SACO – For almost 100 years, the quaint summer cottage on Ferry Beach had been in Joe Hardman’s family.

Year in and year out, the house stood as a seaside refuge for Hardman and his relatives.

Additional Photos

The master bedroom, although tight on space, allows a king-sized bed and a gigantic view. Jill Brady/Staff Photographer

Most of the walls are knotty pine, adding to the casual feel the owners wanted. Jill Brady/Staff Photographer

A short wall – instead of a railing – on the wrap-around porch keeps the land out of sight, providing only ocean views for someone relaxing there. Jill Brady/Staff Photographer

The former Hardman cottage on Ferry Beach in Saco after it was destroyed by the Patriots Day storm in 2007 Courtesy photo

Joe and Kathy Hardman’s replacement cottage, built in 2008, sits 6 feet above the sand on pilings driven 20 feet into the ground. It was designed using a cross shape, creating more surface for windows providing ocean views and more living space on the porch. Jill Brady/Staff Photographer

One of four upstairs bedrooms looks out at the ocean, just across a dirt road. Jill Brady/Staff Photographer

But in one fell swoop — namely, the mighty Patriots Day storm of April 2007 — the house was destroyed. Waves swept under the house, causing it to fall in on itself.

The Hardmans — Joe and his wife, Kathy — knew they wanted to rebuild. But their lot is perilously close to the water — it’s basically across a narrow dirt road from a rock wall where waves crash.

So their challenge was to build the strongest, most weather-resistant home they could while following a myriad of town, state and federal regulations.

They would be helped by the fact that building and planning technology is certainly a lot better than it was 100 years ago, but they were limited by their small lot and by the fact that building regulations are stricter than they used to be. Especially so close to the water.

With the help of Biddeford architect Caleb Johnson and Saco builder Bob Casey, the Hardmans were able to overcome their obstacles. The result is a new cottage — the same size as the old one — with a warm, rustic look and feel throughout, but built to withstand some of the worst weather the Maine coast might throw at it.

For one thing, the house sits 6 feet above the sand on wooden pilings that are driven 20 feet into the ground. So even if waves were to rush past the house and take 10 feet of sand back into the ocean with them, the house will remain standing, said Johnson. (This is based on calculations, of course; they won’t know for sure unless it happens.)

The house also has metal straps to help secure it to the pilings. This provides stability in high winds.

“I was in the house once when the wind was blowing about as hard as I’ve seen it,” said Kathy Hardman. “I would have been scared if I hadn’t known everything that went into it.”

Besides the challenge of building for the weather, Johnson had to design a house that would fit onto the same small lot in a densely populated beach neighborhood.

Because of zoning, the new house is limited to the same interior square footage (1,200 on two floors) and about the same porch square footage (800) as the old one.

And the Hardmans, who live most of the year in Windsor, Conn., wanted four bedrooms for family and guests.

Johnson’s solution was to design a house that forms a cross. As you walk in, you find yourself in an entryway and eating/gathering space in the middle of the cross.

Then there is a fairly spacious galley kitchen in one wing of the cross, and a living/family room in the other. All three areas are open to each other.

The floors are wood, and most walls are knotty pine. The interior is decidedly not fancy.

“We wanted a place with amenities we didn’t have before, like an upstairs bathroom, but we still wanted it to feel like a camp,” said Joe, a sales representative.

By using a cross shape, there is more surface for windows looking out at the ocean. And with a wrap-around porch, the cross shape helps create four outdoor rooms in areas of the porch.

By building short walls on the porches — instead of a railing you can see through — someone sitting on the porch can’t see the land in front of the house, only the water. It creates the optical illusion that you are sitting on the deck of a ship.

Upstairs, there are four bedrooms, although one is very small. But most have tremendous ocean views.

Because the house is relatively small, there’s not much closet space, or extra space of any kind.

“One way we saved space was by installing a lot of overhead lighting and only using ceiling fans,” said Joe. “Before, we were always tripping over all our floor lamps and fans.”

The house was designed to be maintenance free, with no stain or paint outside, just natural wood that will weather over time.

“We’re so close to the ocean that the sound helps me sleep at night,” said Kathy. “Even if it’s cold, I leave one window open to get the sound.”

Staff Writer Ray Routhier can be contacted at 791-6454 or at rrouthier@pressherald.com

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