Sandy River House - a rural retreat

Near Farmington, on 3 acres overlooking the Sandy River. Relax & listen to the birds! Spacious, well-furnished, near summer/winter recreation areas, farmers markets & festivals. Our 200yo house is fully renovated, but retains many original features. This historic house and barn were built in the Federalist period. It was originally a parsonage, located next door to the village church. Today, the house retains many significant original features, including the half-circle glass over the entry door, the original staircase and banisters, beautiful craft-work in the hand-planed doors, and fine large beams, some of which we have left revealed. Our house has 4 bedrooms (1 quite small), and 2.5 baths. The largest bedroom, on the first floor, is furnished with a queen bed, reading chair, dresser and mirror, writing desk, bookshelf, closet, and a spacious en-suite bathroom, with an over-sized tub. The bedroom has 3 windows, on the south and east sides, and the bathroom has 2, facing east and north. Upstairs are 3 additional bedrooms, and another full bath. There is also a small upstairs kitchen/sitting area that looks out over the back yard and the woods. The sitting area has a separate counter and sink, a coffee machine, tea kettle, and a table for reading/writing/snacking. A bookshelf offers magazines on Maine, and other good reading. Guests have access to the whole house, and the 3-acre grounds. The barn, the basement, and the tool shed are not opened for guests. Owners are available by email. The property manager will meet you to give you the keys. This corner of Maine is full of rural beauty, farming life, and small-town enjoyments. Some of our favorite things include observing birds and pollinators all around, walking around the land under the tall trees, looking closely at the great range of terrain and flora here, taking in a movie at the great local NarrowGauge Cinema, stopping to pick up fresh produce, ice cream or baked goods at the Sandy River Farm Market, admiring the Sandy River as it wends its way through 73 miles of Maine, making pies with the backyard rhubarb, or pancakes with Maine wild blueberries, watching the fireflies in the summer nights, having delicious soup in the nearby Soup for You. If you want to get out and mingle, there are always many choices listed in the event pages of the local online newspaper, The DailyBulldog. On a recent week, these included: parades, festivals, bake-offs, hootenannies, road races, readings, exhibits, concerts, book sales, contradancing, horseshoe tournaments, craft sales, farmers markets, hikes, historical society meetings, book talks, classes! Maine has many agricultural fairs from June to October, and an active farmers market program, pick-your-own farms, and local corn mazes and hayrides. There is plenty of space for parking at the house. Our house is minutes from the Franklin County seat, Farmington. Although we’re in a rural area, it’s very easy to get to. We’re a half-hour from Augusta, just a couple of minutes off Route 27, a well-traveled state road. Winter access is not a concern! Being green: We were very happy to conserve and refurbish an existing house, rather than tear down something and build new. We used locally milled wood for the new floor in the library, and the spruce siding for the house. Our kitchen and bathroom floors are Marmoleum, natural linoleum flooring. The house is well-insulated for 4 season use. We use green cleaning products, and don’t use any fabric softeners, “air fresheners” or similar products. We care for our yards using organic practices. Our house has town water, propane heating and cooking, completely modernized electrical, and a fine new boiler for heat and on-demand hot water in all seasons. We also have a beautiful cast-iron & soapstone woodstove, on the first floor, for additional heat, and for the pleasure of relaxing and watching a wood fire.