Alexa Stark camped, fished, and swum in Peter’s Pond as a kid. And over the summers, she made lifelong friends like Charlotte Woodman. But when the summers ended, her family would pack up and head back to New Jersey. Until the next summer. So, there was no question that after Parsons School of Design in NYC, that she’d return to Maine. And to do that, she lined an artist residency in Portland, with the idea of after, starting her own clothing line. And before all that, she’d take a cross-country road trip to visit friends living in the other Portland. But life has turns. Two weeks after arriving in Oregon, her residency was cancelled. So, two weeks there became two months, which became two years, with became ten. In that time, she built her own brand of sustainable and upcycled clothing. She opened a store for her fashion. She was even flying all over the world, for fashion shows and to the factories manufacturing her clothing. In 2021, the Metropolitan Museum of Art added two of her pieces to their collection, a dress and a "hooked" coat. But that life also took a toll. It was leaving her exhausted. And she found herself too busy too busy to maintain relationships with friends, family and partners. And in that, she began to see how she much she’d left her ideal of having a small, sustainable art practice. Alexa did something few people would have done: she took a break and closed her businesses. And month later, COVID arrived, and everyone took a break. She packed her car and drove to Waldoboro. It’s three years here now. In June, along with her father and friends, she opened the Waldoboro Inn, offering three rooms for overnight stays plus one for an artist in residence. In July, she opened a garden bar; and there, she also hosted art workshops and pop-up fairs. This month, she opened an inside bar and pool room, plus pop-up dinners like Monday evening pasta nights. But the most meaningful for her is being able to offer the space to the community – for Lions Club meetings, a knitting-and-craft circle, the Lincoln County Democrats, and anyone else who might ask.
I just packed up the car and left Portland (OR) and drove to Waldoboro, being, “What have I done? Why did I do this?”
But when I got to Dutch Neck, I set up a studio downstairs in my dad’s basement. I started exploring my other art practices. Sculpture. Painting. Weaving. Tufting. Whatever I wanted to do. Like a lot of people, I went on long walks, and that’s when I’d think, “What kind of work can I do here, where I can be creative and make things?”
And then this house came on the market. When I first walked through it, all I could think was, “What would I do with all of this?”
Then I thought, “Maybe I’ll start a school, like a fashion school! Maybe I’ll do an art school! Or just artist residencies. Maybe I’ll hire seamstresses, and this becomes like a small factory where we will make clothes for other people in the state!” And I liked the idea of hosting people. But how could I make it a space for everybody in the community to use?
One of my favorite things has been creating spaces, like I had done with the store in Portland. I think it’s because when you enter, you are walking into my world, into my design brain. I thought, “Hmmm. An inn.”
Then, my friends Nathan Reimer and Danielle Lombardi from Portland (OR) came to visit. I suggested they look at it. When we met up later, they were like, “So, do you want to open up an inn?” And I was, “I thought you’d never ask.”
And that’s how we all, my dad included, decided to buy it.
One of my biggest fears was, “What if no one accepts this person from ‘away’?” As much as I know a lot of people, I’m still from ‘away,’ and that’s a big thing around here. And the town of Waldoboro has its own history, and there’s all different incomes here, and we don’t want to offer something that’s unapproachable. We want something that is within reach. But then, we also need to pay the taxes and the bills and our staff. Figuring out that balance has been scary.
And I’ve never owned a house before. Things like the foundation. New roof. Exterior painting. Those are my really scary parts. On the other hand, we’re only a few months in. We haven’t even had our first winter, and we don’t know that’s going to go.
I have amazing business partners and friends. In those months before we opened, we didn’t stop once, but if I got bummed out about something, all I needed to do was call and tell them what was happening. Sometimes they’d say, “Keep your head down and keep going.” And sometimes it was, “Go home. Take a nap. Go to bed.”
Michelle Carter is my right-hand person. On good days, when she’s flipping rooms or helping out with the baking, we’ll pass in the hallway and give each other high fives. On the bad ones, we’re hugging each other and saying, “It’s going to be okay,” because little things come up, like our cars not working, or our dogs getting sick. Or I might just be down on myself for forgetting to put in the wine order.
I love making clothes and things like curtains and pillows, but I don’t miss the fashion world. I loved having people come into the shop and try things on. Or giving workshops there. But I am doing that here.
In fact, I think I’m more myself, here in Waldoboro, than I’ve ever been in my life. I wear jeans and a t-shirt because I’m always doing something with my hands, or I’m on my knees crawling around, building something, and this never suited the fashion world. But here? I am at home. I’m at peace. And best of all, I’m with my peeps.
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