It is not easy to build a new house near Higgins Beach in Scarborough. The picturesque stretch of sand has been a destination for sunbathing and dog-walking Mainers for over a century. But parking is notoriously difficult, and summerhouses are always in high demand. It’s hard to buy a home near Higgins and even harder to find an unoccupied patch of land. “This was one of the very last empty lots, it felt like,” says Jon Sevigny of Kevin Browne Architecture. “We didn’t have to tear down to build this, which is different for Higgins. But we did have to adhere to the character code, which has many, many stipulations. The criteria include roof pitches, heights for various parts of the building, eaves, and setbacks, the percentage of glass at each elevation … Long story short, there’s a lot of things you have to comply with.”

Fortunately, Sevigny and Kevin Browne weren’t daunted by the lengthy, thorough code. They had built one house by Higgins Beach before, so when the homeowner approached them about her empty little lot, they felt prepared to tackle its challenges. “It makes designing in the Higgins Beach neighborhood interesting and challenging,” Sevigny says. “You end up trying to design the coolest small house that you possibly can.”

The tiny lot was a huge opportunity for the homeowner to create a home that would accommodate her family of five and her parents. Although they currently split their time between Maine and Massachusetts, the homeowner grew up in Scarborough and spent her childhood playing on Higgins Beach. She wanted to build a house that would comfortably accommodate three generations for extended stays. “We had a place there for 30 years, but our family was quickly outgrowing it,” she explains. “Once I got married and had three kids, the existing house just wasn’t working anymore.” They needed more bedrooms, more bathrooms, more kitchen space, more of everything.

It took some clever finessing, but Sevigny and Browne were able to create a design that would fit all seven family members, plus the occasional guest, into a narrow rectangular envelope. The three-story house has a back deck overlooking the lawn and a compact front porch entryway that pays a subtle tribute to the historic cottage style of the region. “The shingles take a long time,” says builder William Royall of the cedar siding. “But they look beautiful when they’re finished.” The house needed to fit into one of the pre-approved typologies, which dictated the visual style. This didn’t present a problem for the homeowner, who appreciates the traditional coastal look. “I didn’t want anything boxy,” she says. “I wanted cottage-style, beachy, shingled. And I really wanted the roofline to be as interesting as possible, so we could have all these little nooks of space on the inside.”

The finished house is a mixture of the homeowner’s sensibilities and Browne’s preferred aesthetics. “It has more contem- porary flair than a true shingle-style,” he says. “The detailing isn’t quite as fussy. We like to do clean lines, and this appealed to us.” They did add a little bit of interest to the exterior with the curved, shingled posts that bracket the entryway. “We dressed it up with different window patterns and detailing, which distinguishes it from its neighbors,” he says. “I think it’s just a really nice-looking house,” says Royall, who has worked on eight different builds in the Higgins neighborhood. “[Browne and Sevigny] did a great job interpreting the character code and using it to everyone’s benefit.”

Since the home is located enviously close to the beach, it needed to be raised up on pilings. “When the weather gets crazy, it’s designed for water to flow right under the house,” Sevigny explains. However, storage space was extremely limited, what with no basement and no attic. “This meant that plumbing was an issue we had to think about,” adds Royall. “All the water pipes must be insulated from the cold, so we built an insulated box under the house. It’s been a few years, and so far, so good.” Marvin windows help further defend against winter storms, as do the open-cell spray foam insulation and the custom metal roof.

Although it may look like a beach house from the outside, once you enter it becomes clear this is more than a vacation spot. It has everything the family needs for both short visits and long-term stays. The first floor features an open plan that allows for entertaining, plus several cleverly delineated spaces where residents can enjoy a sense of quiet amid the cheerful chaos. “We love the little nooks on the first floor, with the two chairs, where we read the paper in the morning,” says the homeowner. “It feels like this separate space with a little privacy.” In the kitchen, instead of shelving, the homeowner opted for drawers with their contents separated by wooden pegs. This created an even greater volume of storage. Throughout the house, built-in cabinetry and seating are used in much the same way as in a ship’s galley. The relative lack of furniture causes the rooms to feel larger than they truly are, while also ensuring that every piece of daily mess, from board games to beach towels, has its designated place. The mudroom has shelves for shoes and cupboards for tote bags, the living room has drawers for throws and cabinets to hide speakers, and the stairway hides a number of storage solutions—one for each floor.

As Sevigny explains it, the entire layout was designed around the “stair tower.” Built by Terry Dolloff, the U-shaped white oak stairway is the most compact and efficient use of space. Not only does it hide a small pantry (tucked under the steps on the first floor), it also contains a built-in window seat for reading and a small play area. “As you’re going up to the third floor, there’s a shelf with tons of puzzles, books, and games,” the homeowner adds. “That was something that Kevin and Jon suggested when they were going through the design process. It’s a different element that feels special.”

While the third story is taken up with kids’ sleeping quarters—the carpeted space squeezes in four single beds with built-in cabinets—the second story is devoted to the needs of the parents and grandparents. Instead of having one primary suite, there are two calming bedrooms, each with their own bathroom. “We wanted to keep things minimalist and clean,” says the homeowner. “In both bedrooms, we did sconces rather than having lamps plopped on nightstands, which makes it less cluttered. Both rooms also have very simple wool rugs, which are soft underfoot when you wake up.” There are some differences, though: one room features a live-edge Chilton bed, while the other boasts a small deck. In the grandparents’ bathroom, they’ve managed to fit the “smallest freestanding white tub we could find,” plus a double sink and pretty Calacatta marble tiles. “There’s a good-sized walk-in closet in there too,” she says, and a window that looks out toward Scarborough Marsh. The homeowners’ bathroom has a walk-in shower covered in sky blue tiles from Old Port Specialty Tile Company, plus a Kohler double-trough sink, a custom vanity built by Downeast Woodworks, and a window seat with a storage drawer. (In addition to the two full bathrooms, there’s also a small powder room located on the first floor.) 

Although the nickel-gap walls mean there’s little need for art, the family does have a small and growing collection of paintings, sourced primarily from the Willard Gallery in South Portland. “We grew up in New England,” says the homeowner to explain their classic aesthetic. “And this is a shared family house. We’re partners in this.” For her, the little Higgins house marks the culmination of years of planning and a lifetime of daydreaming. It has everything the family needs, and you absolutely can’t beat the location. It’s just a short walk away from their “perfect beach.” “It has that beautiful sand, with tons of places for kids to play, but you also get those dramatic rock cliffs on the side, those great Maine views,” she continues. “I love it. We love it.”