The family that owns this parcel overlooking Somes Sound on craggy, evergreen-shaded Mount Desert Island in northern Maine had camped on the property for many summers before deciding to build. Their main request to Matthew Baird Architects was to tread gently: “We were encouraged to embrace a modest expression worthy of the site and to make a structure that would sit lightly on the ground.”
The structure is clad in untreated eastern white cedar shingles that will weather over time, and the windows are framed in plantation mahogany.
The front door opens to a wood-paneled gathering space with a kitchen at one end and a dining/sitting area overlooking the sound.
The all-white kitchen is composed of Ikea Sektion cabinets with high-gloss Ringhult doors and Schoolhouse T Pulls in satin nickel.
Stairs to the master bedroom overlook the granite hearth.
The simple main bedroom was designed to feel like a tree house.
The breezeway leads out to the twin back porches overlooking Somes Sound.