Each year, The Museums
Of OldYork in York, Maine has
successfully managed to secure a residence suitable to be transformed by
interior designers into a Decorator Show House. I look forward to
visiting the Old York show house each year as they are always wonderful
properties and the designers consistently produce fabulous spaces, not to
mention that a field trip to coastal Maine is a wonderful way to spend a lovely
day in July or August! I was very pleased to throw my hat into the ring
last year and participate in “Secret Cove,” the 24th annual show house which
was located in Kittery Point. Creating "Syrena's Room," a
lavender, aquamarine, and silver bedroom with the feel of an underwater
paradise for a mermaid- and surf-loving teenage girl was one of the high points
of my professional design career, and brought me much personal satisfaction and
joy.
This past March, I attended
the informational tour of this year’s home, but other commitments prevented me
from contributing my design skills to the project.
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| Before... snow covered grounds on a cold day in March |
But, like every year, I couldn't miss visiting
the completed show house once it opened. This year’s show house, called “Harbor Lights,”
is extra special for the Museums Of Old York as it is the 25th
anniversary of their major fundraising effort.
The house that they were able to secure has a rather grand
provenance. The Dutch Gambrel shingle
cottage was designed by a prominent Boston architectural firm and built in 1906 for New Hampshire
Governor Frank Rollins as a summer home on a bluff overlooking the York River. Since then it has only changed hands twice,
first in 1920, and then in 1955 to the family that has lived in it year-round
and still currently owns it today.
The show house actually closed
for tours after Saturday, August 16th, but I am sharing my
visits with you so you won’t have to miss out on seeing it. I am including a ‘before’ photo or two of
each of the spaces so that you can fully appreciate the conceptual and physical
work that the designers had to face and execute when they approached this
project. It’s one thing to visit a
show house and say that you do or don’t like a room... that's fair enough, and I do it myself. But to have a glimpse into what it actually
started out as, and then see how far the designer has taken it gives you a
whole new perspective. In this post we
will make our way around most of the First Floor…
The home is on Harbor Lights
Way, a long road that winds its way through a wooded setting until arriving at
the cottage, where sweeping river and harbor vistas finally come into view behind
the home.
The first interior space that
you arrive at is the
“Enclosed Porch.” When I first saw the space, it was filled
with a lot of wicker furniture and seasonal accessories jumbled together in storage, and had a decidedly
casual seaside feel with lots of white and turquoise paint. It looked pretty typical for a coastal space,
but offered such opportunity with its many windows and French doors, making it
a light-filled, welcoming space with both garden and water views. Designers Michaele Boehm and Kacey Graham of
Boehm Graham Interiors chose a soothing palette of cool grays and crisp white,
inspired by sand and skies, white caps and clouds. The space is at one relaxing and elegant. The
stripes of a painted floor and drapery trim are designed to be reminiscent of
the sea foam left behind the incoming tide.
Over-sized bright white ginger jars make a statement and draw you into
the space, making sure that you don’t miss the view to the harbor.
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| Before |
From the Enclosed Porch you
make your way into the largest room in the house, the
“Living Room.” Initially, it
was riot of color with the window and door trim, as well as the fireplace,
painted a glossy bright watermelon hue. Imagining
that this home and space would be the base for “large, relaxed gatherings of
extended families and lazy, hazy summers spent playing, swimming and boating,”
designer Meredith Bohn of
Meredith Bohn Interior Design chose to move away from
the busyness of the bright colors, and focus more on a palette that is more
simple yet elegant. Crisp white on the
ceiling and trim makes all the difference in the world, and the aubergine, lime
green , and taupey-gray tones featured on the furnishings, walls, and floor
coverings, complement the historic features of the space while also feeling
modern.
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| Before... looking toward the water |
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| Before... looking toward the woods |
A large opening that was
originally flanked by French doors draws you from the Living Room to the
“Dining Room.” When I initially saw this space in March, it
was a sea of green… similar to that of a Chinoiserie bedroom in the Governor’s Palace at Colonial
Williamsburg, Virginia, and was being used as a temporary main floor sleeping
space by a family member. All of the
trim was painted green, and the walls were wallpapered in a Chinoiserie-like green
pattern; the backs of the built-in china cabinets were contrasted in the
watermelon hue borrowed from the Living Room.
Frank Hodge, of
F.D. Hodge Interior Design, completely changed the
complexion of the space when he transitioned it to a palette of French blue,
cream, chocolate brown, and pale coral.
This scheme was inspired by a collection of French pottery that Frank
had acquired many years ago, and was brought to life by a Quadrille fabric that
coordinated beautifully.
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| Before |
The Dining Room was initially
accessed by the house staff through a swinging door from the Butler’s Pantry,
which adjoined the original kitchen on the wooded side of the house. Next to the Dining Room was a covered porch
with a wonderful harbor view. At some
point, the utilitarian kitchen was delegated to other uses, and the covered
porch became the family’s
“Kitchen.” Designer
Lisa Teague of
Lisa Teague Design Studios liked the Kitchen’s summer-porch feel,
so she decided to keep the update simple with a goal of not competing with the
view, and opened it up by removing the island. As small as it is, the Kitchen is very
inviting and would indeed be a lovely spot to enjoy a cup of coffee and take in
the panorama outside. The quiet, coastal
tones of the space are from her collection, “Quiet Home Paints,” a non-toxic,
VOC free line.
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| Before |
Speaking of the emphasis on
the view… let’s head out on the back “Patio”
for just a bit before continuing on. It
spans the width of the rear of the home, with access from the Living Room and
Kitchen, as well as views through large windows in the Dining Room. The vistas to the York River and Harbor, as
well as the Atlantic Ocean are, of course, the star of the show. Georgie McGowan, of Georgie’s Home and Garden,
made sure to include many comfortable spots for relaxing or enjoying a meal,
all while taking in the magnificent expanse.
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| Before |
Back inside, and around the corner from the Kitchen, is a
diminutive “Butler’s Pantry” where
the servants from the Governor’s day undoubtedly made a stop before serving in
the Dining Doom. Lisa Teague has interpreted this
space more as a potting space, perfect for fresh herbs and veggies to be used in recipes in
the Kitchen.
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| Before |
Down the hall to what was once
the kitchen, one now finds the
“Study,”
a quiet, out of the way retreat. In
between being a kitchen and now, the family seemed to use the space as a den or
family room of sorts, and it had an eclectic, folk art feeling. Cynthia Clark, of
Cynthia Clark Interiors,
kept the color scheme simple to offset the many door and window openings, built-ins, and trim traversing
the space. The many doorways and windows
also made the furniture layout in this room challenging as it is a walk-though
space. Cynthia floated a desk and
comfortable chair and ottoman in the center of the room allowing it to be
functional while keeping it nice and open.
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| Before |
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| Before |
After passing through the
Study, you reach the “Back Staircase
Gallery”… the back staircase would have originally been used by house staff
heading up from the kitchen or in from the back door. Now, painter Elizabeth Whelton of Elizabeth
Whelton Fine Art & Design, imagines it to be a space where “children pass
though when they are heading to the beach,” and “then returning home and
running up the back stairs in sweet exhaustion (and maybe a few friends) at the
end of the day.” The space was inspired
by Elizabeth’s summer sketchbook, and the surface designs replicate painting
supplies. A reclaimed sail is used as a
drape in the landing, perfect for a private changing spot from a wet swimsuit.
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| Before |
So, except for a porch on the
front of the home, which I will share with you next time as we leave the home, this has been a tour
of the first floor of “Harbor Lights.”
What were your favorite spaces?
What ideas might you incorporate in your next design project? Are you inspired?
Please note: all original photography by David and Katherine Hawkins - not to be used without permission
Accompanying music “Harbor Lights” (Silk Degrees, 1976) courtesy
of
Boz Scaggs
