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Wonder Valley Fixer-Upper: A Seaside Cottage Redone

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Wonder Valley Fixer-Upper: A Seaside Cottage Redone

September 30, 2024

Family made, with a California-cool spirit: That’s how Alison and Jay Carroll describe Wonder Valley, their olive oil-turned-skincare and haircare company that’s gained a cult following over the past ten years.

It’s also how one could sum up this tumbledown cottage that they revitalized together: colorful, hip, sustainability minded.

Except the cottage is not in California at all: not in Joshua Tree, where the couple also has a house, or even on the West Coast. It’s on Bailey Island, Maine. Here’s how they wound up on a tiny cove across the country:

“Buying BIBS (we call it the Bailey Island Beach Shack) furthers my belief that the home finds you,” Alison says. “We spent years searching in Maine. This was pre-pandemic times when you had, more or less, the pick of the litter and it was generally a pretty mellow and non-competitive process. Then 2020 happened, and it felt like all of a sudden the whole world was very interested in Maine real estate. We lost five homes we put offers on that summer and drove back west for the winter with our tail between our legs.

A month later, a fortuitous twist: “Our realtor called us about a foreclosure auction on Bailey Island. Jay’s family has been coming here for generations, so it’s special to us; it’s our happy summer place. We decided to go for it, sight unseen. Our good friend Carter Smith, who has an incredible eye, went to the open house and gave us the thumbs up. For the auction, Carter and our realtor FaceTimed us from the lobster restaurant next to the house. The service was spotty and it was hard to follow. We were three hours behind, sitting in our pajamas at 6 a.m., when we learned we won. A few months later we drove back cross-country with our tools and went to work.”

The house was in rough shape, “but the first order of business was to buy a little boat and set up a mooring right in front of the house,” Alison says. “If we were going to be slinging hammers and sleeping on sawdust, at least we would have the saving grace of being out on the water.”

“For several years now we’ve split time between the high desert and our small island in Maine; we do this with our longtime sidekick, Lefty, and our 2-year-old daughter, Bo.” The family is moving from the cottage—they close this week—but Maine has them hooked: “We’re on the hunt for a home in the Midcoast to root and raise Bo,” they report.

Here, Alison takes us on a farewell tour of the cottage. (Scroll down for a look at the interiors before, too, which she succinctly describes as “a lot of knotty pine and shellac”.)

Photography by Jay Carroll.

After

the cottage, when alison and jay won the auction, was in rough shape. &#8\2 17
Above: The cottage, when Alison and Jay won the auction, was in rough shape. “It felt like being in an old lobster restaurant,” Alison says. “There was an old Boston Whaler buried in the yard. It also had a leaky roof, cramped bedrooms, and grape-purple carpet everywhere.” (Scroll down for photo evidence.) But it had “charm to work with”, she says, plus a prime location: “It sits right in the middle of the cove that looks out at the majestic and one-of-a-kind Cribstone Bridge. Jay’s boat Moon Snail is moored right there.” Here, a pile of buoys—a Maine classic—marks the entrance.
in addition to shoring up the existing cottage, the couple also built an additi 18
Above: In addition to shoring up the existing cottage, the couple also built an addition that includes a mudroom (shown here) and Bo’s room. “We also did a lot of unglamorous but necessary updates: all the utilities, new roof, new deck, and cleaning up the yard,” Alison says.
&#8\2\20;we knew we wanted a proper mudroom, since we’re constantly  19
Above: “We knew we wanted a proper mudroom, since we’re constantly dragging all the sand and stones and periwinkles from the beach into the house,” says Alison. “And we wanted pegboard so we could hang stuff from it and keep the storage breathable. We built the pegboard closet with the help of a talented carpenter friend and added the storage underneath for all the five-gallon jugs we have for drinking water.”
if the kitchen palette feels familiar, it&#8\2\17;s no accident: &#8\2\ 20
Above: If the kitchen palette feels familiar, it’s no accident: “My favorite color is orange, something you see a lot of in Wonder Valley packaging,” says Alison. “We brought that into the kitchen with the handles on the Blue Star range and the recessed Smeg fridge.” The kitchen faucet is from Watermark, and the brass cabinet hardware is from Commune’s collaboration with Liz’s Antique Hardware.
&#8\2\20;there are a few portholes that we added to the home, including thi 21
Above: “There are a few portholes that we added to the home, including this one, above the kitchen sink, that looks into Bo’s room,” says Alison. “The pre-Bo idea was that if we had guests staying in the back bedroom we could hand over coffee in the morning from the kitchen. More practically, the breeze flows from the back to the front of the house, giving us a lot more airflow in the hotter months.” Note the BIBS pitcher: “a wonderful gift made by the talented ‘pot dealer’ Sarah Keats. Sarah only works on trade, which I find to be a radically refreshing approach to art.”
knotty pine in the pantry. &#8\2\20;the orange is a happy base for our very 22
Above: Knotty pine in the pantry. “The orange is a happy base for our very ordinary jug of drinking water,” says Alison. “We tried our best to turn an eyesore into a focal point.” (It’s also concealed by a Poisson Tea Towel by Amuse La Bouche.)
&#8\2\20;the main room was all knotty pine,&#8\2\2\1; alison recalls. & 23
Above: “The main room was all knotty pine,” Alison recalls. “We wanted to keep it on the ceilings but bring some light into the space. Jay had the idea for a blend of a few different warm whites. We have two for the walls (White Dove and Cloud White), brighter white for the trim. The effect is subtle and calming, more felt than noticed.” And under all that deep purple was a surprise: “We were thrilled to find hardwood floors tucked away under all the carpet. It felt like opening up the best present.” The orange polka-dot light is Wonder Valley’s own hand-painted design.
&#8\2\20;jay and i both share an affinity for antiquing,&#8\2\2\1; says 24
Above: “Jay and I both share an affinity for antiquing,” says Alison. “He tends to be more discerning and curates these wonderful vignettes throughout the home. He likes to collect used painter’s palettes, which are hanging in the bathroom. My style is more to find the 100th ceramic bowl that we don’t need but I just love.”
a workspace with a view. 25
Above: A workspace with a view.
bo&#8\2\17;s room/the guest room (note the porthole window, which looks thr 26
Above: Bo’s room/the guest room (note the porthole window, which looks through to the kitchen). Here, and in the mudroom, the couple added mix-and-match flooring: “leftovers from a bargain bin at a pal’s wood supply shop. They were all patchwork-y, so we decided to paint them a classic seaside blue. We referenced the blue book cover of a Eliot Porter book of Maine photography. Seemed fitting.”
&#8\2\20;i love the bathroom so much,&#8\2\2\1; says alison. &#8\2\ 27
Above: “I love the bathroom so much,” says Alison. “We went monochromatic for the walls, floor, ceiling, and sink with Farrow & Ball’s India Yellow. For the shower we picked a tonal tile from Clé. The yellow sconces were a very lucky and random internet find; we had the twin pair in Wonder Valley’s Oil Shop in Marfa. The large nautical knots are from our friend Tim’s shop in Stonington called Marlinspike Chandlery.”
the sink is from watermark; beside it is a bottle of wonder valley hand soap. 29
Above: The sink is from Watermark; beside it is a bottle of Wonder Valley hand soap.
in the bedroom off of the dining area, a rock serves as doorstop. 30
Above: In the bedroom off of the dining area, a rock serves as doorstop.
more orange, and a classic seagrass mat, in the couple&#8\2\17;s bedroom. t 31
Above: More orange, and a classic seagrass mat, in the couple’s bedroom. The second added a porthole window here, too, just out of frame, “looking into the backyard pizza oven and gardens.”
there&#8\2\17;s also direct access to the deck and, beyond that, the cove. 32
Above: There’s also direct access to the deck and, beyond that, the cove.
&#8\2\20;jay built us a beautiful outdoor pizza oven (with the help of cart 33
Above: “Jay built us a beautiful outdoor pizza oven (with the help of Carter’s dad).” He also built an outdoor shower “with much more care and attention to detail than what would be required of a humble beach cottage,” Alison says. “I had a dream for a vintage porthole to look out on the water from the shower, and he found the perfect one at a salvage spot that had been on an old steel navy ship. He also created a little curtain using a sublimated Japanese nylon fabric he had saved from his denim design days.”
Wonder Valley FixerUpper A Seaside Cottage Redone portrait 7 34
Above: BIBS.
and the view. 35
Above: And the view.

Before

the mudroom, very much in process. 36
Above: The mudroom, very much in process.
alison and jay in the kitchen, with wood floors newly revealed. 37
Above: Alison and Jay in the kitchen, with wood floors newly revealed.
and what the main room was like when they found it, maroon carpet and all. 38
Above: And what the main room was like when they found it, maroon carpet and all.

N.B.: You can do some Zillow sleuthing on the cottage right over here.

And for more by Alison and Jay, see A California Creative Couple’s Desert-Modern Hotel in Santa Fe.

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