Houzz Tours
USA Houzz: New Coastal-Farmhouse Style Rescues an "Oddball" House
An architect and interior designer give an oddball house a pleasing, evolved-over-time historic look
Just a quick walk from Goose Rocks Beach in Maine, USA, sits a home that local architect John Buckley deemed “kind of an oddball house”. Not oddball in a bad way. “I don’t know what you know about Maine, but it’s full of great old Yankee craftsmen [sic],” says Buckley. “This house was kind of an oddball because it is built with true post-and-beam construction, complete with mortise-and-tenon joints [an age-old way of joining pieces of timber]. But it was built in the 1980s.” And along with its 1980s vintage came standard finishes that were of that era, as well as a nondescript style.
The main floor has an open-plan layout, with the staircase in the centre. The team replaced the existing flooring in the house with engineered white oak. Buckley kept the geometry of the stairs but changed the balustrade and used white oak on the treads. The front door can be seen behind the staircase.
Buckley and Robinson also replaced an existing fireplace with a wood stove that fitted within the space and installed a new slate hearth that’s flush with the floor.
Buckley and Robinson also replaced an existing fireplace with a wood stove that fitted within the space and installed a new slate hearth that’s flush with the floor.
The photographs of the living area show off the post-and-beam construction. “Because it was built in this old manner, it was not so easy to modify,” says Buckley. “There was a clear structural grid and we had to stick within those parameters. We peeled back the layers to give it a more authentic look.”
Buckley and Robinson did a lot of stripping and staining of the dark posts and beams. This allowed for contrast without making the structural elements too bold or distracting. “We wanted the structure to lie quietly in the background,” says Buckley.
Ready to renovate? Find an architect near you, browse images of their projects on Houzz and read reviews from previous clients
Buckley and Robinson did a lot of stripping and staining of the dark posts and beams. This allowed for contrast without making the structural elements too bold or distracting. “We wanted the structure to lie quietly in the background,” says Buckley.
Ready to renovate? Find an architect near you, browse images of their projects on Houzz and read reviews from previous clients
The interior designer mixed antiques and more modern pieces to make the home look as if it had evolved over time. The dining room chairs are a modern take on classic Windsor chairs, while the antique turquoise buffet grabs attention. The artwork has a vintage look, and the lighting mixes a traditional brass finish with contemporary style.
Buckley replaced the windows as part of the renovation. “All the existing windows had really heavy grids before,” he says. The new windows are less busy yet still have a traditional look.
Buckley replaced the windows as part of the renovation. “All the existing windows had really heavy grids before,” he says. The new windows are less busy yet still have a traditional look.
For the kitchen, Buckley was inspired by the clean look of English kitchens by deVOL. He designed the natural white oak cabinets himself, which have vertical board facings with slight reveals. “They were designed to be quiet and stand within the post-and-beam construction,” says the architect.
He also added shiplap cladding to the walls, an element he repeated throughout the house. The photograph above also shows the ceiling, which appears to be covered with with tongue-and-groove panelling. However, as is typical with post-and beam-construction, these are actually the floorboards of the upstairs, which are 38 millimetres thick. They’re visible because there’s no plasterboard hiding the post-and-beam structure of the home.
He also added shiplap cladding to the walls, an element he repeated throughout the house. The photograph above also shows the ceiling, which appears to be covered with with tongue-and-groove panelling. However, as is typical with post-and beam-construction, these are actually the floorboards of the upstairs, which are 38 millimetres thick. They’re visible because there’s no plasterboard hiding the post-and-beam structure of the home.
The kitchen island in the centre is open on one side so stools can be stowed underneath. “I like to make the legs higher than usual to make cabinetry read more like furniture,” says Buckley. “I can create a certain cadence when legs come down to the floor and break up a toe-kick. And they make the cabinets look like they are standing rather than floating.”
At the opposite end of the kitchen, an eat-in dining area fits nicely into an existing bay. Buckley designed a wraparound banquette and Robinson selected a sturdy, utilitarian timber table with straight lines. It provides a nice farmhouse-style contrast to the all-white space around it.
Just beyond the eat-in nook is the mudroom entrance. It has another entrance off it that leads to a separate apartment over the garage. The apartment has one bedroom, one bathroom and a kitchenette.
The floor tile in the mudroom is cement by Clé Tile, with grout that’s a perfect colour match.
New shiplap panelling wraps around the powder room’s walls, lending a sense of age.
The first floor houses the main bedroom and bathroom. There had previously been a bedroom and bathroom here, but Buckley’s reconfiguration connected them as a suite. More shiplap panelling adds an old coastal look to the walls, and the posts and beams are painted a serene white.
Robinson and Buckley worked together to reconfigure the main bathroom. Shiplap panelling and a beautiful floral wallpaper, Bowood by Colefax and Fowler, lend vintage appeal. The flooring is comprised of small-scale marble mosaics.
“Elizabeth and I liked the idea of looking for found objects and turning them into vanities,” says Buckley. “In here we were thinking of old farm tables. So the idea started with the idea of turned table legs.”
However, they quickly realised a table wouldn’t provide the storage the homeowners needed, so Buckley designed a chest of drawers crafted from white oak and incorporated turned legs. “We wanted the vanity to look like it had been around the block a little bit,” he says.
The vanity top and short splashback are marble.
However, they quickly realised a table wouldn’t provide the storage the homeowners needed, so Buckley designed a chest of drawers crafted from white oak and incorporated turned legs. “We wanted the vanity to look like it had been around the block a little bit,” he says.
The vanity top and short splashback are marble.
On the second storey, Buckley and Robinson designed a large multipurpose space. “The idea was that two couples could rent the entire property and bring their kids,” he says. While he refers to this room as the library, it also serves as the TV room, playroom, home office and overflow bedroom.
Robinson enlivened the space with wallpaper and bold colours plucked from it. The wallpaper accents the vast height of the ceiling – had that wall been all white, the furniture would have looked awkwardly low and out of scale.
Robinson enlivened the space with wallpaper and bold colours plucked from it. The wallpaper accents the vast height of the ceiling – had that wall been all white, the furniture would have looked awkwardly low and out of scale.
New windows swing open to view the dining room below. They were fabricated in Brooklyn, USA, by the homeowner’s brother-in-law, Wesley Martel of Martel Design & Fabrication. The windows share the natural light between spaces and also give the kids and parents a fun way to call to each other.
The custom ladder leads to a special spot. “Carpenter Derek Preble completed all the millwork [timberwork] and custom items like this, and he did an amazing job,” says Buckley.
The custom ladder leads to a special spot. “Carpenter Derek Preble completed all the millwork [timberwork] and custom items like this, and he did an amazing job,” says Buckley.
At the top of the ladder is a fun mezzanine-style hideout. Previously, this space above the bathroom was unfinished.
The home has the popular holiday-house set-up that puts a group of siblings, cousins or friends in the same bedroom. This is the children’s bedroom, on the second floor. Robinson recommended a classic Arts and Crafts wallpaper, Blackthorn by Morris & Co, which dates to 1892. Again, it brings an aesthetic of another layer added over time.
Buckley designed custom bunk beds with adjacent shelves. They’re wrapped in shiplap cladding and each bunk has its own reading light and niche. The bunks also have a ladder (not pictured).
The upstairs bathroom sports a slate floor laid in a herringbone pattern. Paired with square porcelain tiles on the walls, the tile selections give the room a timeless look.
Browse more beautiful bathrooms with shades of grey
Browse more beautiful bathrooms with shades of grey
Buckley and Robinson altered the layout of the bathroom to accommodate a roomy shower. And they repeated the found-object vanity idea, with Buckley again custom-designing this piece. The turquoise chest of drawers adds to the timeless style of the room.
The adult bedroom on the second floor has a beautiful vaulted ceiling.
Robinson covered the walls in a wallpaper that represents a storm yet has a serene feel: Tempest by Quercus & Co. And as she did throughout the house, she added carefully curated pops of colour – here they’re seen in the reading sconces and rug.
The separate apartment mentioned earlier is above the home’s connected two-car garage. It has a roof deck that serves as a private outdoor space.
This is the kitchenette in the apartment. Painted cabinets paired with vintage-style knobs lend a part-farmhouse, part-coastal cottage feel. And open shelving makes it easy for guests to find dishes and glassware.
Your turn
Which room in this holiday home would you claim as yours? Tell us in the Comments, like this story, save the images and join the conversation.
More
Travel from this tranquil USA house to Australia with this beautiful Melbourne Houzz: An Architect’s Post-Pandemic Family Home
This is the kitchenette in the apartment. Painted cabinets paired with vintage-style knobs lend a part-farmhouse, part-coastal cottage feel. And open shelving makes it easy for guests to find dishes and glassware.
Your turn
Which room in this holiday home would you claim as yours? Tell us in the Comments, like this story, save the images and join the conversation.
More
Travel from this tranquil USA house to Australia with this beautiful Melbourne Houzz: An Architect’s Post-Pandemic Family Home
House at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple, who also rent the home out
Location: Kennebunkport, USA
Size: 279 square metres with four bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms
Designers: John Buckley Architecture and Design (architecture) and Elizabeth Robinson of Mia Carta Design (interior design)
Builder: Bowley Builders
The homeowners are a couple with grown children. Though they live in New Jersey, USA, full-time, the husband is from the area and buying this property was a sort of homecoming for him. The couple planned to spend a significant amount of time here in summer and a few other weeks throughout the year, rent out the house when they weren’t using it, and eventually retire here full-time.
They hired interior designer Elizabeth Robinson to complete a full renovation, and she brought in Buckley, whom she frequently collaborates with, to help with reconfiguring the house and changing the finishes. This included lots of new timberwork, all new windows and new flooring. The result is a coastal-meets-farmhouse look in a home that appears to be historical, having evolved over decades.