photography: Dennis Welch For the walls of a guest room, Carol mixed her own glaze using paint, water, and water-based polyurethane. "You've got to put a lot of canvas on the floor and move fast," she says. "If you hesitate you're lost." Once the undercoats were dry, she painted the blue swirl pattern on top.

An artist and writer, Carol fell in love with this corner of New England during a lazy afternoon bike ride along the shores of Casco Bay. "The moment I rode over the causeway," she recalls, "I knew this was home. I wanted to build a house here with all of the charm and comfort that people associate with second homes—except I'd live in it year-round." She and Bob eventually sketched out a green-shingled cottage inspired by the lodges Carol remembered from summer camp in North Carolina. Friends who saw the plans called it "a pavillion in the woods"—a description that's stuck. Bedrooms, an office, and a living room fill the two-story part of the house at the western edge of the property. The kitchen and dining room fill the long gallery (Carol calls it "the connector") linking the main house to a 22- by 22-foot studio at the edge of the woods.

photography: Dennis Welsh Maine Cottage, the company Carol founded with her former husband, Peter Bass, sells a line of furniture including the dramatic red sofa in her living room. She painted the walls a nearly identical shade by building up layers of coral and red paint.

photography: Dennis Welch Carol painted a guest room yellow "because it faces east and looks glorious in the early morning sun." Daughter-in-law Ryan Bass and Luke take advantage of the light. The sewing table's from a flea market.