Sal Taylor Kydd and Steven Kydd qualify Down East as what’s affectionately known as Maine-iacs. Long based in Los Angeles—he’s a founder of mobile video network Tastemade and she’s a photographer and artist who grew up in Hertfordshire, England—they and their two kids have always spent summer vacations on Deer Isle, where Steven’s family has a farm. In 2016, while building a midcentury-style house in Santa Monica, they spent more time than usual in Maine and decided they wanted to stay put.
They chose midcoast Rockport, where Sal earned an MFA in photography from the Maine Media College, thanks to its “vibrant year-round community,” she says. Upon driving down the long wooded road that leads to their new place, they both knew it was the one. With a caveat: Built in 2004, the shingled compound was of newer vintage than they’d have liked. To remedy that, the couple hired itinerant house rehabbers Tara Mangini and Percy Bright of Jersey Ice Cream Co. to remodel, furnish, and inject soul into every room. Oh, and to install an entirely new kitchen. It was a crash job: Accustomed to working entirely on their own, Tara and Percy—who Sal discovered on Remodelista—called in the house’s original crew to help get it all done. “We first saw the house in June and were finished by early October,” reports Tara. Here are the results.
Photography by Jersey Ice Cream Co. and Sal Taylor Kydd as labeled.
The Compound
![a country road serves as the driveway. photograph by sal taylor kydd. 17](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/maine-driveway-sal-taylor-kydd-photo-733x489.jpg)
![built for two artists, the enclave consists of a main house, studio, two story 18](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/rockport-maine-shingled-enclave-sal-taylor-kydd-photo-733x489.jpg)
“Bushes hug the outbuildings, vines crawl where they should, and it feels like the ocean is hiding behind the swaying grass, even though in reality you can just barely see it in the distance,” says Tara.
![there\2\17;s also a greenhouse next to the shed. the family have a dog, 19](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/green-house-rockport-maine-sal-taylor-kydd-photo-733x550.jpg)
![a pocket porch on the side of the house shelters the main entrance. photograph 20](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/sal-taylor-kydd-rockport-maine-front-door-733x1099.jpg)
Downstairs
![in the living room, tara and percy replaced the existing mantel with a vintage 21](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/jersey-ice-cream-co-rockport-maine-remodel-entry-living-room-1-733x489.jpg)
See more of Percy’s plasterwork in Remodeling 101: Modern Plaster Walls Six Ways. Photograph by Jersey Ice Cream Co.
![\2\20;the rooms are nicely proportioned with high ceilings, big win 22](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/jersey-ice-cream-co-design-rockport-maine-living-room-sal-taylor-kydd-photo-733x550.jpg)
A master at speedy sourcing, Tara furnished the rooms with a high/low mix. In the living room, the pair of armchairs came from eBay (“those tiny pillow won us over”), the sofa was a $250 Brimfield buy (now reupholstered), and the coffee table was “a beat-up old thing: we chopped a bit off the legs and sanded the top. It’s huge and sturdy, my two favorite coffee-table qualities.” The light is a Workstead Industrial Chandelier that the family brought with them from LA. Photograph by Sal Taylor Kydd.
![another of tara\2\17;s purchases: the piano was \2\20;a crazy cra 23](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/jersey-ice-cream-co-rockport-maine-remodel-living-room-3-733x1100.jpg)
![the living room opens to the dining area. the table is a percy original surroun 24](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/jersey-ice-cream-co-dining-room-design-rockport-maine-sal-taylor-kydd-photo-733x550.jpg)
![a splurge: the brass light over the table is apparatus\2\17;s trape 25](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/jersey-ice-cream-co-dining-room-design-maine-sal-taylor-kydd-photo-733x489.jpg)
![another splurge: a lacanche chagny \1400 range in ivory and brass. ph 26](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/jersey-ice-cream-co-rockport-maine-remodel-kitchen-5-733x487.jpg)
![added late in the game, the backsplash is made of clé\2\17;s glazed 27](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/jersey-ice-cream-co-rockport-maine-remodel-kitchen-10-733x1100.jpg)
![brass accents lend warmth throughout the house. here, the utensil bar is paired 28](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/jersey-ice-cream-co-rockport-maine-remodel-kitchen-11-733x1104.jpg)
![the house\2\17;s original contractor, jay fischer of cold mountain build 29](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/jersey-ice-cream-co-eat-in-kitchen-design-rockport-maine-sal-taylor-kydd-photo-2-733x497.jpg)
![the farmhouse sink has a barber wilsons bridgemaster faucet in unlacquered 30](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/jersey-ice-cream-co-rockport-maine-remodel-kitchen-6a-733x487.jpg)
![there\2\17;s a sub zero wine fridge at the end of the counter. photograp 31](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/jersey-ice-cream-co-rockport-maine-remodel-kitchen-7-733x1100.jpg)
![a wall of inset storage incorporates the fridge. percy built the kitchen table, 32](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/jersey-ice-cream-co-eat-in-kitchen-design-rockport-maine-sal-taylor-kydd-photo-733x543.jpg)
![\2\20;a cabinet wall is a good way to get functionality without loo 33](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/jersey-ice-cream-co-rockport-maine-remodel-kitchen-9-733x1105.jpg)
Upstairs
![the existing wooden floors were \2\20;a bit too shiny and orange for eve 34](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/jersey-ice-cream-co-rockport-maine-remodel-upstairs-hall-16-733x1100.jpg)
All the trim in the house is painted Benjamin Moore’s Balboa Mist: “It’s a color that seems to work everywhere—even when we try not to use it, we end up picking it again and again.” Photograph by Jersey Ice Cream Co.
![the guest room is patterned in a farrow & ball wallpaper called tourbillon. 37](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/jersey-ice-cream-co-rockport-maine-remodel-guest-room-23-733x961.jpg)
![a vintage chest of drawers is paired with a brass framed mirror (since disconti 38](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/jersey-ice-cream-co-rockport-maine-remodel-guest-room-24-733x1025.jpg)
![in the main bath, rejuvenation metal framed mirrors hang over twin sinks in a c 39](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/jersey-ice-cream-co-rockport-maine-remodel-master-bath-25-733x1084.jpg)
![the room has tall windows and a strom plumbing geneva 60 inch cast iron clawfoo 40](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/jersey-ice-cream-co-rockport-maine-remodel-master-bath-26-733x1100.jpg)
![tara presented sal and steven\2\17;s \10 year old daughter with several 41](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/jersey-ice-cream-co-rockport-maine-remodel-girls-room-17-733x1100.jpg)
![percy built the art nouveau esque open headboard. photograph by sal taylor kydd. 42](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/jersey-ice-cream-co-girls-room-design-rockport-maine-sal-taylor-kydd-photo-733x489.jpg)
![the \1\2 year old son\2\17;s room was given beadboard paneling and a wic 43](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/jersey-ice-cream-co-rockport-maine-remodel-sons-room-20-733x489.jpg)
![short on space, percy and tara fit a built in desk into a corner of the room.&# 44](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/jersey-ice-cream-co-rockport-maine-remodel-boys-room-19-733x1100.jpg)
![percy transferred the master bath pedestal sink into the son\2\17;s bath 45](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/ijersey-ice-cream-co-rockport-maine-remodel-sons-bathroom-21-733x1100.jpg)
The Bunkhouse
![the second story of the garage has an open loft space that was formerly used as 46](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/bunk-house-back-rockport-maine-sal-taylor-kydd-733x489.jpg)
![percy and tara transformed the space into a bunkhouse with built in poplar doub 47](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/bunkhouse-designed-by-jersey-ice-cream-co-in-rockport-maine-sal-taylor-kydd-photo-733x489.jpg)
![the room has a farmhouse table (but no kitchen). the hanging bamboo light is th 48](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/jersey-ice-cream-co-bunkhouse-rockport-maine-sal-taylor-kydd-photo-733x1100.jpg)
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