This year-round Maine coastal residence represents a contemporary response to a ruggedly beautiful site and a rich local building culture. Referencing vernacular connected buildings, the house assembles three gabled forms – a primary suite with an office loft above, a guest suite, and a shared living space – around a central kitchen with a flat, vegetated roof.

Each of the building’s connected pavilions establishes its own relationship with the hilltop site, adapting to its varied topography to frame ocean views. The interlocking geometry helps to define and shelter the building’s main entry and a broad south-facing deck. The whole, including the foundation and decks, is clad in cedar shingles that unite the separate building forms in a single sculpted mass firmly rooted to the earth.

The building’s exterior materials reflect traditions shaped by the rigors of a coastal environment. The cedar shingle siding and standing-seam metal roof will weather gracefully, give long service, and require minimal maintenance. The building envelope follows Passive House performance levels for insulation, air sealing, and glazing to minimize energy usage and maximize occupant comfort. A grid-tied 16 kW photovoltaic array generates enough electricity to offset not only the house’s total energy demand, but also that of the owner’s two additional nearby properties. The occupiable green roof and robust vegetable garden act as biophilic anchors, tying the owners to place, encouraging stewardship of the coastal site. As buildings on the Maine coast have adapted and endured, so does this island homestead, with its long-wearing materials, energy production, and respect for the vernacular forms along the rugged Maine coast.

Gable Archipelago

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