A Modern Play

A few years ago, Stephen and Victoria Gilbert were living in a small townhouse in Auburn, near the offices of their branding agency, Anchour, while they looked for the right place to build their home. They had a good sense of what they were after; both Stephen and Victoria are trained and practicing designers. “I’ve always valued design and thought a lot about its influence on spaces,” says Stephen. “If I had to start over and pick something different, my career path might have been architecture.” As young business owners, “work was life, life was work,” he says. “Our goal was to buy a beautiful piece of land somewhere on a dirt road where we could have gardens, maybe animals.” And they found one. A 13-acre parcel of wooded land in Stephen’s hometown of New Gloucester fit the bill. It wasn’t for sale, but the owners were willing to part with it. For the two design enthusiasts, the fun part was about to begin.