Along the spruce-lined shore of Blue Hill there’s a rare open piece of land, where grassy lawn runs down to a gazebo that looks out over seaweed-strewn ledges and across the strait. Set back from the shore is an elegant home, its sea-facing front pointed like a prow. A few years ago, this property lured a couple away from their plan of building a lakeside home. “We fell in love with the property and the space that it holds. We realized it was 20 minutes away from family and friends,” says the husband; he and his wife both grew up in nearby Bucksport. But the home itself wasn’t quite right. “It was a wonderful space, but it wasn’t a space for younger people to go. We have three kids, who at the time were in high school and middle school,” says the husband. “It needed to be a little more spacious, to have some more closet space, and generally be modernized.” The outdoor area, too, needed to be opened up. “High bushes and trees had grown in front of the windows of the house, and you started to lose that connectedness to the ocean,” says the husband. “We want to feel that the house and the sea are connected.”

“I just knew the project was going to be something special when I walked onto the property and met the homeowners,” says landscape architect Todd Richardson of Richardson and Associates. “What a tremendous site. It’s stupendous. From the get-go, it was fraught with opportunity. You have to be careful what you do, to not mess it up.” Richardson worked to incorporate the main house and guesthouse with varied outdoor areas—hot tub, pool, basketball court, outdoor cooking area, gazebo—into a coherent and graceful flow. Around the guesthouse, pool, and driveway he created “bright and cheerful” plantings, but where the water was visible, he wanted to avoid any competition with the view. “Throughout the property we kept it pretty quiet, using more native plants and larger massing of plants. We typically don’t do bells and whistles with our plantings; we keep it pretty sparse if we can. With a site like this we want to be a little understated.” Rather than adding ornamental gardens on the water side of the home, Richardson “tried to emulate a coastal condition,” bringing in boulders that he surrounded with shoreline plants. The result, he says, is that “the house feels closer to the water than it actually is. If you stand at the windows of the great room and look out, the foreground wouldn’t be lawn but a sitting-space composition of blueberry, huckleberry, and bayberry. The landscape rolls right up to the house.”

Leah Lippmann of Knickerbocker Group served as the studio lead on the renovation project, working with architect Julien Jalbert and interior project designer Nanette Tanner, her colleagues at Knickerbocker Group, as well as Richardson, general contractors Mike and Melissa Osborne, and an impressive cast of local artisans and craftspeople. The project of changing the site from a single home to a family retreat included a partial gut renovation of the home, some reconfiguring of the landscape, and the addition of a pool and pool house to accommodate a large community of family and friends. “It was a build-it-and-they-will-come situation,” says Lippmann. “They wanted to make it generational, so their kids would return, and grandkids, eventually. And they wanted it to be able to hold big parties. They’re really embedded in the community.”

The Knickerbocker team reconfigured the existing home with changes that respected the integrity of the structure while improving circulation and creating spaces to suit the homeowners’ lifestyle. Bumping out the driveway-side entry and adding a dormer allowed for a “grander” arrival, says Lippmann, with an inviting exterior form and a cathedral ceiling within. Relocating a stairway enabled “a bigger, more chef-ready kitchen” suited for entertaining; the kitchen now flows into the dining area and great room. That change also created better flow into the primary suite, avoiding a path past the kitchen and creating a balance between openness and privacy. “For the primary bedroom area, we wanted a place just for us—where, no matter how many people were there, we could go and hide,” says the husband. Upstairs, a loft provides a similar retreat for young people. “We wanted the loft to be an open space for the kids to have their own space to disappear, watch DVDs, play games,” says the husband. “The other idea behind the upstairs was grandchildren,” he continues. “We don’t have any yet, but we’re planners.”

The homeowners hired longtime friends Mike and Melissa Osborne to contract the project. Challenges in the build came from its timing: the COVID pandemic shut down supply chains just as they were getting started. “All of a sudden, the world shut down, but the clients did not want the project to stop,” says Mike. The team worked through the delays and shortages, finding storage for hard-to-source items and seeking out substitutions for some carefully chosen materials. For the Osbornes, a husband-and-wife team whose business typically focuses on midrange homes, the experience was eye-opening. “It gave us great exposure to high-end materials and finishes,” says Mike. “The house was beautiful before—a well-built custom home.” But now, says Melissa, “The kitchen is to die for.”

For the interior design, the wife had a strong vision. “I wanted everything to go around the ocean. Inside or outside, the same exact palette—I mean, in the summer,” she says. “If you look outside, sometimes it’s hard to see the difference in blues between the ocean and the sky.” The design leans heavily on blues in every room, with some touches of green and cream to echo the landscape. “At first, I thought it was going to be challenging, but once we started incorporating textures, patterns, and hues, it became an unexpected creative endeavor,” says interior designer Nanette Tanner. “People always want blue in Maine, but not typically for the entire house. It was interesting to work within that parameter.” Tanner used blues from robin’s-egg to deep navy, complemented by brass accents that both provide contrast and also nod to nautical tradition. The wife comes from a lobstering family, which inspired some whimsical touches, like buoy lights over the bar in the guesthouse, custom-made by DSO Creative Fabrication in Saco. A bunk room in the pool house is wallpapered with fishing boats in a storm-tossed sea, complemented by buoy-shaped pillows, a doorstop made of a recycled sail, and a bright red wooden squid. Maine places significant to the family were chosen as names for rooms, inscribed on brass plaques and affixed to deep blue doors—writing the family’s history into their new home.

The finished project embodies the homeowners’ emphasis on deepening connections with the property’s history and natural beauty while creating new spaces for family and community to gather. “This is coming home for us,” says the wife. “Maine is our home. Our kids only summer in Maine, but they also consider it home. Coming home is when we come here.”

“It was us, our two suitcases, and a car full of plants,” says Alex Day, remembering the couple’s cross-country trip from California to Maine. A weeklong stop in New Orleans meant they had to unload their precious cargo and fill their Airbnb with greenery: branches of fiddle-leaf figs, clippings of cactuses, and little potted jades—living things from the tropics, the West Coast, and the sunny, warm parts of the world. And yet, despite all odds, the clippings made it safe and sound, and now thrive in their Portland home. “I’m obsessed with plants,” admits Andrew Ashey. “I love gardening, outside and inside. We keep our palette neutral, and the color comes in with the plants.”

Both halves of the couple work in creative fields—Andrew owns an architectural studio, AAmp, on State Street in Portland, and Alex is co-owner of a Los Angeles–based hospitality company, Gin and Luck, that specializes in moody craft bars (most notably, Death and Company)—and although their aesthetics differ at times, they have had no problem melding their visions. They chose Portland because they were tired of living in big cities and wanted to settle down in a more manageable urban center. “We both grew up in seasonal climates. Alex is from Oregon, and I’m from New Hampshire,” explains Andrew. “So we were craving a smaller city with more seasonal changes. Portland was the right fit.”

The duo found their perfect Maine home after only a little searching. The first house they looked at was a black Victorian, very stately and Gothic, but when that didn’t work out—“we were outbid,” says Andrew—they decided to make one of their own. They purchased an 1890s house in 2019, and fortunately it was in pretty good shape, ready for the couple and their botanical treasures. It didn’t need much work on the mustard yellow exterior, and as Andrew says, “it clearly had good bones.” But they did decide to change a few things, starting with the color. “We didn’t quite paint it black,” admits Andrew. “It’s a dark-dark-dark blue,” (Soot by Benjamin Moore). The brooding indigo fits the bill: the home is eye-catching yet still grounded in place.

Aside from the hue, the only other big issue with the home was its lack of lawn. “One thing we really wanted was a yard, and the home had no yard at all, so that was one big concession we made,” says Andrew. To rectify this, the couple decided to fence off a portion of the driveway and transform it into a large patio. They planted trees—a magnolia and dogwood, plus Japanese maples and birches—brought in boxwoods and weeping grasses, and installed a hot tub. “It’s not a yard, but it’s a wonderful, functioning garden patio for us,” Andrew says. “We have some beautiful poppies, too. I love to go to garden centers and see what’s blooming and bring it home for the garden.” As odd as it sounds, the garage also came to play a large part in their indoor-outdoor lifestyle. They were able to refinish it, install heating and cooling, and paint it bright white. In the winter, it houses any planters that wouldn’t enjoy the Maine weather, and in the summer, it serves as a clever sheltered extension of the garden. “The garage has become a real functioning part of our daily lives,” says Alex. “We have a gym out there, and a greenhouse with grow lights. We use it all the time.”

When it came to the interior of the home, there wasn’t too much to do, though they did decide early on to expand the small kitchen. The house had been well maintained by previous owners, but the cooking space was a bit cramped. “To say I like to cook is an understatement,” says Alex. “I love to cook.” Andrew adds, “The kitchen was from the late 1990s. It was laid out pretty well, but it had smaller appliances than we’d need and less storage than we wanted.” One of the first things the couple did upon moving in was tear down the wall separating the living room from the kitchen. Oak and maple millwork from Twin Peaks Woodworks and Design in Portland, a 48-inch range from Thermador, and marble countertops helped finish off the project. “The kitchen leans a little darker than the rest of the house,” says Andrew, “but it’s still light and earthy.”

In addition to the early ground-floor renovation, the third floor had been a rental, and thus was in slightly rough condition. “Fixing it was our pandemic project,” says Andrew. They ripped up carpeting and linoleum, painted the underfloors, and replaced cabinets themselves. To brighten things up, they painted it white (and went with a classic: Chantilly Lace by Benjamin Moore). Now the third floor serves as office space, media room, and a guest apartment, the last of which comes in handy when Alex’s family comes to visit from the West Coast.

A paint job was also necessary downstairs, and the two creatives had no problem deciding on shades: white, ivory, and cream. “We found a home with tall ceilings and south-facing windows on purpose,” says Andrew. “When we bought it, it was a bunch of skittle-colored rooms, and so we painted everything white as a base. Now we’re building off that. We’re starting to see some places where we can fold in a little color or deeper aspects.” They’ve painted the archway in the kitchen niche a slightly darker shade of taupe, and in the living room, a stately black piano provides a grounding element in an otherwise bright space.

Although they’ve lived in the home for more than half a decade, they still see it as a work in progress. They’ve designed their home around their interests and passions, from the lush fiddle-leaf fig that thrives in the living room to the sprawling vinyl collection that provides points of interest in several rooms. “We have a beautiful old ’50s-era record player that was a gift from my brother,” explains Alex. “And we have speakers around the house. That credenza we were able to wire up so we have music that comes out through the speakers.” It sits near a vintage hutch filled with his collection of bar equipment. “We have some antique historic pieces of furniture, but we’ve bought new sofas and chairs,” Andrew says. “The number one thing we wanted in our home was to be comfortable.”

Against the backdrop of neutral walls and solid-color upholstery, the couple has found ways to add texture and interest. They have an ever-evolving art collection, as well as a number of prized textiles, including one throw blanket from Portland-based Evangeline, one purchased during a vacation in Joshua Tree, and one they found in Sweden. “We have two blankets on our living room couch that are always there,” says Alex. “One is crochet, off-white, and handmade by my grandmother. That tradition went through generations; the darker one was a gift from my mother in celebration of our wedding.”

As for wall art, the couple likes to collect during their travels, framing offbeat items like leaflets, handouts, and posters. “I love found objects and graphic design,” Andrew reveals. “I have a box in the basement of things that aren’t necessarily art, but that I think were really well designed.” This habit adds a unique touch to their already personalized home. “There’s a history and story to most of the things we have,” says Andrew. “Our things reflect on us.”