More than a decade after opening Rococo, a handcrafted ice cream shop that specializes in unique flavors inspired by her world travels, founder Lauren Guptill decided it was time to expand her brand. Guptill approached Woodhull in January to design and build her new space—one that would feel as eclectic and whimsical as the high-quality ice cream she produces. With the assistance of interior designers Krista Stokes and Christy Reid, Woodhull completed the design and received permits at the end of March, according to Amanda Cleary, Woodhull’s manager of sales and marketing. In early summer Guptill opened the fully renovated flagship scoop shop and adjacent dessert bar at the Shipyard Shops in Kennebunk, just in time for peak tourist season. “We’ve already been innovating with how we think of ice cream as a medium for flavor exploration,” she says, “so developing the dessert bar was just the next step for the business.”

Guptill’s inspiration for the ice cream shop and dessert bar’s bold, playful design stems from the Rococo movement of the mid-1700s. “I’ve always been fond of elements from that era, but this new location really expands upon the whimsical, over-the-top elements of the Rococo period,” she says. To get started on the interior, Stokes and Reid first had to learn what Guptill loves about the movement and how it relates to her ice cream. “We had to figure out what Rococo meant to her as a style and as a thought system,” says Stokes. One of the biggest challenges she and Reid faced was showcasing the Rococo era’s ornamental elements in a way that would remain accessible to all customers. “I asked myself, ‘What are we going to do for the guy in the golf shirt who wants to have a drink with his wife?’” Stokes says. “We talked a lot about keeping it down to earth just a bit so everyone will want to come in,” she explains.

Once they understood Guptill’s vision, Stokes and Reid set out to find luxurious materials, including velvet and marble, that would imbue the shop with a feeling of indulgence. Guptill, who started by scouring the online portal of every stone retailer in New England, spent days at an exotic stone retail warehouse in New Jersey trying to secure the countertop slab of her dreams. “The bar top is so insanely beautiful. When you look at it, it’s hard to believe it’s a natural stone. It has these pale pinks and creams, golds and yellows—it’s absolutely stunning,” she says.

Custom tin paneling adorns the shop’s ceiling, handmade Art Deco tiles embellish the area behind the bar, and a wall of antique mirrored glass at one end makes the space feel larger than it is. A rich purple wallpaper depicting glamorous feathered birds covers most of dessert bar’s walls, while the scoop shop features a mural of the classic Rococo painting by Jean-Honoré Fragonard titled The Swing. “We used gold inlays on the front of the bar and ornamental wood accents that you would traditionally find in old Baroque homes,” Stokes notes, adding that the cream-colored floor tiles act as “a palate cleanser.” In the Instagrammable bathroom, visitors are greeted with extravagant wallpaper (this time depicting florals, peacocks, and lavishly dressed women), an ornate gilded mirror, and a golden swan faucet.

The build and design process for Rococo’s new space was “quite spectacular,” Guptill notes. “Unexpectedly needing to find a new space gave me room to start from scratch. With only 1,100 square feet in our new spot, I worked closely with Krista and Christy to figure out how we could create the scoop shop plus add in a new dessert bar, cocktail bar, and kitchen space,” she explains. “The in-house design team at Woodhull, along with Krista and Christy, really helped me figure out how to break up the spaces and make them each unique. Everyone was courteous and very professional—it was just a wonderful experience,” says Guptill. Stokes agrees: “It’s not often that you have an architect sit down with someone who wants a Rococo-style restaurant in an old pizza shop, but [Woodhull] were great sports about it,” she says. The final result of the collaboration is “a fun little jewel box. You feel like you’re in a Fabergé egg.”