October Farm predates the state of Maine by roughly 80 years and the American Revolution by 35.
The 4-acre property in Cumberland has a main house dating back to 1741, which is one of the oldest homes in the state. It’s one of around 200 properties here that are over 200 years old in Maine, according to Down East Magazine. It stands out as a rare example of a home of that vintage that has remained largely intact.
That’s largely because the 5-bedroom, 5-bathroom home has changed hands relatively few times over the centuries, and each owner has sought to preserve its historic features, listing agent Tom Landry, a broker with Benchmark Real Estate, said.
October Farm’s current owners, who listed the property for sale this week at $1.95 million, have been instrumental in extending that life. Pennsylvania native Philip Hickey, who has lived in Maine since 2004 and has a knack for restoring historic properties, purchased it in 2021. He has since totally renovated it alongside his husband, Albert L’Etoile, and son, John-Philip Hickey.
“There was a lot of deferred maintenance when we bought it,” Philip Hickey said. “We wanted to restore it; we’re more preservationist-type people. It’s a period property, and there aren’t many left.”
The main house and barn were in good shape, Hickey said. The house only needed a light facelift with plaster work and paint. From there, the family hooked it up with new utilities and installed a modern kitchen and bathroom that help make it feel “more a home than a museum,” Landry said. The owners also created a pottery studio in the barn.
The property’s cottage needed the most work, Hickey said. It’s a 1,500-square-foot space akin to an accessory dwelling unit that Landry said was “disgusting” and unlivable when the owners moved in. A gaze of raccoons made it their den.
Hickey and his family gave the raccoons the boot and gutted the cottage to its exterior walls, redoing it completely. Despite the renovations, which Landry estimates totaled $500,000, original fireplaces, woodwork, windows and shutters are all intact. The exterior largely resembles what it looked like in the 1740s.
The family frequently consulted with historic preservationists while restoring the property. John-Philip Hickey even traveled to historical societies in greater Portland to learn as much as he could about the original home and its builder, James Tuttle. He wanted to make sure all the furnishings and little details were true to period, down to the door hinges, Landry said.
It hurt the owners to have to list the place so soon after completing their total renovation, but Hickey landed a new job in Connecticut that requires him to be on-site, and they had to move. Luckily, they’ve found a historic home there that is even older than October Farm, giving them another “daunting” project to tackle, Hickey said.
There are many people looking to take their place on the farm. The property was only listed Wednesday but, despite its nearly $2 million price point, has generated a ton of interest, Landry said. What holds many homebuyers interested in a historic home from buying one is the need to do a lot of renovations, he said, meaning this ready-made farmstead is a gem.
Despite its bucolic setting beside grassy fields and a pond, October Farm is only minutes away from downtown Portland. That’s led to “absolutely bonkers” levels of online activity on the property already, Landry said, from prospective buyers in Maine and far afield, too.
“We really would like to see someone purchase this property that would be a caretaker and preserve the historic aspects of the home,” Hickey said.
