Part One
(This interview should have been posted on Valentine’s Day!)
Joyce Jackson & Patrick Mealey fell in love with each other, Maine and their new/old house all within a relatively short period of time. One might think that it was all meant to happen.
These two artistic souls left the trendy Hamptons behind to forge major new beginnings in beautiful Maine. And now they’re very busy renovating and feathering their beautiful love nest.
(Their busy company fineartistmade (sic) would love to feather yours as well.)
Are you from here or away?
I grew up in the beach town of Shoreham, New York on the North Shore of Long Island, just west of the Hamptons. Patrick was born and raised in Minneapolis.
Are you returning or relocating?
In the winter of 2001, we moved our business and our life to Perry, Maine from Sag Harbor, New York.
Visit the fineartistmade (sic) website to see lots more of their work.
How and why Maine?
Patrick and I met on Main Street, in the historic whaling village of Sag Harbor, in June of 1997. It was the first hour, of my first day on a new job at the Sag Harbor Picture Gallery. Our mutual interest in art brought us together.
Two years to the day we met, we married and then headed up the coast for a honeymoon that would culminate in Baxter State Park. Long story short; we fell in love with ‘Down East’ along the way and decided to make Perry our permanent address 2 1/2 years later.
How did you find your house?
On the internet.
Why did you buy it?
The vanishing landscape in the Hamptons had us longing for ‘real country’ and we both had this idea of living in a home with some history. It’s a good feeling to take a tattered old place and restore its dignity.
When I saw the thumbnail photo of our house on a real estate web page – it was love at first sight.
High ceilings, rooms for our respective studios, the potential for a workshop in the former attached woodshed and eight bucolic acres on a lake also helped.
Here’s a link to the history of their house. (If you’re interested in reading local history, read Joyce’s informative blog.)
What are your plans for it?
We’re well along in our restoration efforts and have gathered a tremendous amount of history. There are just a few more rooms to go. Plans are in the works for the addition of a screened in porch out back.
My new perennial garden on the edge of our farm’s heirloom apple orchard, surrounded by an old stone foundation, has become a favorite summer destination.
To be continued . . .
Note: All these lovely photos belong to Joyce.
