Orono Residence

New home that offers both traditional romance and contemporary authenticity

The design evolves from the agricultural legacy of the site’s fields and fence rows interacting with a new stone wall to establish precincts for new uses: windbreak, orchard, garden, lawn, and pool. Chosen to age gracefully, irregularly-cut courses of New York bluestone predominate the house inside and out. The stone contrasts with reclaimed materials, such as Douglas fir structural beams, teak flooring made of reused railroad ties from Africa, and antique ceramic tile and fireplace mantels. Gable rafters change slope along the length of the house, forming an S-shaped ridgeline that evokes an image of a sagging barn roof to represent the passage of time.