Homes

Make Way for Quail

Wendy Rackliff plays a role in the preservation of rare heritage breeds of poultry with her island-based business, Coastal Creek Enterprises. She ships quail eggs to breeders all over the country.

With blooms on stalks that can grow up to six feet tall, mullein can be an attractive plant for a cultivated garden. It also has a number of medicinal uses. For example, its broad, fuzzy leaves can be dried and used in teas to relieve congestion.

I Should Have Named Her Serendipity

Who doesn’t want an exact model of their boat? A besotted Concordia owner describes how he was able to track down a miniature replica of his yawl, built by one of the country’s finest model makers, Rob Eddy.

At Home in Port

In addition to building fine boats, three Maine boatbuilders have separately branched out into home construction—waterborne homes, that is. Foy Brown on North Haven, Steve White of Brooklin Boat Yard, and Robinhood Marine’s Andy Vavolotis all built themselves houseboats.

Ode to the Stones

Maine, with its vast fields of subterranean rubble left by retreating glaciers, has some of the most wonderful rock gardens to be found anywhere, and some of the most creative gardeners. Rock gardeners utilize every crack, fissure, crevice, and pothole to their advantage.

Lettercutters

As letter carvers, the bulk of the work of the father-daughter team of Douglas M. Coffin Lettercutter is creating headstones—beautiful, hand-carved life markers with letters that flow into each other, creating words that call out to be read. They consider their work to be among the most caring of human endeavors.

Art Flotilla

Celeste Roberge, a Maine sculptor whose work can be found in major collections across the country, explores the world, looking for inspiration in the environment. When she finds it, there is no telling how it will eventually manifest itself in her art, which, while conceptual, also is tangible, engaging, and provocative. Art writer Carl Little takes a look at her work with seaweed.

FDR's Beloved Island

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was happiest on Campobello Island, which straddles the border between Maine and Canada. The 50th anniversary of Roosevelt-Campobello International Park, the centerpiece of which is the former first family’s 34-room, red-shingled summer “cottage,” was in 2014.

Tiny Houses

Whether they’re small, spare, and bare as a doghouse, or decorated with animal bones or lace curtains with ribbon ties, Maine ice shacks have a little something for everyone. Some people use them just for fishing; others use them as a winter clubhouse.

One World: Two Visions

Artists are turning to science as a way to enhance their personal vision and to help explain the forces affecting our world.