House Tour

For an MDI Couple, One Renovation Led to Another

But now they’ve got “a house we feel like was designed for us.”

a glassed-in sanctuary with walnut flooring, and a George Nelson daybed

ABOVE The Lloyds’ latest project, completed last year, was turning a little-used screened porch into a glassed-in sanctuary with walnut flooring, a George Nelson daybed, and, in winter, the couple’s bike trainers. Stretching out here, “you feel like you’re in the forest,” Lori says.

TEXT BY SARAH STEBBINS
PHOTOGRAPHED BY MICHAEL D. WILSON

From the August 2021 issue of Down East magazine

When newlyweds Gary and Lori Lloyd purchased their home in Bar Harbor in 2012, Gary resolved to have the 1994 place fixed up before his bride moved up from Texas. “I didn’t want her to have to bother with something being renovated,” says Gary, a Mainer by way of the Lone Star State, who met Lori while visiting his brother there. While Lori finished her final year of teaching down south, Gary worked with his friend Corey Papadopoli, an architect with Blue Hill’s Elliott Architects, who took on the Lloyds’ job as a side project. They planned a series of cosmetic updates. “But as you improve, imperfections come out,” Gary says, “so we steadily changed everything that was not appealing to the eye.” The projects persisted for years, but now they’ve got “a house we feel like was designed for us.”

the team installed new granite entry tile from Orland’s Freshwater Stone, removed dark wood trim on the windows and partial walls, and refinished the maple flooring in the living room

ENTRY

“It’s a shame when you see a gabled roof and inside the ceiling is flat — this one really opens up,” Papadopoli says. Leaving the layout intact, the team installed new granite entry tile from Orland’s Freshwater Stone, removed dark wood trim on the windows and partial walls, and refinished the maple flooring. Most of the furnishings are from Ligne Roset (Gary keeps 15 years’ worth of the company’s catalogs), including the mirrored door with hooks on the inside for keys. Watercolors by North Haven’s Eric Hopkins crown the living-room chaise longue.

Designed by Bar Harbor architect Roc Caivano, the home’s low-slung, cottagey shape belies the loftiness inside

EXTERIOR

Designed by Bar Harbor architect Roc Caivano — known for designing the Somesville Bridge and the Wendell Gilley Museum, among other MDI landmarks — the home’s low-slung, cottagey shape belies the loftiness inside. New ipe decking and cable railing give the front porch a contemporary edge. “We could have made an old Maine farmhouse work,” says Gary, who grew up in a mid-century-modern home. “But I’ve got such an interest in modern things, I’m glad we didn’t need to.”

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vertical-grain fir contrasts with a Morning Mist granite countertop and backsplash from Freshwater Stone and the home’s knotty-cedar paneling

KITCHEN

The couple purchased IKEA cabinet boxes on sale and finished them with Douglas-fir doors and sides by Semihandmade for a custom look. The vertical-grain fir contrasts with a Morning Mist granite countertop and backsplash from Freshwater Stone and the home’s knotty-cedar paneling. A one-and-three-quarter-inch overhang on the upper cabinet doors eliminates the need for hardware

White paint and new cable railing transformed the entrance to the loft guest bedroom/office above the owners’ suite.

LOFT

White paint and new cable railing transformed the entrance to the loft guest bedroom/office above the owners’ suite. “When we became aware that the house was designed by Roc Caivano, it made sense that it had these unusual features,” Gary says. A Marimekko-fabric curtain sets off a linen closet and picks up the palette in a fiber sculpture by Bar Harbor’s Melita Westerlund on the opposite wall.

zebra painting by Stephen Sumrall-Orsak

ART

The Lloyds fell in love with the work of Stephen Sumrall-Orsak when he was 12 years old and painting at his parents’ Johnson City, Texas, home. They purchased a seagull painting of his at a gallery there and Gary later surprised Lori with this zebra, now in their bedroom. “As a teacher, it reminded me of something a younger person would do, but it’s not cartoonish,” Lori says.

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Snowy carpeting in the loft guest room

GUEST ROOM

Snowy carpeting in the loft guest room, which also houses a small office for Lori, offers a soft spot to stretch after a workout. A cloud-like foam pendant from Ligne Roset provides a modern counterpoint to colorful paintings by Haitian artist Fritz St. Jean and a donkey-shaped planter from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, given to Lori by a friend.

Gary and Lori Lloyd dining room

DINING ROOM

Oriented toward the woods and an Eric Hopkins seascape, the walnut dining table (accented with a Marimekko runner) accommodates an intimate group. “When I was leaving Texas, people would say, ‘East Coast people probably won’t talk to you,’” Lori says. “I came with the expectation that we wouldn’t do a lot of visiting. But people here are just the same — warm and very sweet.”