A family-owned blueberry farm near the Maine coast is on the market for $755,000.
The Northport property includes 80 acres of wild blueberry fields and a large three-story home, too, making it a rare offering only a couple of miles from the ocean, listing agent Haley Rakis said.
“Not a lot of blueberry farms come up for sale, it’s a really great opportunity,” Rakis, a realtor with RE/MAX Jaret & Cohn, said. “It’s a really amazing, unique property near the coast.”
The land has been owned by the Morse family for a couple generations, Jeff Morse said. Jeff’s father, Harold, built the home there in 1978. For decades, Harold Morse maintained the farm himself. The family’s patriarch would mow, spread hay across the fields, spray pesticides over the crops and burn the fields after the snow melted.
Jeff recalled fond memories of helping his father farm and of watching local middle schoolers come over to help rake the fields. As he got older, Harold couldn’t physically do the work any longer and started to lease the land out for others to farm.
As has been the case with many generational farms around Maine, once he passed away last April at the age of 95, none of his children were able to take it over and had to list it for sale.
“If I could afford to buy out my siblings and if I did not have a few years left before I can retire, I would consider keeping it,” Jeff Morse said.
The Morse children listed the property for sale last summer. It has seen lots of interest from prospective buyers since then, Rakis said. Despite that, it hasn’t sold yet because no one yet has wanted to continue the blueberry farm, the realtor said.
“Mostly people have been interested in splitting the property,” Rakis said. “The sellers aren’t interested in splitting it.”
The Morse family would be happy with a new buyer taking over the 80-acre farm and continuing to lease it out instead of farming it themselves. For the right buyer, it’s a great deal. The land yields a big harvest, Rakis said, and the Morse family used to sell jam they made.
Sweetening that deal is the 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom ranch-style home included with the property. The house has commanding views of the surrounding fields from its closed-in porch, and also includes a wood furnace, large basement, office spaces and a garage. The property also boasts proximity to the ocean. It’s closest to the midcoast town of Northport but the city of Belfast is about five miles away.
What Jeff Morse loves most about the place is the beauty of the landscape. Morse has seen countless vibrant sunsets, bright stars and even the northern lights from the comfort of his home here. The area is teeming with wildlife, too, he said. Deer, wild turkeys, eagles and moose have been spotted on the property, and its 1-acre pond is stocked with trout.
“We used to swim and canoe in the pond as well as ice skate in the winter. There are snowmobile trails through the property, and I had a dirt bike that I used to race around on,” Morse said. “It’s a pretty big place … that could easily house a family of 6 or more or just a retired couple with lots of guest rooms.”