It’s not often that our team gets to step inside and tangibly experience the home tours that we feature. Yet, we went beyond a virtually immersive experience and had the opportunity to cozy up for a winter stay at this beautiful Maine A-Frame vacation rental. The good news? So can you.

We recently sat down with the wife and husband duo and masterminds behind the property—Courtney and Patrick Ryan—for an inside look at how their vision for the Maine A-Frame came to life. Read on for the full tour with Sean Litchfield, the property highlights, and our conversation with the pair.

Click here to book your stay at the Maine A-Frame or one of their sister properties. Interested in a video walk-through? Head to our Instagram reel today for an inside look at our stay and get a full video experience here as well.

Take us back to the beginning! Tell us about yourselves and the inception of the A-Frame and your beautiful sister properties. 

Patrick and I work in film and never imagined we’d be building homes together one day. It started with a family vacation in Maine five years ago that led to the dream of buying our own ski home and has since evolved into the several properties we have designed, renovated, and built over the last few years.

Having an A-Frame as our weekend escape was a dream of Patrick’s after growing up visiting his uncle’s A-Frame on Lake Michigan. After we couldn’t find anything we loved for sale, Patrick started looking for land and found the most perfect six-acre lot while dirt biking one day. We put an offer in on the land and reached out to an incredible builder we had met, and the stars all aligned.

Reflecting on the initial conceptualization of this house, what did you envision for the space?

We took a lot of inspiration for the home from our trips to Tulum over the years and a recent trip to Merida. A close friend of ours is an architectural designer from Merida, and we were lucky enough to have her help us with the interior design renderings for the home. On our trips to Mexico, we were always so inspired by their use of organic and natural building materials which we tried to incorporate into our designs. In the A-Frame we used eco-friendly, non-toxic, clay plaster on the walls instead of paint; we hand poured our own concrete countertops, sourced rattan light fixtures, incorporated natural wool rugs, Buster & Punch brass light switches, and as many plants as we could fit into our car. A Tulum inspired A-Frame in the woods of Maine, who would have thought!?

Shifting our focus to the process, what were some of the highlights and hurdles experienced during the design and build? 

We built during the pandemic, so there were a fair amount of hurdles. The most obvious ones were skyrocketing lumber, steel, and electrical prices, which made it impossible to stay on budget. We also ran into a lot of product delays. It felt like we waited forever on windows and appliances. We didn’t have a dishwasher for months after moving in, even though it had been ordered six months prior. 

In between the design overwhelm and the decision fatigue, we had some definite successes and highlights. One was a tile collaboration we did with our good friend and Boston potter, Jill Rosenwald. She designed beautiful tiles for Akdo, and we were one of the first homes to install them. We used two different tiles from her Fort Point collection in our master bathroom pictured below, and we love them so much.  

Another highlight was the American Clay plaster walls. It was a major splurge for us, and it was hard to find an artist locally who knew how to hand-trowel clay plaster walls.

Our biggest highlight was simply that we completed our first build starting from raw land. We made some mistakes along the way but kept learning and kept going. We really poured our hearts, sweat (a few tears), a lot of frustration—but so much love into the home and are so proud of how it turned out.  Having heard so many horror stories and having gone through one ourselves on our lake house remodel, we couldn’t have been more fortunate to be able to work with our amazing builders on this project.

From the textures to the finishes, is there a design element you love most in the home?

We have a soft spot for all the built-ins our talented finish carpenters built for us, especially the arched bunk beds. Our six-year-old loves climbing into the top bunk and showing off the bunkroom to his friends when they come to visit. 

Another breathtaking feature of the home is the massive windows in the great room. They look out over everything we love about Maine – the trees, the mountains, and the wildlife. We see deer out front most mornings and love having drinks on the patio looking up at the sixty-foot pine trees rocking back and forth. The sunsets pour through the giant dormer windows on the west side of the house, and it’s pretty magical. 

What’s on the horizon for you in 2024? Can we expect to see any new properties being added to the mix?

A few big things… we’ll share one! We welcomed a new baby boy into our family this year and realized we needed more room to host family and friends who love to come and enjoy Maine with us.  

We are now building what we lovingly call A-Frame 2.0.  It has an additional 1500 square feet and will fit our growing tribe.  It’s due to be completed this summer, and we can’t wait. 

Property Highlights

• New construction home with all the amenities. Cafe appliances in the kitchen with an induction stove. Waterfall shower in the primary bath and a soaking tub in the guest bath. Heated floors and even a heated toilet seat in the primary bath.
• New luxury six-person hot tub for aprés ski or summer evening hangs
• A private six-acre lot with wooded mountain views and gorgeous sunsets
• Fire pit with ample wood supplied for s’more nights
• Two smart TVs and Super fast high-speed internet for those looking to get away while still having to work
• Tesla charger with complementary charging
• Minutes to local shops, restaurants, grocery stores, hiking trails, and mountain biking and skiing at Mt. Abrams and popular ski resort, Sunday River
• Just 3 minutes away, you’ll find the town of Bethel, Maine—named one of the top ten prettiest mountain towns in New England by Yankee magazine

Click here to book your stay at the Maine A-Frame.

Like what you see? Take a peek at the talent behind the story… Rental: Maine A-Frame · Photography: Sean Litchfield · Builder: Clearwater Builders · Home Renderings: Mayra Coral · Master Bath Tile: Akdo by Jill Rosenwald · Cabinets: Bethel Kitchen Designs · Electrician: E W Electric · Plumbing & Heating: Community Energy · Sitework: Eagle Earthworks · Plaster: Plaster Renovations · Concrete: Henry’s Concrete · Wood Stain Work: First Choice Painting · Tile: Jason Russell Tile · Roofing: Cliff Harding Roofing