Long Reach Retreat

LOCATION: Harpswell, ME

SCOPE: New construction single family home

SIZE: 2,775 square feet

COMPLETION DATE: February 2016

COST: $253 / square foot

Net-Zero, all natural and a Bridge to the water!

Our clients were moving to Maine for a new life and came to us to solve their puzzle. The gorgeous setting called for a design that drew visitors closer to the ocean cove, and conveyed a sense of organic modernism that didn’t compete with its peaceful setting in the trees. Our clients had been dreaming of a house that was a bridge to the water, and we knew we couldn’t turn that vision down.

Long Reach Retreat celebrates the tidal swing of fresh and salt water throughout the home. At the end of the bridge of bedrooms you’ll find a poetry studio and a sleeping porch balanced above the water below. Cedar siding with various textures allows the house to quietly melt away into the trees.

The design embodies a lush, warm modernism with stacked bar forms that simultaneously align with the water and daringly jut toward it. Authentic materials like copper, tile, and wood integrate the interior, flowing like water from room to room throughout the house.

This Net Zero energy home features solar panels, air-source heat pumps, a full 24 hour fresh air ventilation system, thermally broken double stud wall construction, and triple-glazed windows. It’s as efficient and high-performing as it is beautiful.