For many years, Bill and I have painted plein-air landscapes. We were on our way to paint in Nova Scotia, when a former teacher and friend invited us to stop by and paint the incredible landscape of Midcoast Maine, where she, the Wyeths and so many artists found their inspiration. We were planning to stay for a short time. We were in a tent with our dog next to the ocean that week when a hurricane blew in. Our dear friend invited us to come out of the storm in her tiny trailer with her 2 dogs, but we decided to weather it out on our own. We stayed and painted and fell in love with the area and it’s been our home away from home for many years now. The tenting gave way to renting cottages and we were so lucky to find a wonderful family on Lighthouse Road in Owls Head who shared the history of their summer home and cottage with us. On a peninsula, it has access to water on both the Owls Head and Rockland Harbors. We felt like part of the family when we returned year after year to paint and to teach. Unfortunately our friend died, his wife moved away, the house was sold and we searched for a new pied a’ terre. Again this tiny fishing village delivered a gem. On the water just about a half a mile from our original perch, there’s a beautiful home called Traumerei (reverie, daydream) and it became our new base for painting in Maine. Owned by a wonderful artist, the interiors with the beautiful views inspired many still life paintings, just as the ocean view on Lighthouse Road had done. We felt blessed.
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But for years, the seemingly unattainable dream of owning our own little place had been percolating. I kept constant watch of the real estate offerings and we’d
visit a few each year. We didn’t have the do-re- mi and so that was that. This changed in 2013. For several years, we’d been walking our dog through the neighborhood and had noticed a neglected house. We made an appointment, viewed it and fell in love. Despite offers rejected and additional viewings that revealed increasing amounts of problems that needed fixing, we finally bought it and our work began in October, the day after we signed the papers. We stole 4 days to go up and tear off the rotting ramp. Despite the lack of panes in the storm windows, we painted the trim and the window boxes. The house wasn’t livable, we stayed at a nearby rental. But the paint was a promise to ourselves and the house and the adventure had begun.
