Coaster’s Chance: A 1760s Sea Captain’s Cottage in a Moody Palette

Lately I’ve been poring over Coaster’s Chance, a 1760s captain’s cottage on the coast of Maine, north of Acadia. The house is the newest project of Rhode Island-based Moore House Design—and their first Downeast. Available to rent, the interiors have been redone in moody hues befitting the palette of pine, rocks, and seaweed outside the front door.

Join us for a look around:

Photography by Erin McGinn, courtesy of Moore House Design.

Above: The cottage, called Coaster’s Chance, sits on the end of a private road on Cutler Harbor and has been in the Moore family for 30 years.
Above: The newly redone kitchen has original beams and a wood stove. The Moore House team sanded back the wide-plank wood floors and redid the walls in plaster.
Above: An antique “boulangerie” table serves as both island and gathering space.
Above: The cabinets are painted in a muted hue, Sherwin Williams’ Bosc Pear.
Above: Two Maine classics: painted wood floors and a braided rug. The rug was existing in the house; after looking for ways to tone down the color, the Moore House team settled on “DIY trash can-over-dying” to get a more muted look.
Above: The dining room has 200-year-old horsehair and plaster walls.
Above: Some of the old wallpaper is exposed in the living room. “It was a slightly bigger project than we had originally thought, because much of the wallpaper was still VERY securely pasted to the plaster,” Moore House Design writes on their blog.

“Our team went at it with razor blades, putty knives, and sandpaper to expose as much of that original plaster as possible. As we were working, we started to fall in love with the map-like look of the two materials and ran with it—adding a bit of coffee-colored paint slurry over the top to soften the contrast.”

Above: “The outcome felt aged and imperfect, like something out of an abandoned historic homestead,” the team adds.
Above: The main bedroom suite is housed in a transformed hay loft.
Above: Antique wood blocks (once used for making wallpaper) hang on the wall, and a linen curtain opens to reveal the soaking tub.
Above: A fold-away drying rack, hung in a window, helps towels to dry—an old Shaker trick.
Above: Once the home’s main bedroom, the Captain’s Suite is named for the sea captain who built the property.
Above: On the subject of the pleated shade, the team writes: “We definitely went minimal with the additions to this space, so we wanted to add a touch of texture as well as pattern somewhere without overpowering any other elements. In the spirit of having a little fun during our install, we ruched up the fabric around the shade’s base and voila! Just what we were looking for.”
Above: The painted floors add dark gloss.
Above: The ensuite, with beach finds on the shelves.
Above: The Wheelhouse Loft—named for a brass plaque on the door that reads “certified wheelhouse,” a seafaring term—got an all-over coat of white paint to make it feel more open.
Above: “To add a little visual depth we painted the headboards fun colors that paid homage to some of the paint colors original to the cottage,” the team writes. “The set of twins are a deep forest green to tie in the floors from downstairs.” The full bed, not pictured, is done in mustard yellow, a nod to the color of the original kitchen.
Above: The view over Cutler Harbor.
Above: Dinner can be taken outdoors in good weather.