1. MARCH 2016
AN ART-FILLED DEERING BUNGALOW SNOWSHOE TO PORTLAND’S JEWELL FALLS BITTERS SHINE AT VENA’S FIZZ HOUSE
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3. by Sophie Nelson • Photography by Myriam Babin • Styling by Janice Dunwoody

4. MARCH // 2016 47
IN A PLAYFUL HOME
Artful
LivingA visit with PMA Store director Sally Struever in her family’s Deering bungalow
Sometimes I spend as much time in art
museum stores as I do looking at the art itself.
No matter how little time I have at the Portland
Museum of Art, I am inevitably drawn to spend
a chunk of it at the PMA Store, where I can
count on finding accessories unlike any I’ve ever
seen before—blown glass that looks plucked
from a Dali painting, and little wooden toys so
beautiful they are like pieces of art themselves. I
always leave with a thank-you card or five. Now
I know that I have Sally Struever to thank for
that.
Struever is the director of the PMA Store,
which means—among other things—that she
does all of the buying for the store. I already
knew I loved her taste, so you can imagine
my excitement on my way to visit her in the
Deering home she shares with her husband,
Peter Eiermann, finance coordinator at the
Portland Symphony Orchestra, and their five-
year-old son, Jasper. Approaching the door, I
run into Eiermann carrying a canvas sling of
firewood from the garage. He gestures for me to
follow him up a narrow staircase into the open-
concept, horseshoe-shaped kitchen and living
space. Just back from the gym (“it was an arm
day”), Struever’s standing at the kitchen island,
unwrapping and arranging a selection of cheese
and sausage on a cutting board. Jasper is playing
on the floor near the sleek wood-burning stove,
watching the logs catch and burn through a
large glass window. Everything about this home
and the people inside it conveys a sense of calm.
Hundreds of little details catch my eye.
From my stool at the counter, I note the
large, textural abstract in one corner of the
living room and a fabulous hammered-metal
dresser nearby. The space is also filled with
objects I might find at the PMA, pieces that
showcase Struever’s distinctive taste—colorful,
alternatively graphic and detailed, a mix of high
and low, sophisticated and whimsical. But this
environment lacks that austerity so delicious in
art museums and potentially chilling in a home.
This place feels lived-in. On the kitchen island
scraps of paper and Star Wars action figures sit
Sally Struever and Peter
Eiermann’s home is
colorful inside and out.
Here is a cabinet of
reclaimed wood and
stainless steel by Ritter
Furniture, Slinky Vases
from Tandem Glass
Studio, a bold, textural
painting by Lu Heinz,
Balinese mask by Ida
Bagus Anom, framed
artwork by Dave Cole,
and a Jo Dery print.

5. 48 OLD PORT oldport.com
alongside a tall, striped ceramic vase made by a
family friend, Providence, Rhode Island-based
artist David Allyn. As it turns out, most of their
furniture was handed down from family and
most of their art was made by friends, making a
tour of their home a biographical experience.
Struever was born and raised in Baltimore and
studied graphic design at Rhode Island School
of Design. She was working on a nonprofit
development project in Providence, renovating
old mill buildings into artist workspace,
commercial, and mixed-use developments,
when she met Eiermann, who was running an
industrial arts center in an old steel fabrication
plant at the time. After growing up around
the Northeast, Eiermann attended Hartwick
College, where he majored in business
management and minored in art. As evidenced
by their eclectic resumes and the collection of
silkscreen prints adorning their walls, they are
both artists with broad interests who gravitate
toward places where art, culture, politics, and
economics intersect.
While they loved Providence, by the mid-
2000s, the couple was interested in making a
move. “Right now, small towns, small cities,
seem to be really interesting places to be,” says
Struever. “You don’t need to be in big cities
anymore to get the exposure to culture.” From
2008 through 2011, the couple ran their own
store on Congress Street, Eli Phant, which
featured artwork, tableware, home goods, and
accessories. While running Eli Phant, Struever
came into contact with lots of Maine makers
and has built upon her relationships with these
local artists as director of the PMA Store.
When it came time for them to buy a house,
Struever and Eiermann were willing to take
on a project, and to do a lot of the renovations
themselves. “We didn’t want something that
had been recently renovated, but we did want
something that felt manageable,” says Struever.
After purchasing their 1,332-square-foot
bungalow, built in 1920, they opened up the
first-floor plan and got to work on the most
important room—that is, the kitchen—first.
Struever designed the space, a carpenter friend
“We didn’t want something
that had been recently
renovated, but we did
want something that felt
manageable.”

6. Struever designed the
kitchen, a carpenter
friend built cabinets,
and Eiermann and his
brother installed them,
including the beautiful
(and affordable) wooden
countertops.
Opposite: The Deering
neighborhood is just a
few minutes’ drive from
Portland’s downtown and
walkable in its own right.

7. 50 OLD PORT oldport.com
built cabinets, and Eiermann and his brother
installed them, including the beautiful (and
affordable) wooden countertops.
Knowing they would spend a great deal of time
in the kitchen, Struever and Eiermann decided
against upper shelving in favor more wall space.
They removed the fake wood paneling from
the walls and found a creative way to deal with
the scuffed surface underneath. American Clay
plaster saved them months of sanding, and the
gritty, off-white surface makes for a warm and
earthy backdrop. The little red rocking chair in
one corner belonged to a great-aunt; the rolltop
desk in another corner was Struever’s as a girl.
She refers to her eclectic collection of pillows as
“jewels for the couch.” The upstairs rooms are
even more playful than those on the first floor.
Scraps of vintage cloth serve as curtains, and
the beds are topped with artfully mismatched
bedding by designers like Angela Adams and
Donna Wilson. On the second floor, art ranges
from Maine landscape paintings to framed
poems to prints by fellow RISD graduates to a
large work by photographer Abelardo Morell,
which has—to my delight—found a temporary
home on a wall surrounded by glow-in-the-
dark stars before securing prime placement
downstairs.
Struever and Eiermann tell me that their home
is still a work in progress. A mysterious leak has
torn a hole in the kitchen ceiling, and they have
yet to renovate the bathroom. But to me, their
house is a reminder that art is not meant to be
the cherry on top of a perfect home—it is far
more important than that. Art is meant to be
enjoyed. The paintings and cups and couches
we live with can be beautiful and meaningful
without being so serious.
In Struever and Eiermann’s whimsical home,
Jasper’s toys become part of the decor. Struever
laughs when I point to a piece of paper resting
on top of a table near the bathroom. “That’s
called Daily Toothbrush and Flossing Chart,”
she says in a mock-serious tone. “A piece of
functional art.” And the “sticky guy” action
figure from DeLorme Map Store who appears
to be walking across the ceiling? “We had a bet
going how long it would stick up there,” she
says. “It’s been four months now. It’s also our
reminder that we still need to take this ceiling
out.”

8. MARCH // 2016 51
From top: The couple
loves their sleek Rais
woodstove and inherited
furniture, like this little
red rocking chair that
belonged to Struever’s
great aunt, and the end
table made of salvaged
beams by Struever’s
uncle, Fred Struever.
Colorful silkscreen prints
by Ian Cozzens and a
ceramic plate by Patti
Sandberg hang above
a dresser in the couple’s
bedroom. Opposite,
from top: In the open-
concept downstairs
living space, the
couch is an important
gathering place for the
family. Jasper’s bunk
bed was Eiermann’s as
a child. His bedroom, like
the rest of the house, is
filled with art of all kinds,
including puppets and
beautiful housewares,
such as these cloud
print blankets by Donna
Wilson.
Kate Lowry
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