A 6,244-square-foot former schoolhouse in Stockton Springs, built in 1853, is for sale.
The six-bedroom, five-bathroom building listed for $275,000 was both an elementary and high school during its lifetime, then became office space for local businesses when a new school was built down the road, said Keirsten Wyman of RE/MAX Jaret & Cohn, the listing agent for the property.
The sellers bought the property in 2002 and used it as a summer getaway for their family. However, the building is winterized and could be used year-round, Wyman said.
While the property has served many uses in its lifetime, the building still holds remnants of its days as a schoolhouse, such as the belltower and former principal’s office, Wyman said.
One of the former classrooms on the lower level has a large chalkboard on one wall, and the well-worn staircases also have a short handrail that was designed for young children to hold.
“It’s an old building but it has a lot of character,” Wyman said. “It’s well-built, solid and has so much potential to be so many different things.”
The building sits on a roughly half-acre lot on School Street. The property is a less than 10 minute drive from Fort Point State Park, about 20 minutes from Belfast and downtown Bangor is reachable in under an hour.
With an asking price of $275,000, the building falls almost $100,000 below the cost of an average home in Stockton Springs, which sits at nearly $360,000, according to Zillow. However, Wyman noted that the building needs some significant maintenance and upgrades, depending on what the future buyers have planned for it.
The current owners started to reglaze the dozens of windows on the property, and some walls have been built to break up large classrooms, Wyman said. But, the building still holds many original elements, such as wood floors in places and classroom-style doors with windows.
“There are so many different options for this property,” Wyman said. “The rooms are so large, so I envision them as studios or meeting rooms.”
While the site’s many large rooms could be repurposed into long- or short-term rentals, Wyman said that new use for the building would require the most work. For example, a new septic system could need to be installed on the property to support more tenants.
“It was never built to be a home, so there are a lot of renovations that would need to happen to make it one,” Wyman said. “It has its challenges, but the potential is amazing if someone has the heart. It could really be something special.”