a modern RENO in maine

WITH STEWARDSHIP IN MIND, A REAL ESTATE-SAVVY COUPLE LOVINGLY ADD TO A HOUSE BUILT IN 1972 BY A WELL-KNOWN ARCHITECT AS HIS OWN HOME.

BY REGINA COLE

WITH A LARGE PERCENTAGE of old housing stock, Maine isn’t often associated with 20th-century Modern architecture. Yet a tour of Portland, the state’s largest city, reveals a fine collection of Atomic Age buildings; most were designed by John Leasure. A native of Pennsylvania, Leasure moved to Maine ca. 1960; he subsequently served as chairman of the Maine State Board of Architects. Known for such public buildings as the South Portland Library, he built a home for his family, from 1968 to 1972, in Cape Elizabeth, a Portland suburb. “We bought this house in 2018, when Leasure was 90 years old,” says Laurel LaBauve. (The architect died in 2022.) She and her husband, Richard, were attracted to the hillside site, its seasonal ocean view, and to the multi-level house with ceiling heights…

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Old House Journal (Digital) - 1 Issue, May/June 2024

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