May 2017 | View story as PDF

The cottage of daydreams in Ogunquit.

By Colin W. Sargent

Darling, we’ve made it. We’re looking out the windows of the most perfect tiny cottage on Perkins Cove.

And it’s not just the windows. A wraparound deck and garden terraces showcase the picture-perfect fishing fleet. The iconic white drawbridge is framed in the center of your view from lofty 11 Oarweed Lane.

“This was an older home originally,” listing agent Chris Erikson says. “The property was redone completely in 2011 by Jerry D’Hart of Coastal Construction. The owner is a professional interior designer. She wanted to keep a Maine cottage feel.” He walks to the large bay window, the boats floating behind him. “This used to be a deck. Then it was closed in,” with a further deck beyond it.

This cottage “was built around 1905,” says seller Andrea Giles. The first owner was “a fisherman, so the house even had a floor [with a hatch] that opened up to pass the fish through [from the cove below].”

An interior decorator, Giles has livened things up with her collection of local art. Among the canvases: “George Carpenter, Michael Palmer, Brad Kenney (artistic director at Ogunquit Playhouse), and Claire Bigbee.” The effect of the paintings is striking against the soft blues and greens of her contemporary seaside palette.

“This house graced the cover of Coastal Home,” Erikson says. He walks to the imposing stone fireplace, where other art colony painters may have warmed themselves as owners or tenants circa 1920-1950. “This is original. It’s wood-burning.”

There’s a “first-floor bedroom, with two bedrooms and a bath upstairs.” On the lowest level there’s a fourth room, presently being used as an office with bath. The wraparound deck on the top level makes you feel as though you’re on a ship. The kitchen is new, but still just a footnote to the memorable view. Besides, why cook when you’re steps from waterfront restaurants including M.C. Perkins, Barnacle Billy’s [see our review, page 77], Jackie’s Too, Oarweed Oceanside, Cove Café, and Foot Bridge Lobster.

If you love Maine, this may be the center of the world. It’s where the gulls are. None of which answers the question, what the heck is an oarweed?

An oarweed is a living variant of a ribbonlike brown kelp long and thick enough to stop a dory. Think laminaria digitata, magic and mermaids.

The house is cooled by a scenic waterfall so close you can hear the white noise as snow runoff pounds into the cove. Price tag is $1.99M. Taxes (2015) are $7,191. View: priceless.