Little Peek, a small home fifteen miles from Maine’s mid-coast on the island of Vinalhaven, is both an escape and a refuge from today’s urban existence. Perched atop a Rhyolite outcropping overlooking one of the island’s many coves, the project is named for its unique siting, which offers only glimpses of the house as one climbs a meandering footpath from the water. The house is a contemporary reinterpretation of the New England connected farmhouse. Organized as a long bar that faces the water to the west, the Camden Hills to the north and untouched ledges to the east, it includes a main house, a small guest cottage, and a custom designed fully screened porch that links the two. This porch, which creates a shared exterior room and frames views to the landscape, extends the profile of the roofline to tie the two houses together. Along its length the house transforms from cape to saltbox to create the traditional “Ell” found in historic buildings in the area. Within the whitewashed interior, the decision was made to limit the visual presence of wood to give nature the chance to enter uncontested through the large industrial windows and bring focus onto the textures and colors of the stone, huckleberry, bay and lichen that surround the house. Details are both modest and spare, recalling the cleanliness of the Shaker aesthetic. The interiors are inspired by a casual but edited mix of American and French antiques and textiles juxtaposed with the clean lines and playful finishes of late 20th century contemporary design. The vibrant colors and painted surfaces create a warm counterpoint to the ever-changing vista of the outdoors.
