House & Home

While poking around Maine this summer, I took some shots of some serious dream houses. They may not be everyone’s dream, but for someone who grew up imagining a life in a house like Martha Stewart’s famed Turkey Hill, these are drop dead gorgeous.

They’re Federal in style, which is a later evolution of the Georgian house so popular in colonial America. They often have five windows over four, a centre hall plan, and are simple, rational and drool-worthy in my opinion!

American architect Gil Schafer is known for restoring and designing houses in the style today. Wouldn’t you love a pretty white house set on a rolling hill?

And, if you’re like me, you imagine walking inside to be greeted by a centre hall like this…

Martha Stewart’s Turkey Hill house is where she started her empire and defined her style. She bought and renovated it in the ’70s and began experimenting with decorating, mixing high and low, formal and casual, to create that now-famous decorating formula.

Here it is more recently. (Before she sold it! Bah!). I like the putty colour as an alternative to white. Although I think I’d still do white.

And the drool-worthy gardens out back…

Okay, now for the juicy bit. I just recently stumbled upon this home near where I grew up! I’d never seen it before in all those years and I think it has lots of potential!  Okay okay, there wasn’t a For Sale sign, but maybe I could knock on their door? What do you think?

For more traditional style, see our Traditional Cottages photo gallery. Plus, watch a tour of a gloriously restored 1830s Federal-style house.

Photo credits:
1-4. Michael Penney
5. Greek Revival House, G. P. Schafer Architect
6. Horse Farm in Upstate New York, G. P. Schafer Architect
7-9. Turkey Hill: Martha’s First House, Martha Stewart
10. Michael Penney