Grand View Cottage
Project Location: Boothbay Harbor, Maine
Grand View Cottage was built in 1915 on a rocky peninsula in the middle of Boothbay Harbor. With commanding views, it was a summer cottage when our clients first purchased it in 2008. Having longstanding ties to Maine, they wanted to maintain and preserve the character of the original cottage while updating it and providing for year-round use. Our solution was to add a new fully insulated Master Quarters wing, connect it to the existing cottage with a three-season porch, and add a freestanding garage with a small apartment on the upper level.
The new 990-square-foot Master Quarters wing is energy efficient, readily maintained, and contains all the essentials: a kitchenette, laundry, a great room with a stone fireplace, a master suite overlooking a private cove, a dressing room, and a covered porch. The glass porch and French doors allow spectacular views of Boothbay Harbor and connect the original cottage with the new retreat while providing natural ventilation to both spaces.
Our design also included the expansion of the original 1915 cottage to include a new bay in the dining room, a new open-plan kitchen and pantry addition under the existing porch, and a new mudroom entry with a half bath. New finishes, architectural lighting, and recycled materials were selected to complement the original cottage’s exposed stud and board sheath interior. Structural upgrades include supplemental steel and LVL roof beams, new and reinforced foundations, exterior shear walls, and hurricane ties. The exterior of the original, board sheathing is clad with a layer of rigid-foam insulation, Zip sheathing, a lapped and vented rain-screen, and locally made white cedar shingles. Clad, high-performance, low‑E windows, spray-foam attic insulation, and a new red cedar roof with ice and water shield and cedar breather complete the exterior envelope. In addition, we sited the new two-car garage and workshop to provide privacy from the road and neighbors; it includes a small self-contained living unit on the upper level for a caretaker or a long-term guest.
Project Completion Date: 2009
Photography:
Collaborators:
- Structural Engineer: Bill Haney, Lincoln Haney Engineers
- General Contractor: Knickerbocker Group
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