Writer in Residence

Maureen asks for advice but never feels compelled to follow it. "I’d rather have things that tell stories about my life than have a decorator’s bland taste superimposed on me, even if I go over the top at times with too many leopard-print pillows," she says.

In the dining room, a previous resident had painted a mural of a porch overlooking rolling hills. "Paint over!" a friend ordered. But Maureen decided the mural would stay, and she colored the rest of the room’s walls a complementary sea green. Maureen also accessorized her home with several crystal chandeliers. The Depression-era glass and china came from her mother, Peggy Dowd, who died in 2005.