When architect Gil Schafer first rented a nondescript 1990s house at the water’s edge across from Mount Desert Island in Maine, it wasn’t quite love at first sight—it was love at first site. Schafer, famous for his timeless, classical designs, surprised everyone when he eventually purchased the character-less house; he knew the location was ideal and that he could turn it into the escape he’d been seeking.
Because of its proximity to the water, he couldn’t change the footprint of the house and had to work within the existing shell. “It couldn’t be the traditional shingled Maine house that I think of, so I had to pivot,” says Schafer, who now shares the house with his wife, designer Courtnay Daniels. “I embraced the ‘barn-ness’ of it and changed whatever I could within that framework.”
The open, airy kitchen was reimagined in all white.
Emmrich CreativeThrough clever moves like light-giving dormers on the second floor, a carefully cambered roofline, and the contrast of a wide-open great room with a cozy wood-wrapped library, Schafer shows how his masterful touch can be applied to more modern homes. He and Daniels share how they’ve filled the home with antiquing finds and built a life there together. The result is a warm invitation into the kind of home we all dream of living in.
Schafer and Daniels at the water’s edge.
Emmrich Creative
