It was the quintessential Maine summer house, recalls Matthew Carter. "Pea gravel driveway, boxwoods, and ferns. Green shutters and beautifully proportioned rooms," explains the Lexington, Kentucky, decorator who smartly didn't touch any of that stuff.
For many families the interiors were nearly move-in ready: white plaster walls, cotton rugs, some toile-covered furnishings. "Simple and lovely," he reports.
That undecorated feel is the norm in much of coastal Maine, where many cottages change hands generationally and without much aesthetic fuss. A combination of Yankee ingenuity and the vestiges of Puritanism makes for homes that feel more "put together" than decorated. And near the water especially, there's an accepted shabbiness: The salt air lends a gracious patina to whale-motif weather vanes but also flays the undercarriages of Volvos.
There's a real vernacular here, and as Carter's first project in Maine, he could have enjoyed months of drinking in the source material, but he had to stay true to his clients. As he is, they're southerners. Shabby wasn't going to fly for the new homeowners, a Kentucky couple with adult children and grandchildren beginning to accumulate. "They wanted to vamp it up a bit," says Carter. "They have traditional taste-art, maps, threshold for color and pattern." antiques-but also a high
Denne historien er fra July - August 2023-utgaven av Veranda.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra July - August 2023-utgaven av Veranda.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Should my holiday decor "match" my interiors?
Even designers aren't immune to joyful chaos. For her home, Atlanta-based designer Katie Wolf is \"all nostalgia, all day long. Bring on the reds and greens, the school-made ornaments and even the multicolored lights!\"
SANCTUARIES of JOY
When does a closet become a portal to our passions? We teamed up with three top tastemakers to imagine their pie-in-the-sky storage spaces, from a china-filled entertaining lab to a winemaker's exuberant workshop.
You Are Cordially Invited to a SPIRITED HOLIDAY SOIREE
Join illustrator and bon vivant TUG RICE for a lively, piano-fueled cocktail party, where creatives mingle with whispers of artists past in his Sutton Place apartment.
Will Travel For
Who among us can resist a good treasure hunt? Especially when the prize is an object of singular curiosity. Here, three artful adventurers pursue their obsessions from California to north-central Europe.
BEYOND THE FEAST
Thanksgiving dinner is only the beginning for Charleston hoteliers Jaimie and John Dewberry, who extend the revelry with drop-in cocktails at their 18th-century home and a Black Friday boat ride on their vintage Chris-Craft.
TOAST of the TOWN
At her Manhattan apartment, stationer and Dear Annabelle founder Marcie Pantzer hosts a New Year's celebration as graceful as the lost art of letter writing.
THE LEGACY KEEPERS
Editor in chief Steele Thomas Marcoux explores how Charleston preservationists are harnessing the city's vernacular to reinterpret the past and forge a richer future.
Now Booking NEXT-LEVEL LUXURY
From estate revivals in Genoa and Baja to extravagant villas in Egypt and Bhutan, the year's top hotel debuts are raising the bar with bespoke craftsmanship, garden romance, and all-out escapism.
In To the PINK
On New Year's Day in Palm Beach, The Colony Hotel's Sarah and Andrew Wetenhall welcome friends for a casual courtyard fete, alight in the landmark's signature color.
TRIMMED IN TRADITION
Fresh-cut Fraser firs, evergreen boughs, and more than 6,000 string lights herald the arrival of Christmas at North Carolina's historic High Hampton resort, instilling the woodsy, old-fashioned warmth of the Blue Ridge Mountains.