ROUND POND RESIDENCE
Maine

This antique Cape in the coastal village of Round Pond, Maine, is situated at the top of a meadow with long views to the harbor. The house originally sat at the water’s edge but was pulled up the slope and set on a masonry foundation sometime in the early 20th century. It had been renovated and enlarged by a previous owner. We designed a ground floor bedroom suite with a study for two professors who plan to use the house as a summer retreat.

The addition is connected to the house with a discrete linking element, a device often used in New England vernacular farmhouses. The symmetrical gable link preserves the existing house roof lines and folds into an asymmetric wing-like form with deep overhangs over the addition. Clad roof beams relate to the exposed antique beams of the original house. They work as armatures for lighting and give scale to the vaulted ceiling.

In the maritime spirit of creating a ship-shape interior, we provided a series of built-in elements: flanking cupboards and window seat, double-sided bookshelves and desk. The large double-hung triple window unit with transom is sized proportionally and aligned with a series of existing French doors along the deck of the main house. The window provides views of the sky from the bedroom level and a more intimate view of the meadow from the study three steps down. Wide pine flooring from a local mill carries through from the main house, and tumbled glass mosaic tiles in the half bath recall the texture and colors of sea glass.