Feature > A Seaside Showpiece

To get to the Ledges—the Museums of Old York’s 2008 Decorator Show House on Gerrish Island in Kittery Point, Maine—you travel down a winding dirt road flanked by towering pines. The property’s eight acres are crisscrossed by stone walls and filled with ferns, and a sloping lawn leads to a private beach on the Piscataqua River.The spectacular setting is quintessential Maine—lovely, old growth woodland hugging a dramatic, rocky coastline; the sounds of Whaleback Light in the distance—and provided inspiration for the talented designers who transformed the 1887 Shingle-style, Queen Anne cottage.The Ledges was built as a summer home for Boston lawyer Joseph Bangs Warner, who worked for the Boston & Maine Railroad. The daughter of Warner’s neighbor—Elizabeth Scott Garfield, an artist who studied with William Merritt Chase—eventually purchased Warner’s home, and the house remained in her family until 2005.At that point, Steve Kelm bought the Ledges and since then has renovated the home. Kelm’s work provided the designers with a clean palette, and he asked only that they leave the white woodwork untouched. Honoring the history of the Ledges and Kelm’s request, the designers created rooms that are elegant and comfortable, made to be used.Honoring the history of the Ledges and Kelm’s request, the designers created rooms that are elegant and comfortable, made to be used.