Maine Island House Designed By Alex Scott Porter Design

This three-season retreat house is situated on the outermost inhabited island in Maine. The island has no roads, stores, electricity, water service, year-round inhabitants or ferry service – no grid. The house can store enough solar energy and rain water to power a refrigerator, lights, kitchen tap, outdoor shower and outlets for music or a laptop for as long as you’d like.

DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION
The 550 square foot house, on a tiny lot, sits right on the water facing the harsh northeastern open ocean – winds clocking 100 mph were measured this year. The house was designed with a hard, protective aluminum shell to close up in the off-season, by three large sliding doors. The exterior needed to be virtually maintenance free, a challenge with the corrosive salt air. But in mild weather the house opens up to take in the prevailing breezes and soak up the daylight. Technolgy-wise, the house has photovoltaics with large-capacity batteries, a 525 gallon cistern, a composting toilet, and a solar refrigerator originally designed for keeping medical supplies cold in Sub-Saharan Africa. The local lobsterman turned out to be a great source for sustainable energy information as he had been living off-the-grid for decades. The construction had to be planned to the nail, as all the materials came out at once, on an amphibious Vietnam-era US Army landing craft that pulled right up onto the beach (Everyone on the island came out to watch). All the framing is on a 2-foot grid for fail-proof planning and coordination. The simple interior uses unfinished north-eastern woods. In addition, truly local materials were used—beach stones for the hearth and island-cured concrete counters – as well as recycled plastic laminate for the cabinets...........more

Writer's Studio | Mt. Desert Island | Maine | New England |

The Writer wanted his working space to take advantage of the beauty of the site and views while respecting the fragile landscape of Somes Sound on Mt. Desert Island, Maine. The studio was built with minimal impact on the shoreland and vegetation. With the bark-like texture of the red cedar shingles and the transparent connection to the ground, the architecture becomes a part of the Maine woods. The cantilevered daybed looks into an Eagle’s nest on nearby Bar Island.....more

Bisharat Residence | Chebeague Island | Maine | New England | Carol A Wilson Architect

From the entry hall, Halfway Rock Light marks a due southerly course in Casco Bay with Crow Island in the foreground. The Bisharats returned to a Maine island after years of living in Cairo and the Middle East with a new appreciation of trees, water and the natural beauty of their land. They asked for an “unassuming house that would lie close to the land, settled among its trees, seaside ledges and underground springs.” The long lean house accommodates an active life while constantly acknowledging the landscape thorough a transparent wall. The vertical south facing glass is carefully protected in the summertime by a deep overhang yet by mid-winter, the low angle of sunlight touches the base of the north wall of the Living Room. Year round the house responds to sun and wind, the house opens and closes to the weather.....more

Weir House | West Bath | Maine | New England | Carol A Wilson Architect

The site is four acres of land on Mill Cove where the New Meadows River meets Winnegance Bay. The Owners are New Englanders who lived in the south for thirty-five years. He is a tree geneticist who chose the land for the red pines, straight tall stately trees similar to the loblolly pines of the south. She is an artist, a weaver and a cook in need of a studio for her loom and a kitchen for her talents. The site demanded windows on the north face to take advantage of the views of the water, contrary to the requirement of any house in Maine for vertical south facing glass to provide light and solar warmth. These conflicting desires were settled by facing the tall southern glass toward future gardens and by framing Mill Cove with a band of narrow horizontal windows. The color was the artist’s choice, a “cardinal in the woods” as she calls it.....more