Refinement is about removing unwanted elements. It’s the stripping away of anything unnecessary, of improving by clarifying. Refinement also suggests elegance, sophistication, and good taste.

This is the story of a highly refined new home on the coast of Maine, developed from the ground up, both inside and out, by North Carolina–based Ruard Veltman Architecture + Interiors. The finished house is an uncluttered and unfettered study in stone, wood, plaster, and glass that’s now home to an energetic family with four young children. “I think the expression of structure—or sometimes the lack of it—can be really beautiful, and that’s hard to do,” says architect Ruard Veltman, adding, “In our work, we always resist the temptation to ‘doll it up.’”

The resident family—eager to engage in winter sports and embrace a lifestyle centered on the outdoors—relocated from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Cousins Island, Maine, north of Portland, overlooking the secluded Casco Bay. Their intent was to plant new roots in a family home with architectural significance: a place for their children to grow up in—and return to. “This is a family that gets out and does things,” Veltman emphasizes. “They’re the kind of family that packs a picnic and heads outdoors.”

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INTERIOR DESIGN BY JULIA WOOD

ARCHITECTURE BY RUARD VELTMAN ARCHITECTURE + INTERIORS

STYLED BY ELEANOR ROPER

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIE WILLIAMS

WRITTEN BY EDWARD MCCANN

This story appeared in the Summer 2022 issue of MILIEU.