This home was built in three stages in the classic New England mode of out-buildings/barn spaces attached to living spaces. Stage 1 was a 24’ X 36’ insulated one-bedroom, cathedral ceilinged living space with a ventilating, lookout cupola over an uninsulated garage and workspace. Stage 2 added a one story 24’ X 36’ saltboxed garage ell to the east with an uninsulated breakfast porch added to the second floor living space. Stage 3 was an open plan, three level addition to the west and north, spatially conceived as a grove of trees. This stage was built with the same locally-sourced rough-sawn one and two inch boards and using the same simple tools as were the more conventional stages 1 and 2. Stage 3 also included a loft, added to the original stage 1 living space. The roof framing and structural sheathing is exposed with the insulation on the up-side, as in timber frame buildings. The ground floor slab is radiant-heated and finished with hand-split Monson slate, thin tailings of which are used to finish the kitchen counters. All interior finished are rough cut full dimension or planed boarding from locally sourced species: pine, spruce, hemlock and cedar.

Rothrock House, Thorndike ME

Stage 1, 1988

Stage 2, 1994

Stage 3, 2000-02

Completed Project