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“I like the darkness of walnut. Other woods tend to yellow if you don’t stain it, while walnut stays true to itself,” Caleb says. The white glass tile backsplash melds with the wall.

This 1,200-square-foot cabin was designed as a forest retreat for a family of writers and producers.

The home’s modest size meant Caleb did not have to worry too much about material and labor costs. For example, all the interior walls are done in plaster, which is three-to-four times more expensive than drywall in Maine.

Light pours through clerestory windows in the master bathroom. Staying true to the home’s overall aesthetic, Sweet used simple, contrasting materials—white oak for the cabinets and Ann Sacks white tiles for the walls.

In the living room, set beyond the kitchen and dining area, floor-to-ceiling wooden shelving span across the rear wall, complementing the home's surrounding millwork.

The most recent homeowner updated the kitchen and bathrooms.

DiNiord collaborated with craftsman Ken Hood to design the concrete bench with firewood storage and detachable wood back. Douglas fir columns along the walkway creates a colonnade. The mono-sloped roof is a nod to the long roofline of the original house that stood on the property. “Reducing the angles also reflects the strictness to budget,” the wife says.

The simple and stylish dining set complements the dark kitchen.

Fir-veneer plywood wraps the entire interior of a compact guest cabin with a 12-by-15-foot footprint, smaller than a single-car garage.

A north-facing skylight above the kitchen maximizes heat absorption, helpful in the cool climate.