Blue Hill Road, Blue Hill, Maine
Blue Hill, Maine, you had me at your name and fished me in even more with that listing photo that begged to be a painting.
I was lured in more by the story of the house. It looks new, doesn't it? It actually dates from about 1860.
Up until a year ago, it looked like this:
{old photos source}
It was built by a local quarry owner. Even though it's been updated, some of the original details remain.
Original features like that porthole beside the front door. Bonus points if you can tell me if it had some sort of purpose, or is it just a window?
What I do know is that the front door needs a little something. Here's the thing, and you may disagree with me, but I don't like the trend of painting interior doors black. Why draw so much attention to something that's not really an architectural feature? Unless you can turn it into an architectural feature like this one:
Here's another original feature-- the living room's stone chimney from the old wood burning stove:
Here's how I would decorate that space, inspired by Patrick Ahearn:
The other side of the chimney is the perfect spot for an oven, with space to re-install a wood burner.
It used to look like this:
The spiffed-up kitchen is now open to another large room...
...and again I can see borrowing ideas from Patrick Ahearn to fill the space:
{via}
The same Ahearn designed house also shows us how to furnish the family room/den:
Going upstairs gives us another opportunity to see how the house has changed. Here is the before:
Here is the after. Do you like the new paint job?
The house is 3,338 square feet, and has 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. Here are more before and afters:
And finally, here are just some afters:
The house is near Peters Cove and Mount Desert Narrows, right in the heart of the shipbuilding and granite industry.
{via}
I tried to ascertain who the 1860's quarry owner was that built this house, but had no luck. I did find out, though, that writer Emilie Loring owned quite a bit of property around the house, which my teenage self would have enjoyed knowing.
This wasn't written by her, but could be the start of the story that would lure anyone to Blue Hill:
The listing is here.
