The rehabilitation and sale of an iconic Norway property dubbed “The Gingerbread House” will finance a string of other historic home renovations around town.
The 5-bedroom, 3,000 square foot Victorian-style home with a four-story turret on Main Street in the western Maine town is on the market for $400,000 after years of restoration. The property, built in 1855, had been declining since the 1940s and was on Maine Preservation’s list of “endangered homes” in 2009 when a group of seven locals mobilized to save it.
“The previous owners were planning to tear it down,” Richard McSherry, who was a part of the group, said. “Some folks in town interested in old buildings approached them and said, ‘What can we do to save it?’”
The property has long been an iconic feature of the town of, McSherry said. The group, which now calls itself the Norway Landmarks Preservation Society, convinced the previous owners to donate the building as long as those interested in saving it got the home off the lot, he said.
The newly-formed society did so, moving it a couple places down Main Street to a lot by the town of Norway. But they went even further. By partnering with craftspeople and contractors, private donations and grant money, the group completely renovated the property. They redid its foundation, roof, windows, chimneys, clapboard and trim, an effort McSherry estimates cost around the listing price of $400,000.
“It’s been remarkable,” Brad Miller, director of programs and services for Maine Preservation, said. “It’s an amazing project that’s not unlike a lot of other preservation projects: done by dedicated and passionate citizens.”
Now, the group is selling the property to its next steward, who will be tasked with finishing the job by restoring the home’s interior. McSherry estimates that it will cost anywhere from $350,000 into the seven figures, depending on what the buyer wants to do with it.
The sale proceeds will go to financing more of these projects, most likely through the establishment of a replenishing grant fund that the society will administer, McSherry said. It would be used to do little or no-interest loans or grants to people fixing up other properties around Norway.
“We want to take those proceeds and do something that supports the community, we don’t know [how] exactly,” McSherry said. “[We’re not] taking on a similar project unless we could attract some other younger, more energetic members.”
There are plenty of historic buildings in Norway in need of restoration, McSherry said. Though Norway has an active tourist economy, being so close to the Sunday River ski resort in Newry, it’s “not a really rich part of the state,” he said. There are many dilapidated buildings that usually don’t get fixed up unless a private person buys and renovates it, or tears it down.
That’s why the preservation of the Gingerbread House is seen as such a success story. The project won an award from Maine Preservation back in April.
A buyer will have to work with Maine Preservation to fix up the building, as the group has put an easement on the property. Any work affecting the property’s exterior will have to be approved, and the buyer will need to open up the property at least once a year so the public can tour it.
“A building like this is obviously a part of the town fabric,” Miller said. “[It’s] an opportunity for members of the public to continue to enjoy [it], and also learn from the historic architecture and history of the building.”
Holly Bancroft Brown, the property’s listing agent, said that she saw a flurry of interest when the property was first listed in April and is seeing some more activity on it now. She has a serious buyer touring it next week. They are interested in a commercial venture there.
“We’re just stewards of these places,” Bancroft Brown, an agent with Hearth & Key Realty, said. “It’s really important to share them with others.”
