This dreamy Craftsman style home in Maine was inspired by the Gamble House

Built for a great-grandson of the Gamble House owners, this Maine home brings Greene & Greene craftsmanship to the coast.

Craftsman home with a cedar shake roof and stone chimneys behind gardens and a fieldstone-edged pond

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Dominic Paul Mercadante Architecture has designed this dreamy Craftsman style home in Camden, Maine, nestled on a mountainside overlooking the harbor. Known as Overlook, the house has a personal connection to one of America’s most famous homes. The homeowner’s great-grandparents, David and Mary Gamble, hired architects Charles and Henry Greene to design the Gamble House in Pasadena, California, built in 1908. As a boy, he spent Sundays, birthdays, and Christmas there, and decades later he asked Mercadante to help him build an East Coast version.

The challenge was translating the style of Greene & Greene from the dry climate of Southern California to the more varied climate of mid-coast Maine. The roof is steeper to shed snow, the rafter tails are shorter to let in more sunlight, and the interiors use lighter woods than the Greenes’ famously dark rooms. Instead of redwood, the exterior is clad in red cedar shingles stained lichen green to match the Gamble House. The team built a 2,000-square-foot guest house first, starting in 2008, so they could test the joinery details and the cost. The 6,000-square-foot main house followed and took 26 months to complete. Continue below to see the rest of this amazing home…

Lichen Green Shingles and Cedar Shake Roofs

Craftsman home with a stone chimney beside a stream with koi, boulders, and a stone bridge

Landscape architect Stephen Mohr designed the gardens and ponds. Here, a granite slab crosses a stream filled with koi.

Two-car garage with wood carriage doors, shingle siding, and a dormer under tall white pines

Above: The garage sits on the east end of the house, with custom wood doors.

Close-up of rounded rafter tails, wood brackets, a copper gutter, and a stained glass lantern

Rounded rafter tails, copper gutters, catch basins, and downspouts.

South Lawn and Gardens Facing the Ocean

Back of a Craftsman home with a second-floor porch above a stone staircase, lawn, and two Adirondack chairs

The back of the house faces the ocean, with a terrace and a covered porch above. Wide granite steps lead down to the south lawn.

Green shingled Craftsman home with a fieldstone chimney and covered balcony above flower gardens

Above: Daylilies and other perennials fill the gardens below the south facade.

Covered porch with wood railings and post and beam supports behind a rust-colored metal fence and flowers

A closer look at the porch, with the custom pool fence in the foreground.

Close-up of wood post and beam joinery with rounded beam ends and metal straps

Above: Detail of the post-and-beam connections on the south porch. As the homeowner puts it, in Greene & Greene joinery, surfaces are rounded and polished, and joints are pillowed and exposed.

Patio with wicker armchairs, orange cushions, and a stone hearth topped with red begonias

This outdoor living area has wicker armchairs with orange cushions, and red begonias on top of the stone hearth. The outdoor kitchen is just behind the stone wall.

Infinity-Edge Pool Overlooking Penobscot Bay

Craftsman home and guest house above a pond with a fallen log and Adirondack chairs

From the southwest corner, you can see the third pond just below the pool. The guest house sits off in the distance to the left.

Infinity-edge pool with fieldstone walls, orange lounge chairs, and an umbrella overlooking Penobscot Bay

Above: Fieldstone walls surround the infinity-edge pool, with views of Penobscot Bay through the white pines.

Rust-colored metal garden gate with a stepped top, surrounded by lilies and lavender

The pool gate has a stepped top, a shape repeated in the windows, doors, and railings.

Craftsman home with cedar shake roofs above a pond with stepping stones and gardens

Above: The west end of the home looks over the second of three ponds created on site, connected by small streams and waterfalls. The outdoor shower is behind the wood screen walls.

Outdoor shower with wood screen walls, a yellow towel, and hanging red begonias

After a swim, you can rinse off in this outdoor shower, which has its own changing area.

Stained Glass Front Door

Stained glass front door with a pine tree and water scene in Douglas fir frames

Glass artist John Hamm of Whittier, California, based the front door on the famous Gamble House doors, using a pine tree, clouds, and the ocean to give it a Maine feel. Charles Greene collected tsuba, the guards on Japanese swords, and their shape inspired the custom-designed escutcheons on every door in the house.

Entry Hall Lined in Douglas Fir

Entry hall with fir paneling, a staircase with a plaid runner, a grandfather clock, and stained glass doors

The front hall is modeled after the one in the Culbertson House, another Greene & Greene home in Pasadena. Mercadante designed the staircase with a cloudlift motif, the same stepped curve found on the windows.

Entry hall with a coffered fir ceiling and lantern, looking into the dining room

Above: The doors, windows, and trim are all vertical grain Douglas fir. Straight ahead is the dining room.

Dining Room with a Fieldstone Fireplace

Dining room with a fieldstone fireplace, stained glass light fixture, and vaulted wood ceiling

Under a vaulted wood ceiling, the mahogany dining table was shaped like a tsuba. The fireplace is built from Maine fieldstone, and a lighted china cabinet sits in the corner.

Living Room with a Tiled Fireplace

Living room with a beamed ceiling, tiled fireplace, carved wood panel, and a window seat

The living room has a beamed ceiling, a long window seat piled with pillows, and a carved panel of pine trees above the tiled fireplace. A tree stump coffee table with a glass top sits between the sofas.

Paint Color Tip

Wondering about the creamy wall color? In response to a reader’s question online, Dominic Mercadante said it is a Benjamin Moore color, but the exact name didn’t turn up in his files. He recalled looking at Devon Cream (OC-102), Antique Lace (OC-104), and Calming Cream (OC-105) before going with something different, so those three are a good place to start.

Keep in mind that vertical grain Douglas fir looks and feels very different from pine next to a painted wall. His advice: never choose a paint color from a photograph. Paint large samples, about 24 inches square, on a couple of walls in the room, since your eye judges color based on the colors around it.

Kitchen with Figured Maple Cabinets

Kitchen with maple cabinets, granite countertops, an island cooktop, and a copper sink

The kitchen cabinets are maple, a blend of figured bird’s-eye and tiger maple with some quarter sawn, finished with water-based urethane. The countertops are Silver Cream granite from Africa.

Kitchen island with a gas cooktop beside a maple paneled refrigerator and double wall ovens

Above: Maple panels conceal the refrigerator, and a cookbook shelf is built into the island end.

Breakfast Nook with Harbor Views

Breakfast nook with a round glass table, upholstered chairs, and harbor views

A round glass table sits beneath a hipped wood ceiling in the breakfast nook, with windows framing harbor views.

What We Love About This Home

This Craftsman home has stunning handcrafted details throughout. We are loving the stained glass, the exposed joinery, and the way the ponds and gardens surround the whole property. Our favorite spot would have to be the upper porch off the owner’s bedroom… we can imagine lounging in the rocking chair and watching the sailboats come into Camden Harbor with a cup of coffee in hand!

Tell Us: Which detail caught your eye first, the stained glass front door or the copper-hooded fireplace in the owner’s bedroom? Let us know in the Comments below!

Note: Be sure to check out a couple of other gorgeous home tours in Maine that we have highlighted here on One Kindesign: This multigenerational getaway home in coastal Maine is beyond stunning and Camp like cabin in Maine nestles into the rugged North Haven coastline.

Sunroom with a Vaulted Fir Ceiling

Sunroom with a vaulted fir ceiling, wicker sofa and chairs, and garden views

Windows on three sides of the sunroom look out to the gardens and the bay. Wicker furniture sits on a green and white rug over a Norumbega flagstone floor.

Home Office and Music Room

Home office and music room with a vaulted wood ceiling, grand piano, desk, and Persian rug

The homeowners wanted an office and private retreat next to the owner’s bedroom. A grand piano sits on an antique Persian carpet from their own collection.

Home office corner with a gas fireplace, wood paneling, open shelves, and an antique secretary desk

Above: A gas fireplace is set into the corner, with bookshelves and storage cabinets along the wall.

Owner’s Bedroom with a Copper-Hooded Fireplace

Sliding pocket doors with wisteria stained glass opening to a sitting room with a window seat

Pocket doors with wisteria panels by John Hamm separate the office from the owner’s bedroom. Beyond them is a cushioned window seat with drawers below.

Primary bedroom fireplace with a glass tile surround, copper hood, and vaulted fir ceiling

The bedroom fireplace has a custom glass tile surround and hearth with a copper hood. In the upper right, even the return air grille is custom made in bronze.

Close-up of a fir mantel, wisteria glass tile surround, and riveted copper hood

Above: Wisteria vines twist up both sides of the surround, beneath a riveted copper hood.

Close-up of exposed joinery on a fir mantel with art glass vases

Here is a closer look at the joinery on the owner’s bedroom fireplace mantel.

Upper porch with a woven rocking chair and tripod binoculars looking out to the bay

Above: The owner’s bedroom opens to the south porch, with a woven rocking chair and binoculars on a tripod looking out to the bay.

Dressing Room and Owner’s Bathroom

Dressing room with a fir dresser full of drawers and two windows

A view of the built-in fir dresser in the owner’s dressing room.

Primary bathroom with a fir double vanity, green granite countertop, and painted mural

Above: The owner’s bathroom vanity is topped with Jurassic Green granite from Brazil, with a hand-painted coastal mural on the wall.

Family Room and Home Cinema

Family room with a coral sofa, cast iron stove, yellow plaid armchair, and rocking chair

The family room and lounge sits just off the cinema, with a coral sofa, a yellow plaid armchair, and a cast iron stove.

Home theater with leather recliners, painted cranes on the ceiling, and red walls

Above: Inside the cinema, painted cranes fly across the ceiling above two rows of leather recliners. Check out more of our favorite home theater ideas.

The Home at Night

Front entry at night with stone piers, a lantern, stained glass front door, and flagstone walkway

Here is a closer look at the main entry at night, with the stained glass front door set between two fieldstone piers. The porch chandelier, the door and its stained glass sidelights, and the bronze door hardware were all custom made.

Craftsman home lit up at dusk above a pond, waterfall, and fallen log