A modern full time home replaced a dated summer ranch at Higgins Beach, the culmination of years of dreaming. The new home’s footprint maximizes efficiency so that what was a cramped backyard becomes a place for gathering friends and extended family. Oversized granite steps lead from the living room to the backyard and become seating for parties and get togethers. A compact outdoor kitchen was a high priority for the couple, who love to cook and entertain. The front yard features reclaimed granite steps, a seating area at the landing and dry laid stone walls with gardens .
Photography: Trent Bell
Architect: Whitten Architects
Builder: Douston Construction
The house was constructed with minimal disturbance to the site, leaving the surrounding woodland intact and focusing on the wooded views to the river. Light landscape interventions respected the simplicity of the building and the existing native woods and understory.
The project was featured on Architectural Digest’s List of the Best Designed Buildings in Every U.S. State.
Architect: Carol A. Wilson
Photography: Trent Bell Photography
An art conservator and a chef retired to an idyllic spot on an island in Casco Bay, a short ferry ride from Portland Maine. Kaplan Thompson Architects designed a high performance, energy efficient home including a separate studio and guest house. The grounds continue the informal nature of the house and connect to an existing nature preserve. The bluestone patio and walkway play off the sculptural forms of the building.
Architect: Kaplan Thompson Architects
Builder: Thompson Johnson Woodworks
The couple built their retirement home with Whitten Architects, looking out over Harpswell Sound. The site features native wildflower gardens, stone terraces and a path down the hill to the seaside.
Top image by Rachel Sieben Photography
Set on ten acres of a former farm, the site features mature oaks and open meadows as well as a fruit orchard. The family of four wanted space for entertaining and living outdoors that reflected the contemporary forms of their home.
Photography by Rachel Sieben Photography
The children’s garden at the Thomas Memorial Library in Cape Elizabeth Maine provides space for quiet reading or active play. Designed to be deliberately open-ended, lettered pavers allow children to create their own word games. A mural wall acts as a divider, creating playhouse space on one side. Native flower gardens provide habitat and food sources for birds and pollinators.
On the shores of Lake Erie, a pedestrian and bike path wanders past the ruined relics of colossal grain elevators that once housed grain from the midwest on its way to NYC via the Erie Canal.
Buffalo’s Union Ship Canal served as a docking station for lake freighters bearing shipments for the Erie Canal. Today the site is the centerpiece of a 22-acre park ringing the canal.
PEGGY RYAN WILLIAMS CENTER
This LEED platinum certified project includes a green roof design, porous asphalt parking, and a multi-functional plaza designed as an entrance to the campus. The plant palette includes a diverse mix grasses, trees, shrubs and perennials, all native to the Northeast.
Located in a picturesque fishing village, this owner surrounded the home with lush perennial gardens with areas for both contemplation and entertaining.
Responding to a call for submissions for public art that drew over 500 entries, this proposal was one of 7 semi-finalists. The design proposes painting the oil tanks with aerial images of the casco bay peninsula and islands, carved by the retreating glacier over 10,00 years ago. as well as the working waterfront of Portland Maine.
