The pretty yellow carriage house that sits on a ridge overlooking the Sheepscot River in Boothbay Harbor, started as just that — a carriage house — with an apartment. Suzie Groton and her husband Neal planned to live in the apartment while they built their house on the property.

Instead it became the couple's home. But don't feel sorry for them. To say the carriage house they built 10 years ago has all the amenities of home is an understatement.

Neal Groton, who owns Groton Construction, designed and built the two-plus bedroom (the plus being a mini bedroom, or “nest” for their cat, TinkerBelle) with Suzie's help, and artistic expertise. Aside from suggestions and inspirational ideas about the interior design, Suzie, an experienced painter, painted the entire interior, as well as a lot of the hand-built and flea market-acquired furniture and fixtures.

With two large black garage doors facing the road on the front of the carriage house, it could be mistaken for an oversized two-story garage, if not for the lovely lemony yellow color and the elegance of the ornate Gothic arches and windows adorning its facade.

The house is entered through a garden room on the ground floor. It's not exactly what you'd think of as a working garden room, with its clean concrete floor, a couch, a comfy-looking swayback chair, and a very cool slate sink tucked in beside the stair leading up to the main floor. Suzie said that, according to her father, the comfy-looking chair was once in the Vatican. It now serves as a sitting place for TinkerBelle. “We don't really know if it's true that it came from the Vatican, but we like the story, and now it's TinkerBelle's chair,” Suzie said.

A lot of the furniture came from a flea market, or is a family heirloom. A white reupholstered couch in the living room belonged to Suzie’s grandparents and is well over 100 years old. “Everything has a story behind it,” she said.

The roof tiles that look like slate are actually made from recycled tires.

The house is open and airy throughout, with a large dining table in the center, surrounded by two sitting rooms and the large open kitchen, that features all handmade cabinetry built by Joe Jose of Linekin Bay Woodworkers. All the walls and woodwork were painted by Suzie, in soft, subtle hues.

Looking up at the high ceiling, you notice some fancy railings around loft areas. Groton said she was hanging around in the rafters one day while her husband was working down below, and she realized it would be a good place for a loft. Now, on each side of the house there are “step ladders” reminiscent of companionways on big boats, leading up to the small lofts/rooms. One of them has become Suzie's office, and the other is the “cat's nest.” That's right — it is a special room, with a small bed, for TinkerBelle. The bed, with a fluffy white comforter, looked as comfortable as her Vatican chair downstairs.

There's also a new propane heater in the cat's nest, but Suzie claims that's for the whole house, not just TinkerBelle. But you have to wonder.

TinkerBelle is obviously spoiled, but why wouldn't she be? Suzie said when her husband was designing the house he always had their two cats, at that time, in mind. Hence the extra-wide window sills and railings around the lofts. There’s also a special closet off the garden room for TinkerBelle’s bathroom. It is entered through a little Alice in Wonderland door in the shape iof, you guessed it — a Gothic arch.

Across a stone courtyard behind the carriage house sits a smaller version of it: the guest house. It was built, again by Neal, using lumber that was milled from trees on the land. The trees were cut down to allow for the lovely landscaping and stone walls that surround the property. Suzie calls the guest house rustic, and it is, compared to the house, but it's still a space that most wouldn't mind spending a vacation in. “You can just step back from time here,” she said. “It's not fancy. Most of the furniture came from yard sales, or my parents' house, that I painted. We had friends and family coming and staying here all summer. They love coming and staying in here.” There's a shower outside the back door.

Groton said she and her husband are still “fine-tuning” the house; but it looks pretty fine-tuned already.

Walking back to the house from the guest house Suzie reflected on her thoughts about her property. “It's just a feeling you get. It's peaceful — good medicine for the soul.”