Maine Addition
Elegant in its simplicity, the kitchen occupies an addition to a 1760s Cape.
Sympathetic design and fine craftsmanship are evident in this rear addition to a Colonial-era house. Architect Anne Whitney and kitchen designer Jeff Peavey worked with the owners to create a fit-ting room with old beams, wood floors, and brush-painted wood cabinets. Whitney designed it to look like an adapted “back house” in the Maine tradition: big house, little house, back house (work shed), barn. Hence the exposed beams in the open ceiling and a spare aesthetic.
Wide-pine flooring was reclaimed from an 18th-century house. A door out of view to the left opens to a pantry that hides the microwave oven and offers practical shelving for storage of pantry staples, large pots, cookbooks, and more.
Cabinets by Kennebec Company incorporate such functional details as rollout shelves, soft-close drawers, and pullout bins. Soapstone counters are both historical and pragmatic. The contemporary refrigerator and stainless-steel range quietly blend in amidst traditional elements.
3 Crucial Kitchen Components
1. Hutch-Like ShelvingOpen shelves display collected American and Asian wares, such as blue-and-white china—a familiar mix in coastal Maine, where ship-owners brought back items from voyages to the Orient. |
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2. Prep Sink in a Lost CornerIn a corner near the open shelves and refrigerator, a small accessory sink is useful during food preparation or at cocktail time and for flower arranging. |
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3. AuthenticityKennebec Company built the custom cabinets of native white pine, hand planed. The design uses flush inset panel doors and drawers. The real milk-paint finish was brush-painted by hand. Floors are reclaimed pine. |
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Be Inspired…
| Overall illumination at the ceiling comes from the nonintrusive Kable Lite system from Visual Comfort Modern. Shown is the dimmable, pivoting K-Jane Head lamp. Custom configurations. |  |
| There’s plenty of vintage blue-and-white out there, but if you want to avoid the search or buy full settings, remember that Mottahedeh still makes Blue Canton, a pattern long ago shipped from China via England. A five-piece setting is $245. |  |
| Kohler’s single-handle bar faucet is the archive-inspired Edalyn™ by Studio McGee. With spare design and a high-profile spout, it has an overall height of 12 13/16 inches. In Matte Black and four other finishes, $377–$546. |  |
| The Hand Crafted Colonial Style Closet Latch Set is modeled on an antique. Hand hammered, the latch runs 6 1/8″ to 7″ in length and has a natural wax-coated finish: $22.50. |  |
— Written by Patricia Poore. Photos by Stephen Fazio.
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