Orono Residence

New home for a client with an education in modern architecture 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 (reused railroad ties from Africa), and antique ceramic tile and fireplace mantels. The gable rafters change slope along the length of the house, forming an S-shaped ridgeline that alludes to an image of a sagging barn roof, which the client found meaningful because of its portrayal of time.