“For a while there, reclaim [incorporating used materials into new construction] was very popular,” says Matt Wogan of Wogan Brothers in Harpswell. “For me, though, the key is to do is subtly, to not overdo it.”
This balance—we will vouch—has been attained at the Southport home of Skip and Jenn Cabot.
Before Jenn and Skip purchased the plot, a five-bedroom, century-old structure with extensively damaged roof and foundation occupied the site. The place hadn’t been touched for nearly two decades. The structure was not worth salvaging, but the historic home— “one of the first built at that end of Newagen,” Jenn says—had plenty of bits worth snagging. “I thought the original house was really special,” she adds, “and I wanted to save things for continuity, for sense of place.”
Several antique doors from the existing house were saved, left untreated, and incorporated into the new home’s interior. “Those doors were a hundred years old, and they were absolutely gorgeous,” Jenn says. “You can’t get that kind of patina without actually waiting a hundred years.” Over 800 square feet of maple flooring strips were also preserved and became the underside of the new main terrace’s deck roof as well as the ceiling of a guest bathroom. “I decided not to clean the wood in any way,” Jenn says. “It was just too beautiful as is.” Additionally, a significant number of 4 x 10-foot Douglas fir beams supporting the second floor of the original cottage were salvaged and used as functional collar ties in the new screened porch, a move that Matt points out is “both structurally and aesthetically driven.” The beams were also custom milled and used on the front door overhang brackets.
“Touches of reclaim,” Matt says, “this is what we aimed for, not too much, carefully incorporated.”
The layout of the house itself is a reclamation of sorts, a reimagining and repurposing of another waterfront design in Jenn and Skip’s past. For years, they kept a home in the Dominican Republic. “I had it in my head that I wanted to duplicate that DR layout,” Jenn says. “But rather than open air, thatched roof, sunrises and palms, we would have covered connectors, insulated windows, sunsets and spruce!”
The result is a unique three building compound (“pods” Jenn calls them) with a central “main pod” containing the living room, dining area, and kitchen, and two “sleeping pods” off opposite sides of the main. Visually, the pods embrace their New England locale. From the outside, their silhouettes could easily pass for fishing shacks. The connector paths, too, have been reworked to shelter against the harsh north-east conditions. “The siding used on them is a composite concrete panel, finished in gun metal gray and applied to fit seamlessly around the doors and windows,” Matt says. “Given its direct exposure to open ocean, we used highly resilient materials engineered to withstand harsh maritime conditions. This is authentic Maine surf frontage. During a large swell event, ocean spray reaches the home. It’s like being on a ship.”
But not all was in the rearview. While nodding to the past was important, Jenn and Skip were resolute in their desire for a modern home. Clean, contemporary finishes rooted in a coastal New England vernacular were their heading from day one.
“I advise all of my clients,” Matt says, “if you want to be smart with your budget, apply dollars toward the tactile items you’ll be touching every single day. Spend on your doorknobs, your light switches, spend on your faucets and fixtures. Jenn really heard that. Everything you touch in this house, you feel the quality, you feel the functionality.” Highlights include a Waterworks pot filler in the kitchen and Marvin Ultimate collection windows throughout. In the central pod living room, a Mendota fireplace was chosen for its modern façade and the realism of its flame. “It’s also a smartly built home,” Matt says. “The building envelope includes high quality insulation, air sealing and proper ventilation. It is a sustainable home and is built for longevity. All systems are efficient from a usage standpoint regarding water, electricity, and fuel.”
Outside, metal roofing makes for a tradition-al roofline that is also low maintenance (note the close trim lines, the lack of overhang), and vertical grain western red cedar gives the exterior siding an elegant sparkle. “It’s probably one of the nicest materials you can use,” Matt says of the cedar. “You just leave it alone and let it silver. Two years in, and it already looks like it’s been there forever. A few more seasons and you won’t even see the place through the trees.” ■
