A picturesque autumn day on the farm, which looks nearly the same as it did decades ago. The Clements wanted to maintain the home’s traditional appearance.
Featured Homes
On the Homestead
In the family for five generations, a Berwick farm gets a modern makeover with a touch of history
BY
Jamie Thompson
PHOTOGRAPHY
Main photo by Kim Case; other photos by Joseph St. Pierre

The kitchen is a stunning fusion of function and style.
The living room glows with a snappy shade of green, accented by rich red furniture. The side table in the corner is actually a safe that belonged to Warren’s grandfather.
The central stairwell mural, painted by Jane Considine, depicts the farmland surrounding the Clement farm as it looked generations ago. On the risers, the names of each of the five generations of Clements are painted, along with the dates they lived in the home. Warren explains that he got the information from papers and photos left in the attic, which was the “family archive” of sorts. Top photo by Kim Case
The sunroom is a cozy spot to enjoy a book and a cup of coffee.
A small upstairs bedroom benefits from a burst of color and pattern. The bedroom used to belong to Warren’s parents, who chose the room for its proximity to the barn so they could keep an ear open for any trouble among the animals.

Shaded by maple trees and bordered by rolling hills, the road to Warren and Pauline Clement’s 1817 farmhouse in Berwick, Maine, is a road to the past. Since 1834, five generations of Clements have lived in the house, and Warren was born and raised there. Forty years later, when he and Pauline bought the house from his parents in 1999, they weren’t planning on moving back to Maine, as they were living in London, but when Warren retired from the beverage business in 2003, “we thought about it and decided, ‘Let’s go home,’” he says.

Before they could move back, the home’s age and old-fashioned structure required a significant restoration and renovation. Through that process the Clements have not simply renovated a house—they have preserved a family heirloom.

For the first step, Warren and Pauline replaced the existing barn, enlisting the help of builder Jason Lessard, who began work while the Clements were still living in London. “It was a lot of e-mails,” says Warren. The new barn is in the same location, and roughly the same size as the old one. One gets an overwhelming sense of the detail that went into constructing the barn, the high ceilings displaying a labyrinthine network of beams. “Jason said to me, ‘There’s enough lumber in here to build four houses,’” Warren jokes.

To restore the main house and build a new L-shaped addition, the Clements hired Jan Lamont and Brian Rodonets of Coastal Architects, who reconfigured the home’s layout, changing hallways, adding or removing walls, and creating new spaces.

As Warren and Pauline move through the house, they describe where walls, windows, and doors used to be. “Sometimes it’s hard to remember,” laughs Pauline, “since we’ve had so much done.” But Warren stresses that although it sounds like they significantly changed the layout, “we pretty much kept it as it was, we just opened it up.” Their goal was to keep the home’s historical integrity intact while creating a better flow from room to room. Warren says, “I wanted people who were here before [the renovation] to recognize the house.”

Although the design was inspired by the Colonial era, the home feels modern and fresh, thanks to the open plan and the use of bright, bold colors. “Our objective was to keep it comfortable,” says Warren, explaining that he was less concerned about making the house look really traditional. The sunroom is painted in a saturated shade of sage green, accented by rich brown wicker furniture. Light fills the room from windows on all three sides, which allow for expansive views of the new landscaping, designed by Martha Petersen Landscape Design of Kittery. Warren explains that the land right off the back of the house used to slope dramatically. Now it is flattened off and terraced, so the decline is more gradual. The stones used in the landscaping all come from the Clements’s land, and mostly from stonewalls that traversed the property.

For the kitchen, Pauline, an avid cook, needed a functional space that didn’t skimp on beauty. The result is a perfect balance of looks and utility, with rich African bubinga wood counters that serve as the tabletop for most of the Clements’s meals, a smooth marble countertop for baking, and a heavy duty stainless steel sink surrounded by rustic Monson Maine slate. This mix of materials is seen throughout the home, but is most prevalent in the kitchen, where, for example, the radiant heated ceramic floors feature a rectangular bamboo insert for comfort, tile backsplash provided by Portico Fine Tile adds elegance, and a warming oven underneath a copper topped island offers efficiency. The dusty blue cabinets, supplied by Dovetailed Kitchens, serve as a counterpoint to the myriad of natural materials that surround them.

“They had traveled, moved often and knew what didn't work for them,” says Jan, who designed the kitchen in close consultation with Pauline. “They were open to try different angles, designs and materials than the farm had previously seen.”

The open plan also makes it easy for entertaining. Since the kitchen and dining room are essentially one continuous space, the Clements don’t have to worry about neglecting their guests while preparing meals. The beautiful turn-of-the-century tin ceiling is a highlight of the dining room. It continues into the living room, not only creating a connection between the rooms, but also adding texture and detail. The living room, freshened with pale green walls, contains a painted safe used as a side table that belonged to Warren’s grandfather Roger Clement, who was a botanist. It’s a bit of family history with a whimsical flair.

Ascending the central stairwell is like taking a journey through that history, the names of the five generations of Clements who have lived in the house painted on the risers. On the stairwell wall decorative artist Jane Considine painted a mural depicting the farmhouse and the countryside surrounding it. The mural, in the American Primitive style, is a nod to the traveling muralists of the early 19th century, like Rufus Porter, who would paint murals such as this in traditional New England farmhouses.

“I worked closely with the Clements, as I do on every project. They provided a written and oral history of the homestead, and lots of old photos,” says Jane, who used water-based paints in sharp, lively colors to give a luminous quality to the mural.

Upstairs, the home’s roots are more apparent. Some of the low ceilings and odd doorways remain, reminders of the home’s old-fashioned charm. Builder Jason also refinished many of the original floors, laying thin lengths of rope in between the boards, mimicking a technique often seen in older homes. Old rafters are exposed where a few too-low ceilings were heightened, and boldly patterned wallpaper injects color and vivacity into smaller spaces. This combination of old and new is what makes the farmhouse such an inviting place.

The homestead has a strong feeling of community, as the neighborhood is still home to many of the families that Warren remembers growing up with. Members of the Clement family live nearby as well. “There’s a lot of family around us,” Pauline says. “I love being out here.” Newcomers are welcomed just as warmly as old friends, and the Clements even made a few friends during the renovation. “In a project like this, being able to sit down and talk things through is important,” says Warren. “I needed someone I could trust, and Jason was that for me. We became very good friends.”

Sitting in the kitchen, Warren and Pauline reflect on the experience of transforming their home into a modern, livable space where memories will continue to be made and shared. “Some people might question spending that much money, but it was something I really wanted to do,” explains Warren. “I’m really glad that we’re here.

Design Details

Builder
Lessard & Sons
Architect
Coastal Architects
Kitchen Design
Dovetailed Kitchens
Tile
Portico Fine Tile & Design
Mural
Jane Considine
Landscape Design
Martha Petersen Landscape Design