How Do You Turn a Maine Barn into a Dinner Hall Slash Pickleball Court?
If you’re this Mount Desert Island homeowner, you hire a team to make a really great room.
Architect: Lake Flato. Builder: Bloom Building & Construction. Interior Designer: Stephanie Rae Interiors / Photo by Sean Litchfield
The Challenge
The homeowner, who’d spent summers on Mount Desert Island for decades, dreamed of a more spacious retreat for his large family. A new barn on a 4-acre property straddling the rocky coast offered just the place he’d envisioned for his clan to gather and share adventures. But to accomplish that, the space needed a beautiful but functional great room equally suited for lobster dinners, indoor pickleball matches, and fireside evenings.
The Solution
The project team—architects from Lake Flato, builder Chris Mahaney, and his wife, interior designer Stephanie Mahaney—conceived the space as a soaring yet welcoming hub. A cathedral ceiling of single-plank fir with exposed beams plays against the raw concrete floor, balancing warmth and durability. At its center, a 34-foot-tall granite fireplace commands attention—a sculptural composition of boulders, none smaller than 2 square feet, surrounding a single 14-foot-long reclaimed granite hearth. A 15-person dining table rolls aside (or through 12-foot-tall steel doors to the patio) to make way for the indoor pickleball court, while teak sofas invite fireside relaxation. The result is a space that feels both enduring and exuberant: a Maine barn that serves as a year-round family playground.
This article was first published in the print edition of the December 2025/January 2026 issue with the headline: “Light My Fire.”
