{"id":14965,"date":"2017-06-01T18:13:56","date_gmt":"2017-06-01T22:13:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=14965"},"modified":"2020-09-29T10:04:35","modified_gmt":"2020-09-29T14:04:35","slug":"hidden-shore-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/hidden-shore-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Hidden Shore"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summerguide 2017 | view this story as a .pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a thing inherent and natural, which existed before heaven and earth, motionless and fathomless\u2026\u201d \u2013Laozi\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

By Colin W. Sargent<\/span><\/p>\n

\"HiddenScreened by trees along Shore Road in Cape Elizabeth, many shingled mansions harbor dazzling views and riveting stories. But what lies behind the army of stone Chinese Zodiak creatures guarding the entrance to No. 1172? Welcome inside the palace that\u2019s for sale for $11M.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a clue. It\u2019s owned by a native Mainer, the founder of the second-largest environmental law firm in the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s another clue. It has two grand pianos.<\/p>\n

Have you guessed yet? The seller is former Maine gubernatorial candidate Eliot Cutler, who was \u201cfox-bewitched\u201d by this neck of the woods in the late 1990s and commissioned Wright-Ryan Construction to build this stunning mansion, hidden from view but alive with perspective in a setting where moving spirits seem to sweep across the sea. <\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, a great deal of the spirit of this retreat springs from the three years (2006-2009) Cutler spent in China. From garden sculptures to China Trade antiques, the 15,000-square-foot enclave blends the Maine mystique with the Far East. On the yang side, this house brings out the Wyeth in you, rugged and sure. On the yin side, it brings out the Laozi in you\u2013deceptively playful. Beyond the \u201cfour-bedroom guest house, pool, tennis court\u2026and 600 feet of bold Atlantic frontage\u201d in the brochure, there\u2019s an elegant sense of detachment here, yet a visitor feels intimately connected to the symphony of rocks, beach, and sea.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cutler, educated at Deerfield Academy, Harvard, and Georgetown Law, seems to enjoy channeling the spirit of his surroundings. \u201cI grew up in Bangor and on Hancock Point on Frenchman\u2019s Bay,\u201d he says. \u201cIt took two years to find this property. Once we saw it and bought it, we wanted to build a house that sat well on the land and was not overly imposing from the road or water.\u201d One more thing: \u201cWe needed lots of room for us and our family, a growing family along the course of time, where we could gather family and friends to enjoy the Maine coast with us.\u201d It was just then that \u201cI\u2019d merged my law firm with a big international firm. A condition was that I could commute from Maine, and we did it. I did it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

To design this house deliberately imagined without a name, \u201cWe interviewed 10 architects. We chose Bob Knight of Blue Hill,\u201d Cutler says. \u201cI\u2019m not one to give names to houses. We view this as a home, not as some kind of estate. We had 50 brokers in yesterday, looking at the house. Several remarked at how cozy it was, regardless of how large. That was a major objective of ours.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As cozy as this home may be, most retreats don\u2019t have a library on the scale of Cutler\u2019s, extending across two dimensions. \u201cThe libraries are two levels,\u201d nearly windowless but for clerestories, connected by a spiral stair. \u201cIt\u2019s the main turret.\u201d Asked if some lucky books from his childhood home floated into his new library, he\u2019s enthusiastic. \u201cThe multi-volume Winston Churchill History of World War II.<\/em>\u201d Yup, we\u2019re talking with Eliot Cutler. \u201cAll the Robert McCloskey Books.\u201d One Morning in Maine<\/em> meets One Morning in Beijing.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy favorite part of the library is the fireplace. Growing up on Grove Street in Bangor, I loved the fireplace and the large mantel around it in our house. At first, I wanted to take the mantel and fireplace and put it here.\u201d Then he reconsidered. \u201cI asked Bob Knight if he could duplicate it, and he did. He took extremely careful measurements.\u201d To complete the illusion of stopped time, \u201cI brought two lamps from the mantel\u201d in Bangor. They\u2019d always hovered over the fireplace. \u201cNow it really feels like the fireplace where I grew up, but it\u2019s here<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnother strong echo in the house comes from the three years when I lived in Beijing, when we acquired a lot of Chinese vernacular furniture, including two wedding beds.\u201d Which may be the answer to: What do you give a man who has two pianos? <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAll our furniture from China is here,\u201d including large artworks such as Chinese Zodiac stoneware. \u201cWe brought it back in 2009 by container.\u201d But what to bring? \u201cWe had some very heavy Chinese outside lanterns, tables, and stools, all made of stone and cement. We thought that shipping them back would be prohibitively expensive. But when you\u2019re shipping a container, you\u2019re shipping by volume, not by weight.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Only a third of the container was full. \u201cSo we went to the Dirt Market in Beijing, and we bought an enormous amount of stone and cement\u201d sculpture. \u201cIt\u2019s all here and gives character to the house and the land.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, in Maine, you don\u2019t need to travel to China to purchase China Trade antiques. Maine sailing ships brought such treasures to our shores under the creak of oak and canvas.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cExactly right. I have several pieces of old Chinese stuff, including a huge ivory ship and some cloisonne. These are articles I bought at Jim Julia\u2019s auctions even before I ever thought of going to China. There\u2019s a lot of old China here from ships in the China Trade.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Since we\u2019re here for the tour, tell us about the kitchen.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere were two cabinetmakers. One was Wright Ryan. They have their own cabinetry shop. A local Cape Elizabeth cabinetry guy did an enormous amount of the cabinetry\u2013the lion\u2019s share of it. In the dining room there are two remarkable open shelves that are scalloped wood. Sam Robinson sculpted these by hand.<\/span><\/p>\n

In all this privacy, what animals can you see?<\/span><\/p>\n

Several years ago, we bought a Wendy
\nKlemperer sculpture\u2013you know the sculptures at the entrance to the [Portland International] airport? The porcupine? We bought an oversized fox by Wendy
\nKlemperer. It sits on the edge of the cliff that goes down to the ocean. We put it there because there was a family of red foxes that goes back and forth from the woods on one side of our property\u2013a fox crossing. We put the fox out there. Lo and behold, one day we\u2019re sitting at the window having breakfast, and the family of foxes comes by, and they start nosing and investigating this oversized fox. I was able to grab some wonderful photographs of the baby foxes playing with the big sculpture.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Foxes know a good entertainment venue when they see it. Cutler has hosted \u201call kinds of events\u201d for up to 300 guests near the edge of this cliff\u2013receptions under the stars \u201con the ocean side of the house, lobster bakes, dinner and dancing\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

How about the morning after such a party? What do you see as the mist burns off?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re on the shipping lane that comes into Portland Harbor. We can see them coming in and out. We see the big ships, and we see sailboats and lobster boats in and out of Zeb Cove. The more I talk about it, the more I\u2019m going to miss it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, as though to miss it more, he adds, \u201cSome [guests] asked me last night if I\u2019ll miss it. They asked, \u2018You grew up Downeast. How does this compare?\u2019 Even though we\u2019re on 5.5 acres with 700 feet of shorefront, we\u2019re 15 minutes from the airport.\u201d He looks out the window. \u201cI\u2019ve climbed every mountain at least once on MDI,\u201d but the airport isn\u2019t so convenient.<\/span><\/p>\n

You\u2019ve climbed Otter Cliffs?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes. But other than Acadia itself, you don\u2019t have the wonderful urban life of Portland.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When I use the word \u201cmonumental,\u201d he stops me. This lovely, secluded place is, \u201cnot a monument to me. It\u2019s a great house. We\u2019ve loved living here. It\u2019s a place to live, to entertain. We\u2019ve bought an apartment in the West End, in a building designed by John Calvin Stevens that we love, where we know people. We\u2019re looking for a place on the water in Maine in the next year and a half or two.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Asked about a magic spot in the house, he says, \u201cMy favorite spot is the breakfast area off the kitchen. It\u2019s surrounded 180 degrees by massive windows. On a clear day you can see Portugal.\u201d There\u2019s a pause. \u201cI\u2019ll never have as great an office as I have here now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Taxes are $84,013. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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