Back Parking Lot in Damariscotta

Damariscotta's Municipal Parking Lot more commonly known as the Back Parking Lot and sometimes known as the BPL always has something new to view. From Pirates landing at the wharf to a sighting of Sam Shepard (I didn't get a picture but after having seen "The Right Stuff" 20 times I can identify him pretty easily) to the "Gypsy Mermaid" all the way from British Columbia.

You can't quite make it out in this picture but there is a mechanical gypsy fortune teller in the passenger side door with a coin slot. This a great example of letting your art take you places or driving your art rather than being driven by your art.

Tom Field

What time is it in Damariscotta?

Almost time to finish the steeple!

This morning as I was driving to the office I saw the clock part of the Baptist Church's steeple hanging above the street. Unfortunately I did not manage to catch that image and had to settle for the following pictures.

 

 

 

In the background you see the crane towering over the First Baptist Church which was built in 1840. The building in the foreground is Damariscotta's oldest surviving house, the Chapman-Hall house, built in 1754. It is open in July and August for tours.

The steeple is being restored by Preservation Timber Framing from Berwick, Maine. According to an article in the Lincoln County News the clock was originally purchased in 1884 for $432.37. The restoration effort is projected to cost $500,000. Donations may be sent to the Damariscotta Baptist Church Landmark Steeple Fund, Attn: Mitchell Wellman, The First National Bank of Damariscotta, PO Box 940, Damariscotta, 04543. The project should be done before September. 

Tom Field

A Dogs Life in Maine

  Hi, Reggie the Wonder Dog here to help those of you "from away" know a little bit about how we live here in Maine, where things are The Way Life Should Be, as they say. 

   The pace and rhythm of our days is just a tad slower here than it might be in some of the more congested states to our south. There's only about 7,000 year round residents here on the Pemaquid Peninsula and only about 32,000 in all of Lincoln County. My boy tells me that there are more people than that sitting in Fenway Park when the Red Sox play! 

   There being less people here tends to make things feel a little more relaxed but we do still have work to do. For example, my job is to patrol the neighborhood where I live and make sure there are no cats loitering about or hot dogs that have fallen off barbecue grills messing up lawns. I also need to be at the local swimming hole whenever kids are there as they love to throw balls in the water and its my job to bring them back. Sometimes I think they are never going to get tired and stop throwing that darn ball in the water but I hate to disappoint them so I keep retrieving it for them.

   Now its recently become apparent to me that in some places, canines don't have assigned tasks and instead remain inside or chained up or behind fences. They wear collars, with numbers on them, even on the hottest of days! Apparently one of those places where this sort of barbaric behavior is practiced is called New Jersey. I know this because the other day some people from New Jersey saw me on my way to work and stopped to talk to me.  I guess I didn't understand their funny accent because I thought they were offering me a ride to the beach but instead they took me to someplace called the animal shelter and told the lady there I was a "stray".  Harrumph! 

   It was several hours before the whole mess got sorted out and in the meantime cats ran wild in my neighborhood and several children were unable to get their toys back after they threw them in the water, causing all sorts of problems for their parents.

   So if you come to the country and see a working dog going about his or her business, please don't interfere. If it's hot, a ride is always nice especially if you have those fancy air conditioned leather seats. But remember we're not on vacation and have someplace we need to be (eventually) we can't be hanging out too often with those nice ladies at the animal shelter. 

   I've got to go now, I need to rest up as the kids will soon be heading to the beach.  But check this space often and I'll be back to explain some more of our lifestyle and customs. Maybe next time we'll talk about holding the door for ladies and dogs. Or what that white stripe means down the middle of some cats back.

Happy Birthday Jean Stafford!

I was listening to Morning Edition on Maine Public Radio this morning and heard Garrison Keillor talk about the Pulitzer Prize winning author Jean Stafford during his Writer's Almanac segment. I can't say that I have read her works or had even heard of her a year ago but I have learned a lot about her since I discovered that I was selling her former home in the Damariscotta Mills section of Newcastle on Damariscotta Lake. She lived there with her husband, the Pulitzer Prize winning poet Robert Lowell, for a time in the 40's. You can listen to the podcast here. So if two Pulitzer Prize winning authors lived in the house you can just imagine how much creative energy the home is waiting to bestow on its next owner.

Tom Field

They Are Giving Money Away

   Mortgage rates fell this week to the lowest levels on record dating back to 1971.  Nationally the average rate for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage sank to 4.69 percent, according to Freddie Mac. Rates for 15 and 5 year mortgages also hit lows.

   The instability in Europe is actually proving to be a boon for U.S. borrowers as nervous investors shift their money into Treasury bonds. Given that property prices have stabilized, at least in Mid Coast Maine, and there is an abundance of inventory for consumers to choose from, it would seem to be an optimal time for anyone looking for a safe investment to consider real estate. 

   If you would like to know more about the possibilities of an investment property or if you have decided that these low rates make it possible for you to own and begin enjoying your retirement home now, make a call or send an email to one of our experienced, knowledgeable brokers.  This confluence of events, low rates, low prices and high inventory won't last forever.

Jim Cosgrove 

Garden Fair in Boothbay

   The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay held their annual Garden Fair this weekend.  I had such a fabulous time on Friday with a friend that I brought my husband back with me on Saturday. There were over 40 vendors, tours of the gardens, delicious meals and al fresco dining with lunchtime music.   "Magaritaville" and "Yellow Bird" wafted through the gardens on Saturday as Pan Fried Steeldrum band serenaded from the rose garden.

  Life is too short not to stop and smell the roses!

Debby Schling
 

Damariscotta Lake Loons

Debby Schling from Newcastle Square Realty was kayaking on Damariscotta Lake the other day and captured these incredible pictures of a pair of Loons.  Based on their behavior it would appear they were possibly a nesting pair and trying to distract visitors.

 
 
 

New Offering at Spruce Point

    The other morning Tracy and I headed down to Boothbay Harbor to get photos and information for a new listing. It was a sunny day, good for taking pictures and for enjoying the ride.  This listing is a condominium at Spruce Point, one of six units on the grounds of the famous Spruce Point Inn.

   As you drive towards Spruce Point from town, the motels give way to individual homes, and the waters of Boothbay Harbor stretch out to your right.  Nearing Spruce Point, you are taken in by the meticulously kept landscaping of lovely homes and glimpses of the water beyond.  Entering Spruce Point, the whole ocean view opens up.

   The condo has two bedrooms, two and one half baths, a large open concept living and dining room with a fireplace, a deck on the upper level and a screened porch on the first floor.  The new owner will have access to all the facilities of the Inn including the pool, tennis courts, spa and deep water dock.

  Boothbay Harbor is an active, comfortable vacation destination for many people. There are an abundance of accommodations, shops and restaurants.  Summer activities include tour boats, whale watching, fishing, tennis, golfing, hiking, biking, walking, theater, movies, world class botanical gardens, nature preserves and more.

   Although Summer is the season that attracts most people to Maine and the Mid Coast initially, it isn't our only season.  As Summer gives way to Autumn, the leaves begin to change from their many hues of green to Maine's famous Fall colors, and another wave of visitors arrives.  Winter brings its own beauty along the coast of Maine as occasional snows top the pine trees and blanket the ground and create beautiful scenes looking across a foggy ocean under gray skies.  Spring emerges as the temperatures rise and the explosion of color begins.  First the crocuses, then the daffodils and forsythia add their brilliant yellows and white and purple lilacs, dogwoods, rhododendrons and azaleas in their many colors burst forth and Summer arrives once more.

   Our work done we headed back to Newcastle Square Realty and our office.  For more information on this great property or the Boothbay Area call us soon.

Bill Babcock
 
  

Baccalaureate March

   I love this town!  This evening, as I was working late at Newcastle Square Realty World Headquarters I was startled to hear a rare police siren from the street below. I dashed to the window and threw up the sash, stuck my head out onto Main Street and was thrilled to watch yet another Senior class marching through town all decked out in cap and gowns, with a police escort and led by the school Headmaster, Mr. Pinkerton.

 

   Each year on the eve of graduation, the seniors from our local high school, Lincoln Academy, march through Damariscotta, across the bridge into Newcastle and on up Academy Hill to the school for the Baccalaureate Ceremony. Same as they have been doing for over 100 years. Small town America at its best!

Debby Schling
 

How NOT to Sell a House

   Take one little tiny For Sale sign, mark an arrow on it and tack it to a tree pointing down the long dirt road towards your house.  Wait.

   This particular sign has been up for over a year now. No Multiple Listing Service presence, no web presence, no advertising.

   If you were in the market to buy a home would you drive down that half mile or more of dirt road, knock on the door and ask to see this home? Ask the price? Ask how much land came with it? Apparently, neither would anyone else.

   Well, I just gave them more advertising than they've given themselves.  Too bad they never thought to put their phone number on the sign!