Design Drool: Modern in Maine

Filed under: Design, etc, Architecture

The interiors of this New England bed and breakfast may surprise you.

If you looked at the Maine inn in the photo above, you would probably have a hunch about what the interiors would look like. The white clapboard siding, mansard roof, wrap-around porch and rustic stone walls all scream iconic New England style. If you're lucky, inside you might find a vaguely nautical scheme of blue and white fit for an L. L. Bean photo shoot. If you're unlucky, you might discover a dusty interior with a collection of antique dolls, lots of faded chintz and half a dozen cats. What really lies beneath this classic exterior is a modern design lovers dream.

The Camden Harbour Inn was built in 1874 as an inn, and underwent many incarnations and renovations in the century and a half since it opened. When Dutch couple Raymond Brunyanszki and Oscar Verest discovered the property in 2007, the inn was in need of a major overhaul with dark interiors, dreary wood paneling and dated, heavy drapery. Working with designer Mascha Brunia, the pair redesigned the inn and its restaurant in a surprisingly contemporary style.

The results aren't what you'd usually find in southern Maine. As Travel + Leisure said of the hotel in 2004, "The public lounge spaces feel more South Beach bôite than historic New England." If you have a hankering for some lobster rolls and clam chowder, but wouldn't dream of staying any place with a lighthouse-shaped doorstop, read on.

While the interiors of Nathalie's, the restaurant on the inn's premises, are decidedly chic and modern, the lines of the bar stools and dining chairs allude to the past and relate to the hotel's original bones. The pops of red seem to signal that Nathalie's is not afraid of bold choices.

You can't go wrong with the combination of high-end design with views of Maine's picturesque Camden, and this section of the restaurant shows off each to equal advantage.

Each guest room has a distinct personality, from soft and feminine (above) to goth and dramatic (below) -- all are contemporary in their design, with a few antiques thrown into the mix and the inn's original clawfoot tubs in some suites. In a nod to both their homeland and the nearby harbor, the owners have named each of the rooms after ports where ships from the Dutch East India Company visited the 1600s and 1700s.

Your usual Maine quarters these are not: This moody boudoir, like all of the rooms at the Camden Harbour Inn, is kitted out with the most modern of conveniences from fancy-schmancy televisions to iPod docking stations -- not to mention yards and yards of black velvet.

Would you stay at this design-centric inn or would you prefer to stick with the traditional Maine vibe?

 

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