Architecture & Design

The McIntire Garrison

Historic Highlight

On the banks of the York River stands what is possibly Maine’s oldest home: a circa 1707 garrison constructed with heavy logs that were dovetailed at the joints to create a sturdy, weatherproof envelope — and fortification against Native American raids. Now featuring uncharacteristic clapboard and shingle sheathing and double-hung windows, the home nevertheless retains […]

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Escaping Erosion in Maine’s Coastal Woods

Partner Post: Houzz

This woodsy coastal Maine landscape looks as if it has been this way for centuries, but a few years ago it had been devastated by construction damage, insects, and Hurricane Hanna. The understory was gone, leaving the property exposed to the elements and quickly eroding. Landscape architect Matthew Cunningham gave the first phase of renewal […]

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Samuel Spring House

Historic Highlight

In the 1850s, when Portland’s Western Promenade was largely wooded and swampy, Samuel Spring and his uncle, Andrew Spring, commissioned architect Charles Alexander to design twin Italianate villas that would sit side by side on Danforth Street. At the time, most of the Promenade was owned by J.B. Brown, who hired Alexander to design his […]

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Summer Camp Style for a Lakeside Home

Partner Post: Houzz

A family turns a cookie-cutter home into a classic New England summer getaway on the water. A lakeside home in Maine should look like it belongs on a lake in Maine. That wasn’t the case originally for this home, built in the early 2000s with simple siding and small windows. For a more appropriate look, […]

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These Two Families Help You Make a Home

Advertisement: Hammond Lumber

Nice guys don’t always finish last. In fact, in Maine, they finish first and help families build homes throughout the region. In a world of e-commerce and faceless corporations, it’s nice to know that family businesses like Hammond Lumber still succeed and foster a culture that puts customers first. This personal approach is ingrained in […]

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James P. White House

Historic Highlight

Recognized as one of the finest examples of high-style Greek Revival architecture in the state, the James P. White House has held a prominent position at the entrance to downtown Belfast since 1842. Its eponymous first owner ascended from a modest log home nearby to become a successful merchant, financier, and mayor of Belfast during […]

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The Lowdown on Colossal Doors

Partner Post: Houzz

Want to erase the boundary to the outdoors? Here’s what to know about materials, cost, energy efficiency, and more. Architect Philip Johnson famously remarked, “I have very expensive wallpaper,” referring to the four see-through walls of his Glass House, completed in 1949. Even today transparency defines modern architecture. And our desire to connect our interior […]

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Forward to the Past

House Tour

A Perry couple is putting antique houses back together — starting with their own. Photographs by Joyce Jackson and Michael D. Wilson hile many people are tearing down walls in their antique homes in pursuit of trendy open floor plans, Joyce Jackson and Patrick Mealey are putting them back up. The husband–wife team specializes in […]

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York Hall

Historic Highlight

When Bath’s York Hall was constructed in 1897, the architectural aesthetic in America was shifting away from ostentatious Victorian designs and back toward traditionalism. The Boston firm of Peabody & Stearns’ support for this stylistic renaissance is reflected in the Georgian Revival home its architects designed for prominent shipbuilder William Sewall and his wife, Rachel. […]

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The Age of Opulence

Sponsored Content: Victoria Mansion

Peek inside the gilded, paneled, elaborately painted Victoria Mansion in Portland, where one early-twentieth-century family had a whole lot of fun. In the 1920s, Alice Willman slid down the carved walnut railings of the staircase in Portland’s palatial Victoria Mansion with her siblings and cousins. Known as a “flying” staircase because it has no visible […]

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