“The space was formerly the attic of the Frisbee home, and it all really started with wanting to honor the family. The Frisbees were merchants, and they ran a store here from the 1700s all the way until it closed in 2009. It was the longest continuously family-run store in North America. Frank Frisbee was active in the community and was president of the local water ski club. So, one day when I was on the third floor, I was looking out at the water and I knew instantly that it would be called the Pepperrell Cove Water Ski Club to honor the past generations that had so much fun here, so that our generation could know how much fun they had.

“When I was designing the space, which is part of Bistro 1828, I wanted to repurpose as many materials as I could. In the bistro, you’ll notice that the bar front is made up of doors. Those doors are original to the Frisbee family home, and the doorknobs are still there to function as purse hooks. Upstairs, we have Mr. Frisbee’s jacket, skis, and photos from the water ski club on permanent loan from the Frisbee family. It’s been a lot of fun to have the photos up because people come here and see old friends and family members in these pictures, and it always brings a smile to their faces.

“Beyond honoring the family, I also wanted to create a space that was bright and contemporary. Because the space isn’t very big, we needed to design a bar that wouldn’t block the water views and could fit as many people as possible, so it’s curved; we covered it with salvaged ceiling trim from the Frisbee family home. I found and fell in love with the lighting when I was in Iceland and designed the space around that. It’s reminiscent of old Portuguese glass buoys, and the fishermen especially love it. We wanted to take full advantage of the views, too, so we put high-top tables inside and regular-height tables outside so that the view isn’t obstructed at any point. If you look at the palette for the deck furniture, it ties in with the color of the decking. I didn’t want the eye to have any interruption when you’re inside, so it just blends away. We truly feel that here at the Ski Club we have one of the best views in all of Maine.”
–Donna Ryan, co-owner at Pepperrell Cove