Casco Bay Contemporary
Casco Bay Contemporary came to fruition from saving pieces of an existing house and transforming it into a Scandinavian inspired modern home. Architectural designer Chris Herlihy, the owner of Polestar Design maximized the house’s potential through thoughtful consideration of how the house would be used for years to come. Taking advantage of the site's natural and man made resources.
The house, being partly in shoreland zoning, needed to be designed in such a way that maximized the allowable 30% expansion. In shoreland zoning you can expand up to 30% of the existing volume or 30% of the existing footprint within the shoreland zone. The house was intelligently and efficiently designed with 3D modeling that automated volume and square footage calculations, maximizing the limited space and giving the house the feeling of being larger within these constraints.
The 1,785 square foot house is in an established neighborhood not requiring the need to run utilities to and from the site. The original unfinished basement and first floor wall assemblies were preserved, substantially reducing the need for using new materials. New England is fortunate to have an abundance of natural building resources, allowing the majority of materials used to be harvested locally. The builder James Steinberg of Summit Builders sourced lumber for framing from his local lumber yard and the finishes came from Dewey’s Lumber & Cedar Mill, a small mill in Liberty, Maine. The casework is painted New England poplar and the exterior siding is a mix of cedar and spruce from New England forests and mills.
The structure's airtight envelope was achieved using a Zip-System sheathing system with Schuco windows and doors from Performance Building Supply in Portland, Maine. The fossil free solar ready house also features an onsite Tesla charging station for the owners electric vehicles, with HVAC by Daikin providing efficient ventilating, heating, cooling and humidity controls. The energy efficient LED lighting throughout the house provides a fun and futuristic strip of light that guides you through the house and up to the second floor living spaces.
The site is covered largely by native shoreland vegetation and a small yard that doesn’t require watering. A rain garden was added to manage the water, with a few selective shrubs added for privacy. The existing mature landscape was regenerated and supported for years of eye pleasing vistas of Casco Bay and the mouth of the Presumpscot River.
The owner, who believes in supporting the local craft community, furnished the house using Maine based companies Chilton Furniture and Huston & Company to compliment their own collectables.
Photos by James R. Salomon Photography
