5 minute read
Venture with a View
HOME and Cabin
A Young couple in love find their happily ever after in Norris Point
Story by Janice Stuckless
Photos by Candace Kennedy
Candace Kennedy Photo
From their new home in Norris Point, Peter Thurlow and Meigan Aspin can look out over the bluff where they were married in 2015. They can also watch the days begin and end over beautiful Bonne Bay and the seasons sweep over the Tablelands. The landscape was love at first sight for them, and they designed their home to be part of it.
Candace Kennedy Photo
Meigan is from Prince Edward Island. Peter is a Newfoundlander from Buchans who grew up in Corner Brook. They met years ago at university in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In 2014, they decided to sell Meigan’s restored Victorian home in Halifax and find a new home in a new place, one with plenty of open space, “wilderness, adventure, community, activities and huge potential,” Meigan says. They spent that summer casually touring around Newfoundland and found themselves in Norris Point. They were out for a bike ride, admiring the view of the Tablelands, when they stumbled upon Pierces Lane. Peter said, “I’m related to the Pierces from Norris Point. Maybe it’s named after them.” And it was! Surely, this was their first sign. Then the view at the end of the road, and the For Sale sign on a property there, sealed it. This would be their new home.
Candace Kennedy Photo
They lived happily in that singlestorey saltbox house, operating a loft-style rental next door called The Little Wild, for several years. In 2018, after their daughter Sophia was born, they started working on their bigger dream. Their friend, Jon Thorne, a house plan and landscape designer, helped them create the concept for their new property, located just 100 feet down the shore from their old home. First on the list was positioning the house to make the most of the incredible views.
“We were also adamant to make it an energy efficient home, which is why we went with ICF construction, high heat output/efficiency wood stove, MYSA smart thermostats and triple-pane glass windows,” Meigan says. And because Meigan, a registered massage therapist, would be working from home, they designed a beautiful, professional space in the basement for her office and treatment room with a separate entrance.
Candace Kennedy Photo
They hired Bob Chubbs, a local builder who’d worked on The Little Wild, to help carry out the scope of the project. And they turned to local interior designer Holly Costello to complete the look and feel of their new home.
Candace Kennedy Photo
A key element that inspired much of the rest of the interior design was a funky flower wallpaper designed by New York artist Wayne Pate. “I fell in love with the idea of a feature wall. The colours and personality [of the wallpaper] just seemed to fit so well and helped to anchor other decisions we made for the house. The images and colour of this paper were pivotal when I really think about it,” Meigan says. “The ‘Particles Pendant’ dining room light fixture, which we sourced through the help of Helen Champion at Modern Komfort, was a perfect fit for the paper, with the round shapes and whimsy of the piece. The colours in the paper also paired so well with the colour we selected for the island and the textured leather detail of the stools at the island, and the walnut stain of the floating shelves. The paper is, by far, my most loved feature in the entire home. It just helped to make the decision of everything else flow that much smoother because it became our sort of theme.”
“We sort of ran with that as the main inspiration for the colours that would go into the kitchen and throughout the main spaces,” Holly agrees. “The reddish-orange island colour, of course, is front and centre and a pretty obvious connection to the print; the colour of the granite top with the blue and terra cotta tones, the dark blue paint colour in the mudroom/entry off the kitchen, the black dining room chairs and hits of black in the light fixture and in the staircase area” can all be traced back to the wallpaper.
Candace Kennedy Photo
“It’s this phase of the build that I think I can honestly say I loved the most,” Meigan says. And that’s in large part because she made the wise decision not to try to hang the paper herself, but let the pros do it. “I considered hanging it myself, and am I ever glad I didn’t go there. Holly put me in touch with Jeff Cunning, who is her go-to for a lot of jobs… so I watched him and another of his guys go through the painstaking precision of gluing and hanging the paper themselves. I’m eternally glad to have saved myself from the tedium of it. Some jobs are just really worth hiring out for, and that was sure one of them!”
Now settled nicely into their dream home, Meigan and Peter’s former saltbox home has become their second short-term rental property, called Exposure. Thinking back on that day when they first rode their bikes down Pierces Lane and saw that For Sale sign, Meigan recalls she and Peter looking at each other and shrugging, “Why not?”
“Nothing ventured, nothing gained, they say,” Meigan comments. “Thank goodness we ventured.”
Looking for more?
Become a Downhome Member Today!
Digital and Print Subscriptions Available!
Visit: www.JoinDownhome.com
Call: 1-888-588-6353
