Plum Island Kitchen

Our friends Meg Baird and Brian Slopey, who live up here in Vermont, have this family place on Plum Island, which is a summer colony north of Boston, and also a place famous for birders. Meg's mother lived here, and they have totally remodeled the place, but leaving her mom's artwork and décor – the feeling of the place - largely in place.

In a while, Emilia Olson will be restoring a beautiful painted decorative floor, and Peter Houk will be making some art glass to go over the hutch. Peter's brother George Houk was architect and manager of a quite complicated project. Paul Bradshaw, of Pegasus Carpentry, was lead carpenter.

The hutch is birds-eye maple, the cabinets are ash, with cherry posts. We had long discussions about what wood to use on the hutch, to make it distinct from the cabinetry. I think Meg and Brian had the idea of using the maple, which we almost never had used. But it came out very nicely. It is also a native Vermont wood, and I'm sure we'll be using it again soon.

All the photos are by George Houk.