Deer Isle Masterpiece Featured in Elle Decor

Welcome to “The Falls at Crockett Cove,” a breathtaking Emily Muir-designed home perched on a granite ledge overlooking the water in Stonington. Featured in the May 2023 issue of Elle Decor, this mid-century modern masterpiece sits on 12 private acres and abuts the Nature Conservancy’s Crockett Cove Woods on Deer Isle. “When you walk in, you are part of nature,” says agent Laura Farr, who is representing the sellers. “You’re in the middle of it all. It’s very dramatic and beautiful.”

Deer Isle is a scenic Maine island famed for its artist community, local granite, and lobster fishing, and is connected to the mainland by the beautiful Deer Isle Bridge, an iconic and historic suspension bridge. Stonington is a postcard-worthy town with a vibrant working waterfront on the southern portion of the island.

Artist and architect Emily Muir was a local icon and well-known throughout Deer Isle. The Elle Decor feature is sure to highlight her importance to the property:

Even better, it was designed by Emily Muir, an artist environmentalist, philanthropist, and self-taught architect whose homes were legendary. Her legacy is bound up in 45 modest cottages scattered in and around Crockett Cove at the tip of one of Maine’s storied peninsulas. She was instrumental in bringing to Deer Isle the esteemed Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, designed by the architect Edward Larrabee Barnes. Between them, the pair put down Maine’s modernist roots with a shared vision: that every building be a showcase for the landscape. Muir died in 2003 at the age of 99.

It’s difficult to truly capture Emily Muir’s lifetime of creativity and dedication: she was an artist, architect, writer, developer, conservationist, political activist, and community leader, and her sensitivity to environmental concerns was recognized by an award from Design International. Her artwork hangs in the Smithsonian American Art Museum in New York City.

Crockett Cove was a special place for Muir, who designed or renovated most of the homes along the water there over her storied career, garnering rave reviews from critics and environmentalists. Muir later donated the neighboring land that became the Crockett Cove Woods, a beautiful tract of towering fir and red spruce trees, moss, and ferns. The homes are situated amid bold granite outcrops on the western-facing shore of the cove, featuring large glass facades with sweeping views of the daily surge and swash of the cove’s tides. “My idea,” she had said, “was to make the approach friendly and leave the drama for the waterside.”

Muir’s friendly approach was embellished at the featured property nestled on 129 Barbour Farm Road in Stonington by local architects, Bouffard & Bowick. The local firm designed the home’s inviting entry pavilion, which also houses firewood for those chilly Maine summer evenings.

Deer Isle-based agent Laura Farr knows this magical spot well. “Emily Muir designed most of the cottages on Barbour Farm Road, and they all abut the Nature Conservancy preserve, which Muir intentionally saved to be forever wild,” she says. “The road has a cute little sign that says, ‘Speed enforced by trees’ because it’s very winding, and it’s just one lane in and out, so you can’t go fast. Which is what it was all about for Muir, to slow down and enjoy life. It’s a very special property.”

Built in 1968, now fabulously restored and updated, the seaside home features sweeping views of the surrounding ocean and islands from its full glass front and sides. Finer features include walls with cross-bracing to hold firm in a storm and a sturdy granite chimney, custom built from famed local Deer Isle granite and the centerpiece of the main level. Architectural details are reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright’s designs such as “Falling Water.” With mechanical systems updates, it’s a perfect blend of midcentury modern style with 21st-century conveniences.

The main level has a generous great room and dining area that deliver bird’s eye views of the dramatic landscape. Indoor-outdoor living is afforded by a sliding door that opens to the Garapa deck, overhead lighting, and a custom sectional, built for cocktails, dinner, and game playing. The chef’s kitchen has updated modern appliances: Fisher & Paykel refrigerator, induction range, and reverse-osmosis drinking water system. Interiors designed by Architectural Digest and Elle Decor-featured designer Angie Hranowsky include a mixture of carefully combined vintage and new pieces, all of which convey with the home.

In short order, Evans called Charleston-based interior designer Angie Hranowsky, whom she credits with cultivating her love of midcentury modern architecture. The Maine house took Hranowsky’s breath away. “All you can do when you walk through the door is look outside,” she says. There was nothing she could do on the inside to compete with that view. So taking her cues from the original architect, she didn’t try. “Muir was not pretentious or flashy, and she certainly wasn’t extravagant,” says the designer, who mostly restored what was there. She added a fresh coat of paint to the kitchen cabinets and covered the counters with new sheets of Formica. Where the floorboards were rotted, she matched new ones to the old. She furnished the rooms in classic Maine-cottage fashion, with a hodgepodge of pieces that seem like castoffs from a primary home. A pair of sofas was placed back-to-back, one facing the water, the other peering into a roaring fire.

It is this sensitivity to environment that drew Evans to work with Hranowsky on the project, their third together. And it is likely what Muir, too, was after. “You can just feel her commitment to working with the land, whether you are looking at the house from the water or looking at the water from the house,” Evans says. Indeed, she was so inspired by the house that she relented on her straight-lines rule and left the curved vanity in the bathroom as is. “What was important to Muir,” she says, “is now important to me.”

The lower level has three carefully curated bedrooms—all with dramatic ocean views, a custom-tiled full bath, and generous built-in closet space. An original Emily Muir oil painting hangs in the primary bedroom, which the seller plans to gift to the new owners.

The special property comes with additional quarters—a separate artist studio/office/writer’s cottage completed in 2021 with a mini-split heat pump and Fidium Fiber Optic Internet.

129 Barbour Farm Road in Stonington is offered at $1,595,000 and is represented by Laura Farr. Contact Laura for more information at lfarr@legacysir.com or by phone at 207.348.1200.