Villa Spindrift
The house we've rented a few times is an enormous block building just a few feet back from a rocky inlet. At high tide when there's a storm out to sea and a full moon the water comes to within about five feet of the foundation. There are storm drains in two places in the yard. A rogue wave would be unlikely where it's situated: it's protected in the cove from open ocean, but it *will* occasionally flood during the next 100 years.
The house was built in 1910, and shows its age in several ways. It has cracked and crumbling plaster in most of the upstairs bedrooms. It has cracked and crumbling exterior masonry in several places and needs regrouting in others. It has an antique oil tank in the basement powering a forced hot air furnace. (I have allergies and hate forced hot air heat.) It has fuse boxes instead of circuit breakers and hinky wiring through-out the house. The big farmhouse kitchen has been abused terribly and it would be hard to avoid redoing it. It needs a gas stove at the very least.
It's not hooked up to the sewer lines (although the neighborhood is served by sewer) and has a septic system of unknown value. It has its own well, but I'm not sure if it's on town water now or not.
It has a big yard for an island house, plenty of room for our camper and maybe a garden.
It has plenty of room, period: five bedrooms upstairs, a big kitchen, small livingroom with fireplace, a big enclosed porch facing the water, and a small diningroom in the middle of the house that can be used as a downstairs bedroom. There is a downstairs bathroom with shower that is walker-friendly. There's a full bathroom upstairs, too. There's a huge walk-out basement that is filled with 100 years of rusty tools and bits of pulleys and ropes and broken lobster traps. (The owner made his living as a lobsterman and raised his children in this house, but has retired to Sebago Lake.) I doubt it's insulated. It would be a bear to heat!
The view is astonishing. Upstairs there are two bedrooms with big east windows looking out over open ocean and two bedrooms with south windows looking out over to another island with a passage popular with pleasure craft in between. The southeast bedroom is lucky enough to get BOTH views (and that was our room.) There is also a small room in the middle of the upstairs that would make a good writing nook/library that also has a beautiful view of the ocean. They've got a door on it and use it as a closet. (Arrgggh!)
Downstairs you can see through to the passage from every single room, even at the back of the house. The only flaw in all of this is there's no deck or outside porch: it's really a three-season house where the summer season is the neglected one. We can sit out on the beach, though, and that's what we usually did. The house sits up on a high foundation (6.5" up from the yard) and that makes it difficult for the octogenarian to get in and out easily. He usually sat inside and watched us play on the lawn/beach. (There's a small breakwater between the beach and the lawn, but it's a bit of a joke in an era with global climate change.)
This location not only has a view, but it has sea sounds and smells, too. This is not always good. It's right near the area where fog horns go off (for the passage) and it's near the air raid siren that is tested every week and it's right under the flight path to Portland Int'l airport. It is NOT a quiet place. It has very little sunset action, either, which is sad for the sunset connoisseurs in our family.
It is NOT cozy. It would NOT be easy to heat. It's easy to get lost in this house. OTOH, it fits ten people with ease and comfort.
I suspect the owner isn't really thinking of selling it. I bet he told us this before we rented so we'd take good care of it, as potential owners. He's crafty like that. He waited to tell us his asking price until the day before we left, and it's really unrealistic at $900K. I can imagine paying $575 (though can't imagine how I'd fund that at the moment.) The owner is very eccentric and I don't expect him to list the property with an agent. This house (and maybe another he owns) will sell through inside connections. He doesn't rent it out, either: we're the first people he rented to and he rented a few more times and was unhappy with it and now only rents to us at a reasonable rate.) I suspect we can keep saving and keep renting and see where this turns out in a few years. He's pretty close to 80 and hates all his children and declares he isn't leaving them anything, so there's some negotiating room there. :-)
The house was built in 1910, and shows its age in several ways. It has cracked and crumbling plaster in most of the upstairs bedrooms. It has cracked and crumbling exterior masonry in several places and needs regrouting in others. It has an antique oil tank in the basement powering a forced hot air furnace. (I have allergies and hate forced hot air heat.) It has fuse boxes instead of circuit breakers and hinky wiring through-out the house. The big farmhouse kitchen has been abused terribly and it would be hard to avoid redoing it. It needs a gas stove at the very least.
It's not hooked up to the sewer lines (although the neighborhood is served by sewer) and has a septic system of unknown value. It has its own well, but I'm not sure if it's on town water now or not.
It has a big yard for an island house, plenty of room for our camper and maybe a garden.
It has plenty of room, period: five bedrooms upstairs, a big kitchen, small livingroom with fireplace, a big enclosed porch facing the water, and a small diningroom in the middle of the house that can be used as a downstairs bedroom. There is a downstairs bathroom with shower that is walker-friendly. There's a full bathroom upstairs, too. There's a huge walk-out basement that is filled with 100 years of rusty tools and bits of pulleys and ropes and broken lobster traps. (The owner made his living as a lobsterman and raised his children in this house, but has retired to Sebago Lake.) I doubt it's insulated. It would be a bear to heat!
The view is astonishing. Upstairs there are two bedrooms with big east windows looking out over open ocean and two bedrooms with south windows looking out over to another island with a passage popular with pleasure craft in between. The southeast bedroom is lucky enough to get BOTH views (and that was our room.) There is also a small room in the middle of the upstairs that would make a good writing nook/library that also has a beautiful view of the ocean. They've got a door on it and use it as a closet. (Arrgggh!)
Downstairs you can see through to the passage from every single room, even at the back of the house. The only flaw in all of this is there's no deck or outside porch: it's really a three-season house where the summer season is the neglected one. We can sit out on the beach, though, and that's what we usually did. The house sits up on a high foundation (6.5" up from the yard) and that makes it difficult for the octogenarian to get in and out easily. He usually sat inside and watched us play on the lawn/beach. (There's a small breakwater between the beach and the lawn, but it's a bit of a joke in an era with global climate change.)
This location not only has a view, but it has sea sounds and smells, too. This is not always good. It's right near the area where fog horns go off (for the passage) and it's near the air raid siren that is tested every week and it's right under the flight path to Portland Int'l airport. It is NOT a quiet place. It has very little sunset action, either, which is sad for the sunset connoisseurs in our family.
It is NOT cozy. It would NOT be easy to heat. It's easy to get lost in this house. OTOH, it fits ten people with ease and comfort.
I suspect the owner isn't really thinking of selling it. I bet he told us this before we rented so we'd take good care of it, as potential owners. He's crafty like that. He waited to tell us his asking price until the day before we left, and it's really unrealistic at $900K. I can imagine paying $575 (though can't imagine how I'd fund that at the moment.) The owner is very eccentric and I don't expect him to list the property with an agent. This house (and maybe another he owns) will sell through inside connections. He doesn't rent it out, either: we're the first people he rented to and he rented a few more times and was unhappy with it and now only rents to us at a reasonable rate.) I suspect we can keep saving and keep renting and see where this turns out in a few years. He's pretty close to 80 and hates all his children and declares he isn't leaving them anything, so there's some negotiating room there. :-)