For many seasonal residents, summer in Maine is idyllic bliss, the time and place they dream of returning to all year long. Yet one family from Jupiter, Florida, purchased a home in Kennebunk’s Lower Village with a different vision in mind: this would be their “hurricane hideaway.” Lucky for them, the period from late summer into the fall is one of the state’s best-kept secrets.
The impetus for this journey north came in 2019 when Hurricane Dorian forced the family to evacuate their home in Jupiter. They’d always carried a deep affinity for Maine. Once they found the house in Kennebunk, they were quick to act.
Originally built in the 1940s, the home had been renovated in 2016 by its previous owners. They brought on Kennebunk-based Hurlbutt Designs to realize their vision of a cozy, quaint New England getaway. Designer Bonnie Weeman found the project personally poignant.
“I grew up in Cape Porpoise from a generational seafaring family,” said Weeman. “So often we see these great old houses turned modern.”
While coral and seashells inform the design of their home in coastal Florida, the family identified a different vision for Maine: boats, anchors, whales.
“This house was truly nautical,” said Weeman. “We wanted navy and white with punches of color. We wanted whales and ship wheels and other seafaring things. To them, this is what Maine is.”
They envisioned a classic New England jewel, maintaining original fixtures where possible and bringing in new touches sparingly. The family worked with Spang Builders to renovate both the bathrooms and the kitchen, a centerpiece of the new design. The homeowners love cooking and entertaining friends, and their new kitchen is appointed for a proper chef: Large kitchen island, custom butcher block, new dining table, upgraded lighting.
Weeman helped the homeowners bring in the quaint nautical accents they were looking for. They dressed up the first-floor powder room with oceanic wallpaper—complete with lighthouses and giant squids—a porthole mirror and a rope circle towel ring. The home has several fireplaces, and instead of updating them with gas inserts, they let them be, painting one on the first floor Hale Navy so it would pop against the room’s white walls.
The team worked with Maine vendors and sourced custom furniture from Maine Woodworks, complementing the bedroom set with a fish-scale dresser and mirror. A ship’s wheel decorates the sitting room, and a driftwood mermaid swims over a plush couch with vibrant throw pillows.
Weeman and the team at Hurlbutt thoughtfully designed the home for a purpose. It wouldn’t just be a summer home but one that hosts friends, family, and their two children as they come and go throughout the years. And with their joyful golden retriever a central part of the family, they knew they wanted high-quality fabrics and materials that were dog-friendly.
One of Weeman’s favorite parts of the design was the daughter’s upstairs bedroom. They found opportunities within the home’s color scheme for pops of turquoise.
“It’s a really unique room,” said Weeman. “We found a wide iron bed, which we don’t use that often, and it fits this space nicely.”
Weeman completed the vision with colorful wing chairs, a shell mirror over the dresser, and whitewashed nickel board wallpaper from Phillip Jeffries, which helped define the ceilings and walls. The result is a peaceful seaside escape.
The home’s landscape was just as important to the family as its interior. Dan Viehmann created a verdant sanctuary complete with granite steps and a patio overlooking the Kennebunk River. The outdoor kitchen area is one of the family’s favorite features. They frequently host guests, and the high point of every visit is the lobster bake. With white picnic tables and space to spread out, hosting is a cinch. Just as inside, they assessed which accents might stay, deciding to maintain the iron fence that rings the property. Little dogs are carved into the iron balustrades, a designer’s kismet.
The house has already provided the family with the getaway they were looking for when they purchased the property five years ago. They can walk to Kennebunkport, to the beach, and enjoy all the community has to offer when tourists depart for the season.
“It’s our place where we don’t have to get in the car, and we can walk to the beach or town,” said the homeowner. “We just love the simplicity of it. We don’t have that in Jupiter. We have a zillion people, a zillion cars, and a zillion highways. We love it, and we wanted to keep it special. We wanted to keep it very New England, Maine, and seaside-themed. We kept with that in the entire design concept.”
Through ice storms and hurricanes, the family has something special.
“We call it our sanctuary.” ▪
