BROOKS, Maine — If artist Kim Jacobs’ home at the end of a quiet road in the rural town of Brooks looks awfully familiar, there may be a good reason for that.
Jacobs, an illustrator whose work appears on calendars, greeting cards, stationery, gifts and books, often features her Zephyr Hill Farm in her cozy, appealing paintings. For example, the gray shingled entryway, which in the summer is festooned with lush greenery, needed only a few artistic flourishes before it ended up on the cover of her Cobblestone Way Calendar several years ago.
The calendar, now in its 28th year, is sold internationally, according to Jacobs, a petite woman whose vibrant Mexican-print blouse and skirt are as colorful and lively as her artwork. She and her husband, Bob Klein, have lived in Brooks for 18 years. They relocated to Maine from the West Coast in search of affordable land, sufficient rainfall for farming and a welcoming community. They have found those things in and around their off-the-grid home.
But the house and their lives have done a lot of evolving since they moved into the structure that originally was built by a group of back-to-the-landers.
“The core of the house was here,” she said. “It started out as — who knows? — a goat shed or something.”
When they first purchased the property, the kitchen was small, dark and cramped. The upstairs bedroom was tucked under a steeply pitched roof that compelled the 6-foot, 2-inch tall Klein to hunch over or risk bumping his head. Only propane lights illuminated the dark winter nights.
The couple made several changes that have added light, space and liveability. An addition gave them a new kitchen and expanded the upstairs living space. A big window in their bedroom means they have a wide view of the fields and forest below. A modified masonry wood stove is a focal point of their house, warming it in the wintertime, and solar-powered lights allow Jacobs to work by night — her preferred time to get things done — in her plant-filled home studio.
“I’m most creative at night in the dark,” she said. “I’m creating my own world. I don’t have all the distractions of wanting to be out in the garden.”
Most recently, Jacobs has spent her nights creating the bright world in the brand-new children’s book “Princess Rosie’s Rainbows” and a retelling of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale about the six swans, which has yet to be published.
By day, at least during the growing season, she helps tend the large vegetable gardens that provide most of the produce she and Klein eat. The duo have planted a variety of fruit and nut trees on their property, too, including chestnuts, walnuts, northern pecans and hazelnuts.
In some ways, Zephyr Hill Farm is not unlike the carefully developed world of her art. It is peaceful, welcoming and a sanctuary for Jacobs and Klein.
“We love it here,” she said.