, a second freezer and a sink and pantry. Even the hallway does double-duty as a gallery. Dann’s genius came into full play here, as he created the feel of an Italian palazzo. The inlaid marble floor features a stunning diamond pattern in shades of ivory and gray, while the cool, off-white walls showcase paintings the Plummers have collected over the years.
“We were in our house 28 years,” said Renée. “I thought I’d feel some pangs about leaving, but I truly have no regrets. This is home now, and we love it.”
Design Details, Plummer
Architect:
Dann Norris Batting Architects, 603 887-0086, dnbarch.com
Builders:
Dan Plummer, Two International Construction Company,
603 431-6400,
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David Drapeau, Drayco Builders, 603 944-6057,
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Custom Furniture:
Tom McLaughlin, McLaughlin Woods Custom Fine Furniture,
603 783-9700, customfurnituremaster.com
 The LaBranche Home
Betty LaBranche, a well-known Seacoast realtor, maintains a home office in her condo, but joked in a recent conversation that “I can never get anything done here. The view of the river is mesmerizing,” she said. “You constantly see something different—from the boat traffic to the birds, to just the way the light plays on the water.”
Betty and Jim moved from a home nestled on ten acres in Brentwood, New Hampshire to their waterfront condo a few years ago. The couple acknowledges that it was a tough decision, but one they don’t regret. “We love being within walking distance to Portsmouth, and we have a great camaraderie with our neighbors,” said Betty. “There is a vibrancy living in this area.”
From their condo they enjoy glorious water views in every room, as all of the outer walls are glass. Betty and Jim worked closely with builder Eric Chinburg to plan the layout. She credits him with being “very accommodating” in creating the floor plan, which has the kitchen, dining room and living room flowing together. “This design is wonderful for entertaining, as people can move and mingle throughout the house,” she explained.
The kitchen area embodies Betty’s signature color palette of black and white with vivid accents of red. The built-in cabinets, which cover one wall, are painted cream. Even the refrigerator has custom wooden cream panels so as not to break up the visual flow, and the stove hood was also custom-made in cream. The cream molding extends to the ceiling, expanding the room’s lines.
In contrast, the huge island is made of cherry wood, with massive carved legs on the front, and a top of polished black granite. The top is eye-catching, as it is nine-and-one-half-feet long with no seams. “It was so large that W.S. Goodrich Inc. of Epping, New Hampshire, the supplier, had to remove the deck railings and use a crane to lift it into the kitchen,” said Betty.
The black granite of the kitchen island is picked up again in the countertops, which wrap around the back kitchen wall, providing a convenient workspace by the stove and built-in microwave. In order to keep from being too monochromatic, Betty has added splashes of her favorite color—bright red. Scarlet-enameled cookware graces the stove, and the hardwood floors are punctuated with vivid Oriental rugs.
 The working area of Betty’s kitchen merges effortlessly with the family room, just steps away. In fact, she considers it part of the kitchen. The family room features a white marble fireplace set against a dramatic black wall—the only black wall in the room, as the others are cream, continuing the kitchen’s color scheme. The black highlights the fireplace and, above it, a large painting of the Portsmouth waterfront. Large comfy red leather sofas in the Chesterfield style flank two sides of the room, while a wingback chair and matching ottoman in subtle, red-printed fabric and a beige slipper chair provide additional seating. End tables by each sofa are set with matching red- and-black lacquered lamps in an Asian style. A huge coffee table occupies the center of the room, while an entertainment center fills one corner, and a bookcase lines the remaining wall. Scattered about the room are photos, paintings and other souvenirs of family and travels. The effect is immediately welcoming and cozy.
“Everything here is oriented toward family. This is where everyone congregates,” said Betty. “People pull cushions up to the coffee table to have snacks, watch the game, play cards. I went with the leather Chesterfield sofas because they wear well—which is important if you have grandchildren. The entire family comes home often, so I frequently have eleven to thirteen people here, and this setup works very well.”
The dining room is set off from the other spaces by tall white columns. Cream curtains flank the glass doors leading to a section of the deck, and a fourteen-foot Karastan rug in rich reds and blues graces the floor. The long dark table—accompanied by white chairs with black cushions—has a glass top which picks up the glitter of the glass walls and the chandelier above. The chandelier was custom-made in Venice, Italy, and hand-carried home by the LaBranches.
Betty let the cream-and-white color scheme flow into the living room, relying on the spectacular views to add color. The walls are white, and the fireplace has a white mantle, but mirrored black tile on the surround and a black hearth make a bold statement. Overstuffed chairs and the sofa are rich cream with dark walnut trim, while other pieces, such as vivid red side chairs and a red footstool, add punches of color. “I deliberately kept the furniture low-backed so it wouldn’t block the views,” noted Betty.
A unique glass coffee table with a wrought iron base seems to float above the floor, letting through views of a lovely rug in hues of blue, cream and ochre. The room is full of many striking elements, including a large antique lantern, which sits near a porthole window, and a dramatic rectangular mirror above the mantle.
 The master bedroom is a study in gold, with walls the honey color of Tuscan fields. A rich, gold brocade spread, designed by Betty’s daughter, interior designer Nicole Yee, graces the bed, while matching drapes frame the windows. Elegant twin bureaus with carved fronts double as nightstands on each side of the bed, and a fireplace (with a hidden television above) makes the room cozy. The bedroom also looks out onto the river and its ever-changing moods. The master bath continues the golden theme, with burnished walls and golden tiles on the floor, Jacuzzi and walk-in European- style shower. A massive burled walnut sideboard custom-fitted with sinks and coordinating antique mirror lines one wall, while a replica of the Venus de Milo statue graces the edge of the Jacuzzi.
Just off the bedroom is the LaBranches’ combination foyer/gallery area, where walls of deep wine highlight paintings from their travels to Europe, Greece and Bali. A parlor chair in a dramatic zebra print recalls the black-and-white theme of the adjoining rooms.
With their children grown, and grandchildren in the family picture now, the LaBranches feel a waterfront condo was the right move. “We are all about having family and friends over,” said Betty. “This space allows us plenty of room for everyone to get together. We have a wrap-around deck so we can relax outside and barbecue, but we don’t have the hassle of yard work.” Added Jim, “Since we aren’t tied down to home maintenance, it’s easy to just lock the door and get away. We love to travel, and that option is easier for us now. Although I have to say, the river is so fascinating, I almost hate to leave.”
Design Details, LaBranche
Architect:
Tracy Platt, Platt/Hichborn Architects P.A., 603 778-9503, platthichborn.net
Builder:
Eric Chinburg, Chinburg Builders Inc., 603 868-5995, chinburgbuilders.com
Interior designer (bedroom):
Nicole Yee, NY Interiors, 510 531-3973, nicoleyee.com
Stone Supplier/Artisan:
W.S. Goodrich Inc., 603 679-5338, wsgoodrich.com |
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Written by Erica Holthausen
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an old barn inspires a new home for an extended family
Photographed by Rob Karosis
Design Details
Architect:
Rob Whitten
Whitten Architects
207 774-0111, whittenarchitects.com
Builder:
Larry Wagner (retired)
Eider Construction, 207-883-0157
 In New England vernacular architecture, the connected farmstead is characterized by the linking of house to barn. It is unique, not only because of the physical relationship, but because the architectural style of the house extends to the barn.
The contemporary farmhouse designed by architect Rob Whitten of Whitten Architects in Portland, Maine, and custom-built for Sally and Matt Reynolds by Larry Wagner of Eider Construction Inc. in Scarborough, Maine, is indeed attached to the barn, and the architectural styles of the buildings do complement one another. But it was a historic 1915 barn, not the adjoining house, that determined the style of this modern connected farmstead.
The barn, formerly part of a family-owned dairy, sat right in the middle of a new subdivision. Built of hemlock and spruce, the forty-by-sixty-foot timber frame barn was no longer in use but was still in excellent condition. With mortise and tenon joinery, it was extremely well-constructed.
“The farm had been a King’s Grant farm on the coast of Maine. Originally, there was a large dairy barn with a smaller milking barn attached. The developer wanted to demolish the milking barn. So we took it, moved it to a new location and designed a house to go with it,” said Rob. “It’s still one of my favorite houses. I love that even though the old dairy was subdivided, we were able to maintain some of the integrity of the farm.”
For Sally and Matt, the old milking barn was a perfect fit. “For almost twenty years, we had owned a forty-by-sixty-foot timber frame barn in New Hampshire, so we really had a strong affinity to that form,” said Sally. “When we realized we would be able to use the existing barn, we wanted a house that would complement it.”
The Reynolds’ New Hampshire barn had been the site of Matt’s first woodworking projects, and he was looking forward to having a larger shop. “I wanted a place where I could do some woodworking,” said Matt. “That was one thing I really wanted.”
Other considerations influenced the design of the home. “We wanted to have an open plan and we didn’t want to have anything redundant in the house,” said Sally. Every room throughout the home thus serves multiple purposes. “I wanted family members with limited mobility to be able to get around, and I wanted our kids to really love to be here. I also wanted to be able to entertain our extended family on occasion. Those were my key requirements.”
Rob Whitten and Larry Wagner worked together to design and build a home that would incorporate the old barn and meet the Reynolds’ needs. In addition, elements of sustainable design were integrated throughout the home, making it energy-efficient and well-suited to the New England weather. “In terms of materials and finishes, most of Eider Construction’s projects are coastal, so they really know which materials are going to hold up,” said Rob.
The home was placed strategically on the site to take advantage of the outdoor spaces and natural lighting. The barn was placed on the northwest end of the house to shelter the rest of the home from the prevailing winter winds. “You pick your spaces and how you apportion the layout based on needs,” explained Rob. “So the master bedroom is in the east to get first light, and the four-season porch is in the southeast to get both early light and the low winter light. It is the perfect place to sit even when it’s cold and snowy.”
Today the barn is incorporated into the home and provides a woodworking shop for Matt and a perfect summer play space for grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Wide hallways, flat thresholds and simple ledges throughout the home make it easily accessible for those with limited mobility. Natural light streams through the windows and hardwood floors and bluestone patios provide simple, smooth and durable surfaces. The fieldstone fireplace in the living room is in the very heart of the home, and provides warmth and a connection to the natural surroundings.
 In the kitchen, a large skylight floods the center island with natural light balanced by strong light from north-facing windows. Silestone countertops, which are made of recycled quartz composite, provide a durable work surface and reflect the task lighting from above.
Sally and Matt wanted the house to be a simple design, and they wanted to make the move from Boston as easy as possible. They wanted a home that would incorporate what they already owned. “We didn’t even change the upholstery,” said Sally. “It all came from Boston exactly as it had been.”
To coordinate this process, and to ensure that the interior of the home would suit the existing furniture, Rob visited Sally and Matt at their Boston home. It was there that Rob first saw some of the furniture Matt had made and gained a true appreciation for his skills as a craftsman.
The dining room featured a handcrafted hutch and sideboard that Matt had made several years ago. It struck Rob that these elegant and simple pieces were reminiscent of Shaker design, and that the style would be a perfect accompaniment to the traditional, timber frame barn. “That was a real breakthrough for us,” said Rob. “We had been trying to talk about the spirit and character of the interior. Sally and Matt wanted a house that had a certain kind of energy—spare, simple, elegant, refined and indigenous to New England.”
Their new home, built to complement an old barn and inspired by Shaker design and New England rural buildings tradition, had come full circle. Every element exudes simplicity of form, utility and fine craftsmanship. Custom cabinets and bookshelves, handmade furniture, unadorned moldings and soft, natural colors carry the Shaker theme throughout the house. Another element reminiscent of the Shaker ideal is also evident. Throughout the home are pieces of artwork, handcrafted items, sculpture and gifts from friends and family.
That deep sense of history and community fills the home and also extended to everyone who worked on it; in the mudroom is a framed print of the house, signed by many of the craftsman, framers, builders and others involved in the project.
“We had a party about a month and a half after we moved in—October of 2006,” said Sally. “We invited a lot of people involved in building the house and asked them to sign the print. It was a great party. People brought their families and showed them the work they had done.”
Since then, Sally and Matt have hosted many family gatherings. While the house itself is not large, an efficient design philosophy and resourceful use of landscaping created a number of distinct rooms, secluded gardens, porches and patios where small groups can gather. As a result, the home can accommodate a surprisingly large number of people at any one time.
“We had a big family reunion over the summer,” exclaimed Sally. “Dinner was set up on the porch and people brought blankets and sat under the apple trees in the front yard. The kids were scattered all over the lawn and groups of us gathered on the screened-in porch, in the garden and over on the patio.”
 The old barn is perhaps the most popular gathering place during the summer. The second floor is not insulated, but it is large and open, with a ping-pong table, comfortable couch and day beds for friends and family. For young children, it is the perfect playroom. “It was really heavily used all summer. We had play dates and sleepovers. It was just perfect,” said Sally. “It’s a lot like the spirit of our old barn in New Hampshire.”
In fact, perched up in the rafters of the barn in Maine is a replica of the Reynolds’ New Hampshire barn. The lifetime of memories that started in an uninsulated barn in the mountains of New Hampshire continue now on the coast of Maine. “In creating this place, it’s like we merged our former home in the city with our old home in the mountains,” smiled Matt.
“It’s very important to us that our children and grandchildren enjoy being here,” said Sally. “This space really works for them.”
The space works for Sally and Matt Reynolds as well. Over the past few years, Matt has carved designs right into the post and beam structure of the barn. These small designs, including an owl carved into a crossbeam in the mudroom, and a bird peeking out from one of the support beams, would be easy to miss. But these carvings are now a part of the barn and will always put a smile on the face of those who chance upon them.
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| Making Memories on Coastal Maine
Written by Crystal Ward Kent
Photographed by Greg West
Produced by Marsha Jusczak
 Christmas on the coast of Maine conjures up a flurry of impressions—the scent of balsam mingling with salt air, snow-covered rocks, and the shimmer of lights on water. Christmas in the home of Mary Kett and her husband Alden Bianchi is all of these things and much more—for each Christmas is a poignant reminder of Mary’s joy at being alive.
“In 2007, not long after we started building this house, I contracted the dangerous bacterial infection MRSA,” Mary related. “It went into my lungs, and I was deathly ill—the doctors gave me only a thirty percent chance of surviving. I love to decorate for Christmas, but wasn’t able to, so my friends decorated for me. It was touching; there they were, putting up the tree and stringing garland about. But I was too sick to make it home from the hospital. Then in 2008, I was finally well and in my new home at last. It was so special to have family and friends here for the holidays—a memorable celebration. Each year, I’m especially grateful at the holidays—for my health and having such wonderful people in my life.”
Mary and her husband work in Massachusetts, but she grew up summering on the coast of Maine. She always loved Ogunquit, and in 1997, bought her first home there. Over time, she bought and sold several homes in the area, and then a plot of land on Adam’s Island in Perkins Cove caught her eye.
“There had been an old dwelling there but it had been removed,” she recalled. “I did some investigating and found that it was possible to build a house in that location, so I bought the land. I knew it would be a challenging lot—it’s very narrow, with lots of rocks, but gorgeous. It’s right on the ocean, and since it’s in Perkins Cove, it’s in the middle of everything. We see the fishing boats come and go, and all the little shops and the Marginal Way are nearby. We can walk everywhere. It’s perfect.”
Mary hired Ralf Amsden of Living Spaces Architects in Rye, New Hampshire as her architect. Fitting the 3,000-square-foot home into the narrow 22-foot lot was a tight squeeze, but Ralf made it work. He gave the façade interest by adding an octagon-shaped segment with a balcony, and broke up the roofline with gables. The home’s neutral gray tones fit perfectly with Maine’s rocky coast. Inside, Ralf’s design gave Mary and Alden dramatic ocean views from every room, fulfilling Mary’s goal of bringing the outside in. “I wanted a house that felt like a home,” Mary said. “We have a lot of extended family and good friends, and love to have company. We wanted everyone to feel comfortable and welcome here, and they do.”
The dining room, living room and library all flow from one into the other, but a graceful arch between the living room and library adds visual interest and keeps the long expanse from having what Mary called, “the bowling alley effect.”
The living room is in the octagonal part of the house, in a color scheme of ocean hues, with walls in a sand tone and cozy furniture in shades of blue. Blue and white pillows with marine themes are splashed about. A large area rug, white as ocean spray and bordered with sea stars on a field of blue, anchors the living area, while the coffered ceiling adds dimension. Off to one side of the living room, by the windows, a backgammon table gets frequent action, as both Mary and Alden are ardent players.
By contrast, in the nearby library, wood-paneling and handy bookshelves surround a welcoming fireplace. Spectacular views from the large windows and a pale blue rug remind one of the ocean just steps away.
Interior designer Louise Hurlbutt of Hurlbutt Designs in Kennebunk, Maine admitted that the house presented some design challenges. “Adding an architectural detail such as the arch to define the entrance to the library was essential to break up such a long, narrow expanse,” she said. “In the living room, the large bordered rug repeats the pattern of the coffered ceiling, helping to pull the space together. However, since the room is an octagon, getting a rug sized to fit was not easy. I had to have one custom cut and a border applied. But the result was worth it.”
For the holidays, Mary sets out a lovely tree in the space between the library and the living room. The tree is decorated with white lights, red bows and numerous gold ornaments that she has collected over the years. Wreaths, adorned with sea stars, shells, pine cones and classic red velvet bows frame the windows and grace the mantle in the library. Stockings hanging from the mantle are a family tradition. A garland, glittering with fairy lights, winds down the staircase, while poinsettias add punches of vivid color about the home.
“In the evenings, we love to turn out all the lights save for those on the tree and the garland, and just sit and watch the moon rise over the water,” said Mary. “It is simply beautiful.”
Mary and Alden entertain frequently through the holidays and the dining room is often in use. The soothing sand-toned walls are repeated here, and a deep blue rug scattered with white sea stars echoes the ocean theme. On the wall are Mary’s beloved sconces, which are mirrored with gold and silver and have blue and white striped shades. “I love these!” she exclaimed. “I didn’t want dripping crystal chandeliers, but I wanted something elegant. These are perfect.”
The graceful Regency-framed bergère chairs with their powder blue cushions are from The Althorp Collection; the House of Althorp was the ancestral home of Princess Diana (Lady Diana Spencer). Charles Spencer, Diana’s brother and the ninth Earl of Spencer, has allowed reproductions of actual pieces found at their country estate to be made and sold in limited edition. “Louise carries some of this line,” said Mary. “As it turned out, Charles Spencer actually came to her shop and signed a drawer in one of the tables. That table now sits in my library.”
During the holidays, Mary sets a festive table with bright red placemats, lots of red candles in holiday-themed holders, china decorated with Christmas trees, and her traditional arrangement of paperwhites. Mary wanted the kitchen kept simple. It is light and airy with white bead board cabinets and island against sand-toned walls and smooth hardwood floors. Over the island hang stunning blown glass lamps in glittering blue, which pick up the blue hues of the adjacent living room. In December, Mary adds a touch of Christmas with an evergreen centerpiece on the island, and a basket full of greenery, sea stars, shells and cones adorns the nearby doorway.
 Upstairs, the master bedroom is a peaceful, dreamy space decorated completely in cool blue and white. Since it sits above the living room, it is an octagonal shape, with a coffered ceiling rising into a cathedral design. Louise filled the room with relaxing pieces—a white daybed, overstuffed chairs with matching ottomans, and a star-shaped light fixture that gives off graceful shadows. The modified canopy bed is also from The Althorp Collection, while an antique altar table displays Asian figures. On the fireplace mantle, clear white ginger jars nest in a garland of holiday greenery. “I glazed the walls blue in the bedroom to give them a restful patina and bring in that feeling of ocean and sky,” said Louise.
Mary brings her holiday cheer outside as well, decorating the house’s exterior with wreaths and lights. Her glittering tree is clearly visible through the home’s large windows.
“The lobstermen tell us they can see our tree as they approach the cove,” said Mary. “We are kind of a beacon for them, welcoming them home.” |
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