The Simple Pleasures – and Features – of the Classic Maine Lakefront Camp

It’s Winter in Maine! Lakefront Property Inaccessible? How about a View Lot?
December 31, 2007
The Simple Pleasures – and Features – of the Classic Maine Lakefront Camp
January 28, 2008

The Simple Pleasures – and Features – of the Classic Maine Lakefront Camp

Installment#1:
The Pine Interior
I never tire of the feeling I get when I step into a classic Maine camp for the first time. The warmth of the natural pine interior seems to envelope me in a welcoming embrace.
The classic Maine sporting camp features a natural pine interior, made of 3/4″ inch pickwick pine boards. The appearance of a pine interior actually improves with every passing summer. Over time, pine interior develops a patina that attains a kind of glow. Some camp owners, much more energetic than I, actually wipe down the pine walls with cottonseed oil every spring when they open their camps for the season. I consider this gilding the lily. Admirable but unnecessary. Remember it’s a camp, not The Oak Room at the Plaza.
Camps from the 30’s to the early 70’s all feature pine interiors. Pine was so incredibly plentiful that builders back then considered pine boards a cheaper alternative to plastered walls. Long before Maine became known as Vacationland it was called The Pine Tree State. Even today, Maine is still 90% forested.
Stay tuned. Installment # 2: The Death of the Pine Interior

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