Steve’s House

Clinging to the cliff of Whale Cove on the Digby Neck of Nova Scotia, Steve’s house, since 1982 had been the summer residence of NYC artist Steve Kuzma. The exterior is seasoned shake shingles, some floors are painted, others are covered in worn linoleum.. A record of skulls, shells, quilts and time-capsule canvases it reeked of neglect — just the way he liked it. In 2015, I was introduced to Steve, a small eighty-two year old man wearing a favourite Old Navy T-shirt and a pair of incredibly dirty chinos. It was his last summer at Whale Cove as he was moving life back to his multi-million dollar loft in New York City. After a tale-or-two tour, I asked to return the next day to document his house and his time well spent.
( Steve passed away at his home in NYC in January, 2023 at age 90.)

“This ramshackle 1905 Gothic house starred in a Hollywood movie as the model for Dolores Claiborne’s house in the 1995 Stephen King movie. During a rare Nova Scotia blizzard, Steve’s friend Rae called New York to tell Steve that Stephen Spielberg was interested in using his house for a movie, and asked Rae to meet Spielberg at the house. Rae didn’t believe a word of it but shoveled a path through the snow anyway. He was surprised when a van load of men in arctic gear showed up. He didn’t see Spielberg, but the man in charge seemed to like to talk as much as Rae does. They sat in the frigid house and chatted while the crew measured and photographed. “What’s this New York artist like?” the man asked. “Crazy as hell,” Rae responded. “All the good artists are,” observed Stephen King.” Excerpt from: A Home in Whale Cove, Family Life in a Nova Scotia Fishing Village - Clinton B. Alliston