Housing
This section of the BDN aims to help readers understand Maine’s housing crisis, the volatile real estate market and the public policy behind them. Read more Housing coverage here.
A renovated farmhouse in Rockport that sits on land once used by American soldiers and refugees during the Revolutionary War is on the market for $785,000.
With more than 2,800 square feet of living space, the five-bedroom, three-bathroom Colonial-style farmhouse sits on nearly 5.5 acres. The house on Old County Road is about 3 miles north of Rockland and a 10-minute drive from downtown Camden.
While the house was built in 1840, Nicholas Adolphsen, the seller, has been diligently renovating the property since early 2020. He bought the property in late 2019 after the home had been repossessed by a bank and was in poor condition.
“COVID happened and my job involved a lot of travel, which obviously stopped, so it was perfect,” Adolphsen said. “I got to spend the COVID months renovating a house.”
After numerous local residents stopped by and hinted at the site’s storied past, Adolphsen began researching the property using information from the Daughters of the American Revolution, a national historic preservation nonprofit.
“It sounded more like lore to me than history, but I began to do some research,” Adolphsen said.
The property is believed to be part of the farm owned by William Gregory, an early settler of Clam Cove, which is now known as Glen Cove. The land held barracks and an encampment used by American soldiers and allies from the Penobscot Nation during the Revolutionary War, according to Adolphsen.
The site also appears to have held refugees after the failed 1779 Penobscot Expedition, when a Massachusetts militia attempted to claim control of a fort in Castine from the British, but the American fleet was destroyed.
“The home and a couple of other homes became a stopping point for refugees who were fleeing the British,” Adolphsen said. “It’s fun to think that part of that home, that land, was both hospitable and a safe place for refugees.”
Throughout the renovation process, the front of the home remained intact to maintain its historic appearance while other parts of the house were stripped to the studs and rebuilt. The home now has new electrical, plumbing and heating systems, as well as an updated kitchen and bathrooms, Adolphsen said.
Aside from modern amenities, the home offers a large wraparound porch, built-in bookcases and a woodstove, among other features that point to its long history, such as wide pine floorboards.
However, Adolphsen’s favorite part of the home are the historic beams running across the ceiling in several rooms. He’d often look at them as he chipped away at renovation projects early in the morning before work, he said.
“They’re all hand hewn beams and you can see all the ax marks and everything that it took to make each and every one of those beams,” Adolphsen said. “The moment you start to complain or have a little bit of self-pity, my head would go right to those beams and think 4 a.m. is easy compared to having to make the beams by hand.”
The property first hit the market in early July with a $810,000 price tag, but that was cut a few weeks later to its current asking price of $785,000, Zillow records show.
Several interested buyers have toured the property, but Adolphsen said he hasn’t received any offers yet.
While the property would appeal to anyone looking to live in a quintessential coastal area, Adolphsen said the home’s size and ample land makes the property ideal for a family.
“Anybody who walks back in the woods will see I didn’t tear down all of the different treehouses that my kids built and the rickety little bridges they built over streams,” he said. “The layout definitely isn’t modern, but there’s something about this rambling old house that’s perfect for the imagination of a kid.”