We Are Selling Our Maine Homestead

Katie and I have decided to sell our homestead here in Thorndike Maine.

This is a turn-key homestead with all the hard work really done. It comes with a 2200 sq ft house, 1800 square foot barn, and 3.5 to 11 acres of land, fully fenced with 48-inch field fence wire and gates, and even a free starter flock of sheep (if wanted). It is also 100% move-in ready!

The details and pictures of our homestead are on Zillow at the link provided, but the unique features of our homestead are thus, the biggest being Thorndike has the most fertile soil in the State of Maine, has no building codes for any future building, and is located only 6 miles from Maine’s Organic and Farmer and Gardener Association’s fairgrounds.

Zillow Listing

• Timber Framed Great Room: Great for entertaining
• Buffet Style Island: Feed plenty of people easily
• In-Island Freezer: No walking out to a mudroom or basement for frozen items
• New Appliances: No worries of expensive appliance repair costs
• All Bedrooms have Walk-In Closets: Store everything, including seasonal kids clothing
• Locker Style Mudroom: Personal storage space for six people
• Radiant Floor Heat: No cold spots, dust, or cold feet anywhere in the house
• Wide Pine Flooring and Pine Ceilings: A truly craftsman style home
• 1800 square foot Barn: A safe and convenient barn for multiple livestock choices
• 3.5/11 Fenced Acres: Predator resistant fencing for multiple species of livestock
• 320 square feet of hard surface attic space: Storage for everything
• Insulation: Inside walls insulated for sound proofing
• Southern Exposure: Ideal location for installing solar collectors
• Hillside Exposure: Ideal location for install a windmill and exceptional views
• Soil Fertility: Thorndike has the most fertile soil in the state of Maine
• Maine Organic and Farming and Gardening Association: 6 Miles to fairgrounds
• Great School: 8 Miles from K-12 newly constructed school
• Numerous Rock Walls: True New England Charm
• Snowmobile/ATV Trails: Located on ITS 83
• Starter Flock: House comes with/without (6) Ewes (1) Ram

Just to explain the land:

The house sits on 3.5 acres of land, but as many of you know, Katie and I have plenty of other land, and the field is fenced for 11 acres. Since we do not have any plans for that land, its fencing and land can just be used.

This is kind of an ideal situation for a homesteader because banks dislike financing bigger tracks of land since separate lots can later be sold off. This means a homesteader is buying 3.5 acres of land, but is getting use of 11 acres...as I said, kind of a sweet deal.

And while the hard work has been done, there is still plenty to do. We never put in the orchard we always wanted, a wind mill, or solar panels, so while the major stuff has been done, there is still plenty of fun stuff yet to do. (And it is a really nice house, with most rock, lumber, timbered beams, all taken off our homestead here).

It is a really, really good deal, and must be seen to be appreciated.

I just had to share some pictures from the zillow listing of how gorgeous the wood working inside the house is. Beautiful work, Travis!




And, look at these counter tops!



And that huge barn!


And a picture of the house, for good measure



I'm amazed at the difference in price from where you are and where I am. Here, $174,000 would barely get you 5 acres of steep hill or wetland, without any electric/septic, let alone a house!

Since you're selling that barn will you still be keeping sheep?

An amazing home.  Sad to see it listed but hope you find a deserving buyer.  Wish it were in my neck of the woods.

Nicole Alderman wrote:I just had to share some pictures from the zillow listing of how gorgeous the wood working inside the house is. Beautiful work, Travis!




And, look at these counter tops!



And that huge barn!


And a picture of the house, for good measure



I'm amazed at the difference in price from where you are and where I am. Here, $174,000 would barely get you 5 acres of steep hill or wetland, without any electric/septic, let alone a house!

Since you're selling that barn will you still be keeping sheep?

That depends. If the buyer wants them, they will go with the homestead. If th buyer does not, than we will either sell them, or just move them to a different barn that we still will own.

But we do not really see this a being sad. We still own hundreds of acres here, still have our house right across the road, so not much will really change. The only big change will be for our dog, we have decided Dutchess will retire. After 7 years, she is getting a lot slower, and so this week we are taking her down to get groomed for the first time ever, and bring her into our house, so she can live out her days. She has been faithful with the sheep, heat or cold, for 7 years now, and killed (2) Fox and (2) Coyotes, and so has really done her job well.

This really would be a great place for some homesteader, but it is the kind of stuff that does not make it into a listing that makes it great. Like we do not have any one leasing our farmland, so that means there is plenty of hay on site to feed whatever animals a homesteader gets. The only way a seller can mention that stuff is to say, "The Homestead has a lot of possibilities", but what I am really trying to describe is freedom.

Like behind the house is 7000 acres of undeveloped private land. That does not come with the house, but no one cares here if you go across their land. A person cannot cut wood granted, but they can walk the trails and enjoy the countryside and no one cares, but you cannot put that into a listing. Or convey that it is 6 miles from MOFGA and so people can volunteer for them, and help each other Organic Farmers and Permies people learn how to do things. That is hard to do when a homestead is two hour drive away from the fairgrounds/learning center.

Discussion of financing is often difficult because we have no control in what financial institutions make for lending decisions, but I often think that people think they will not be able to afford a farm because of dinged credit...for lack of a better term. That is not the case with farming, and having farmed all my life, Katie and I have many financial contacts, some of which accept credit scores of 600 or so. So all may not be lost.

This is a difficult topic though because we do not want to give people the wrong impression, that anyone can be financed, because that may not be the case, but it is also wrong to think that a person has to have a huge down payment and perfect credit too.

We are having an open house today, and have financial contacts that may help with both good and dinged credit. If nothing else, stop by on your way to or from Homesteading Day, check out the sheep, and have some refreshments. It is all good. Our take is, while YOU might not be buying a homestead, you may know of someone who is, or who wants to improve their homestead with better soil and location to MOFGA or markets.

That's an amazing property at that price, and I'm sure someone will quickly snatch it up.  I've thought about getting Maine land at some point (as a long-term retirement project), as my extended family has property on Monhegan Island, and you are not that  far away...

Hi Travis & Katie,
I just added your property to The Permaculture Properties Project! Feel free to add a comment with more detail if you like.

We Permie-Folks finally have a centralized place to search and talk with each other about properties for sale, as well as to list Permaculture Properties.
The Permaculture Properties Project lists properties of interest to permies. (I am not a real estate agent. This is a not-for-profit project).
It covers the US at this point. We will link an additional page w/raw land offerings soon.

See link here: https://padlet.com/jmwallacephd/ppp
Anyone can post properties of interest. Just double click and add (moderator will approve).
If you visit a property, you can share comment or notes about the site.