Project Title: Coastal Village Residence

Firm: Whitten Architects

Submitted for Consideration in: Architecture, Landscape, Interiors

Client:

Location: Scarborough, Maine

Project-At-a-Glance:
Our clients wished to replace their existing, poorly-constructed seasonal cabin with a new, modernist, indoor/outdoor home in a historical, coastal-Maine community with recently implemented, rigorous, form-based design standards. Working closely with local officials, we designed a bright, modern cottage on a steep outcropping, that blends seamlessly with its context.

Project Narrative:

With friends nearby, the homeowners chose a seasonal cabin, perched on ledge near the wooded edge of a coastal village to create a new, year-round home with accessible outdoor space. As first adaptors under the new, form-based zoning restrictions, we worked closely with town officials to seamlessly blend this modern cottage with the historical, coastal New England village context.

The homeowners, an art historian/museum curator and a former partner of a global accounting firm, were the perfect marriage of form and function. He curated a top-level team and set high performance expectations. She deeply valued modern aesthetics, artisans and designers.

Together they created a highly crafted home from inside out - realized on-time and on-budget.

The hardworking utility room - including laundry and extensive storage, allowed us to create open-concept living space that embraces the slot ocean views. Arts-and-Crafts wallpaper and handmade sconces bring joy to everyday tasks.

Where village restrictions prohibited an attached garage, an exterior trellis implies sheltered connection between structures.

The primary living space opens to an exterior patio situated on the once steep ledge outcropping to create useable outdoor space. Portions of ledge gardens were left untouched, and new steps installed to safely access the lower-lawn. The first floor offers a guest-suite or long-term master-suite.

The stairwell rises two-and-a-half stories to a “roof walk” with a planted edge and dramatic ocean views - often used for entertaining. The “roof walk” was a permitted “character element” though the allowable deck area was minimal. Surrounding plantings visually expand the space.

Though traditional forms meet village requirements, rigorously crafted details add the modern touch the homeowners desired.