Weekend #1

Well, it's officially ours.  We have keys and everything!

There is no snow on the ground yet, so we were able to get a few things done around the outside as well as the inside.  We need to start taking pictures of the progress, but here are the things we did:

CLEANED.  I dusted, washed, and scrubbed anything I could get my hands on.  There were a few things left in the kitchen, so I washed all of those dishes.  Justin dug out a back staircase to the basement that was overgrown and trimmed back the bushes.  We dragged the branches down to the edge of the property!  So different from the city!

DE-CLUTTERED.  It was great that the previous owners left some basic furniture like a kitchen table, bed, and about 6 rocking chairs.  They also left lots of little knick knacks that I took off of the shelves.

EXPLORED.  We walked around in the barns and the house to try and figure out what, exactly, we had purchased!

WEATHERIZED.  We put insulation on all of the pipes so we don't have to worry about them freezing.  Justin patched some drafty holes in the roof around the chimney.  He also dug out a crawl space in the basement and re-insulated it and filled a large opening leading to the outside.  (Sounds simple, but was a lot of work!)

SECURED.  Justin installed new locks on everything.  Nice and secure!  We also put timers on the lights and put up some Christmas lights for that full-time lived-in look.

BOUGHT A WOOD STOVE.  We found a restored wood-burning parlor stove.  We are excited to get the chimney checked out and get it hooked up next time we go up.  The house is actually kept quite warm with the radiators, but the wood stove will be a great bonus.  The house has fireplaces, but they have been sealed up and have not been in use for quite a while--figuring out how to get them back in business will be a project for another winter.

ENJOYED THE KITCHEN! We ate breakfast, lunch and dinner in the great farm kitchen with the sun streaming in the window.  We dream of a day when that wall will be full of windows and the sun can come in even more!

TALKED.  On Sunday morning, Arthur and Sherry came by unannounced.  Once they were sitting at the table with a cup of coffee they talked to us for 45 minutes about Sherry being raised down the street, and spending time with her grandparents and uncle in our house!!  It was wild to sit at "our" table with people who had sat there many many many more times than we had!  Sherry's stories of walking the cows down the railroad tracks to the grazing fields, and Arthur falling out of the barn loft and breaking his arm were wonderful!  We'll have them over again soon.  They were really excited to finally see someone in the house after it had been empty for 4 years.

We met with someone who could plow our driveway...got that set up.

Talked for a while with the guy who sold us the stove.  That was fun too.

SHOPPED.  We now know where the closest Lowe's is.  I can drive there in my sleep now.  AND, it's in New Hampshire. No tax!  Woo hoo!

UNPACKED.  We brought up so much with us, and we left a lot of it there.  Hooray for more space in our apartment!

We're home in Seattle and Salt Lake for the holiday, so we'll be back in the house after the new year.  Thanks for reading my babble!

Closing Date: November 29th...

Counting down the days!

Closing, Schmozing....

So, we continue to hope that all goes well and we close right after Thanksgiving.  We are so close!  Who knew that buying a house could be so complicated!  Hopefully our next post is a picture of us holding a sale sign!!!

This house has seen a lot of families...

Searching around for titles that go back further than the mid 1900's is tough--but here is what we know so far about the families that have enjoyed this house:

• 1790 (approximately)--JAMES LOWELL built house
• We are still working on who had it next...
• Early 1900's?--Henry A. Miles buys our property and also land across the street
• Henry A. Miles owned it and also ran the general store across the street

  

  This is the safe that sits in the basement.  It was used to hold earnings from the general store.

• 1940--Henry A. Miles sold the house and store to Albert B. Locke
• 1967--Albert & Lilla Locke put the house in both of their names
• 1968--Albert B. Locke died, leaving the house in Lilla's name
• 1975--Lilla Locke sells/gives the property to Fred and Ada Locke



Fred Lock, WWII



Albert and Lilla

• ???Heidi and Justin Cook bought the house from their children--(the Locke estate) We'll see!

  

  I'm sure it was no accident that the Locke plot looks right at the house (see it in the
  

  

  Fred and Ada, we believe, were the last people to live there.

  middle of the photo)

Inside

There are two very different portions of the house. The 1790 portion is where you'll see peeling wallpaper and tiny doorways--this has been unused for a very very long time and will be the location of some new, exciting remodel plans someday.

Read more about this portion of the house in the post about the house's history. The front, more "modern" portion of the house is updated and has been lived in, year-round, recently. In this 4 minute video, I start in the old part of the house (note the 1924 lining under the and walk through the little doors and odd layout, and then move into the newer portion with 4 bedrooms, 2 baths and lots more. Enjoy!

Some good pictures of the inside can be seen here... at least until this listing gets taken down.  (Hey!  Shouldn't it be down already!?!)

Click Here to see the inside pics

Location

Where is the farm located?

Keeping An Eye Out!

The West Baldwin Cemetery is right next to the farm.  Here lie some of the folks who will keep a watchful (I like to think, protective--not creepy) eye on the place!

James Lowell--He built the house in 1790.

The old portion of the house

 So...before you get worried...  this is the older portion of the house that hasn't been used in many many years.  Thus, the peeling (okay, that's an understatement) wallpaper from the 1900's.

This portion of the house has 4 odd bedrooms that were used as boarding rooms when the railroad ran just below the edge of the property.

This part of the house will, eventually, become something updated, new and exciting, but that won't be for a while yet.  Until then, this portion of the house, which we affectionately call either the "fun house" or the "Alice in Wonderland House" will likely be empty for a while.

There are boxes of these old light shades left in the old portion of the house.

The keys for one of the "Boarding Rooms" still hangs on the wall.

Newspaper under the flooring is from 1924--the last time they laid down flooring.

Old fixtures, like this hinge, will be fun to restore.

The old part of the house does need some love.

The place is old, but the views are pretty nice.  This looks at the cemetary.

Typical odd layout and single bulb in the old portion.

Nice view from the window on this side.  Lots of potential in this view!

The side view of the old portion of the house.  The wide door goes into what used to be the kitchen, the upstairs "funhouse" rooms are the top two windows furthest left.

One of the oddest things, and the origin of the "Alice in Wonderland" theme are these small windows turned doors.  Clearly, it was more important to make more rooms than make the doors reasonably sized.

In the maze of rooms in the old portion of the house

This magical doorway leads to the newer portion of the house.  Justin is walking into a bedroom.

Barn Dance Anyone? Explore the outbuildings!

One of the barns; we call it the "Lower Barn"  It's full of treasures.

Sideview of lower barn

Blacksmith Shop

Inside the blacksmith shop.

Justin stands near the Chicken Coop.  See the video to hear its fate.

There's not a lot going for the chicken coop--except, of course, the luxury double seater bathroom.

You can see the upper barn here which has been used most recently as a two car shop/garage.

What's the fate of the chicken coop?

Under Contract

We fell in love with this place as soon as we saw it. We made an offer the same day, and by the end of the Columbus Day weekend 2010, we were under contract.

This is a farm house, with portions built in 1790 and other portions added on in 1900. The farm house sits on the top of a slightly sloping 2 acres. There is one barn next to the house, another barn lower on the property and there is a chicken coop and blacksmith shop as well.

Could this....

Could this be ours soon? If so, stay tuned for the exciting adventures of Justin, Heidi and Pequawket Farm in West Baldwin, Maine.  The farm is on Pequawket Trail, in West Baldwin, Maine.

History of West Baldwin

First called Flintstown Plantation, it was granted in 1774 by the Massachusetts General Court to survivors of the Concord, Massachusetts company commanded by Captain John Flint. It replaced a grant of about 1735 which gave them Township No. 3, because when state borders were adjusted in 1741, the town turned out to be in New Hampshire -- present-day Walpole. On June 23, 1802, Flintstown was incorporated as Baldwin, named for Colonel Loammi Baldwin, namesake of the Baldwin apple. Sebago was set off and incorporated in 1826.
The surface of the town is broken, but with soil favorable to grain and hay. Baldwin would be noted for its orchards, and a factory was established in East Baldwin for drying apples. There was also a corn factory. Brooks provided water power for various mills, which produced board lumber, barrel staves and shooks. During drought, the Saco Water Power Company could regulate water at Great Falls to run mills down the Saco River in Saco and Biddeford. The Portland and Ogdensburg Railroad followed the Saco River valley for the length of Baldwin.

From Wikipedia