Sarah Stebbins

2 weeks ago | downeast.com | Sarah Stebbins

In Maine, large swaths of untouched land, coupled with a strong Yankee independent streak, have lured generations of hardy souls to build homes off the grid. Now, rising electricity costs are sparking renewed interest in the lifestyle. We caught up with eight intrepid homeowners living self-sufficiently in remote spots — and getting a charge out of producing their own power, sometimes blissfully unaware when the world around them goes dark.

1 month ago | downeast.com | Sarah Stebbins

When Mario and Kitty Costello unpacked theirnew leprechaun-green kitchen cabinets, their teenage daughters threw some shade. “They were like, ‘Seriously, that’s the color you picked?’” Kitty says. “But I wanted the kitchen to look like things we make.” The verdant cupboards match emerald brass-and-epoxy knobs in the couple’s metal home-décor line and inspired the vivid coral Kitty painted the adjoining dining space.

2 months ago | downeast.com | Sarah Stebbins

Shortly after moving into her Lovell fixer-upper, in 2017, Kimberly Crichton realized she was not alone. The 1920s cottage had stood empty for three years after the prior owner passed away, and mice had the run of the place. Crichton set about plugging holes, laying traps, and employing cleaning remedies recommended by neighbors until she’d wrested back control. Folks in town tried to help Crichton find a firewood supplier during her first winter in the house.

Jan 6, 2025 | downeast.com | Sarah Stebbins

On a raw, overcast afternoon last winter, members of Mostly Maine Frosty Fleet No. 9 arrived in the parking lot of the Kittery Point Yacht Club, in New Castle, New Hampshire, and began unloading miniature sailboats from their pickups and sedan trunks. One by one, they lugged the diminutive watercraft to the edge of the Piscataqua River, which straddles Maine and the Live Free or Die State, lowered themselves into the tiny cockpits, and tacked their way toward a tiny racecourse.

Dec 2, 2024 | ourcommunitynow.com | Sarah Stebbins

Portlander Mimi Olins’s creamy, free-form stoneware is a perfect foil for menu items at the city’s swanky Twelve restaurant and James Beard Award–winning Zu Bakery (owned by her husband, Barak) — and for the deep green of a Christmas tree. Clay ornament. From $18. Flowers are Katharine Watson’s muse, cropping up on ceramics, textiles, artwork, and stationery she creates in her Portland studio .