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 prolific custom boat builder is selling his home and boathouse in the midcoast town of Bristol for $1.5 million.
Boatbuilder Bruce Cunningham started his company Padebco out of this property in the oceanside enclave of Round Pond in the 1960s. His uncle had been building boats there since the early 1900s, according to the property’s listing agent Cristina Stirratt.
“Round Pond has such a great maritime history, great sailors and boatbuilders,” said Stirratt, an agent with Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty. “It’s a remarkable waterfront opportunity.”
The property is tucked into a cove within Round Pond’s historic harbor. It consists of a 84-foot long deepwater dock, a former boathouse that was renovated into a guest cottage and the full-time residence including an attached garage and heated workshop built by Cunningham and his wife, Patricia, in 1991.
The home is set high over the harbor with expansive ocean views. It has three bedrooms, two bathrooms and features including a wood-burning fireplace, ornate stained glass window, and wraparound deck. Its large master bedroom has a walk-in closet and soaking tub.
There are neighbors in the tightly packed village, and it is on a compact 1.25-acre lot, but Stirratt said the property is in a quiet neighborhood at the end of a dead end street and still retains the feel of a family compound.
The converted boathouse is now a guest cottage with a bedroom and bathroom that friends and family love to stay in. The grounds are well maintained, with vegetable and flower gardens that the couple used to grow their own food and florals.
Cunningham sold his business in 2013, and now the couple is selling the property, too. It’s the end of a chapter for that family but presents an opportunity for any boating enthusiast who wants a prime piece of waterfront in a “charming, quintessential Maine village,” Stirratt said.
“It’s vibrant year round,” she said. “You’re right across the harbor from restaurants, shops … you could take a skiff, zip over and have dinner.”
That idyllic lifestyle offered by Round Pond, which is just over an hour from Portland, has appealed to a lot of potential buyers since Stirratt relisted this property this week, she said. Some locals who are familiar with the property and the village have reached out, as well as others from further away who enjoy the waterfront and could work remotely.
Some hope to live here full time, and others would enjoy it seasonally. The “serious” level of interest means it might go under contract soon, the agent warned.
“It’s just such a charming and comfortable place,” Stirratt said.
