Issues → January/February 2010 → Home & Garden →
House For Sale: Affordable Oceanfront in Maine
We've found nine--eight of them for $300,000 or less
by The Yankee Moseyer
Read more about Maine: Down East Stories
Can you imagine a county in New England more than twice the size of Rhode Island--with only two traffic lights? Well, the town of Lubec and the small city of Eastport, for instance, where we moseyed around a few months ago, have none.
The only two traffic lights in all of Maine's Washington County are in Calais, 50 miles north.
So where exactly, you might ask, are Lubec (pronounced loo-BEK) and Eastport anyway? Our short answer would be "way Down East," meaning even farther east than most of Maine's "Down East" coast. In other words, head east from Bangor until you hit the Atlantic Ocean, and you're there. Both communities claim to be the easternmost in the contiguous United States. Eastport's downtown is actually slightly east of Lubec's, but then again, some of Lubec's land is even farther east. So the debate continues. Each claims that the rising sun hits it first.
Our guide in our search for "bargain" oceanfront properties was, of all people, a former dancer with Boston Ballet. Denise Plouffe (pronounced ploof) danced professionally for many years in both Boston and New York. "I can still do a split, by the way," she told us, laughingly, as we became acquainted out on the deck of the Lubec real estate office she owns with her husband, Al Rummel. (They also have staffed offices in Eastport and Calais.) From there, the view out toward Moose Island, where Eastport is located, was stunning. We could live in Denise and Al's office.
Of course, one of our first questions was how they ended up in Lubec. Turns out that after Denise's dance career ended, she taught ballet in Key West, Florida, where Al was selling real estate. One year, simply as a fun vacation, they decided to drive the entire length of U.S. Route 1, from Key West to the top of Maine. They didn't get quite that far north, however. The beauty of the Lubec area halted their journey. They bought a summer house (which they still own) on Campobello Island, accessible by bridge from Lubec, and several years later, moved permanently to Lubec, where they proceeded to acquire Due East Real Estate as well as a year-round house.
Then, believe it or not, Denise purchased the old Grange Hall in town--considered by some, perhaps, to be the proverbial "white elephant"--so that she'd have a nice open space where she could continue teaching ballet. Which she did--for a while. Today, however, she no longer teaches ballet and, in fact, would part with that old Grange Hall, together with the building next to it, which she also owns, for $149,900. Any takers? As for our planned tour of properties that day, we told her the old Grange Hall didn't qualify. It wasn't on the ocean. But the first property Denise showed us qualified in spades.
A former B&B (#1) with six bedrooms and four bathrooms on nearly an entire town block, this big home is right down on the Lubec waterfront. We didn't go inside--something about the owner feeling ill that day--but we absolutely loved the location. We pictured ourselves on either the first- or third-floor deck, with possibly a glass of wine, watching the seals cavorting in the incoming tide (over 25 feet) flowing between Lubec and Campobello Island. Fabulous views, too, of Canada's Mulholland Light, as well as various islands extending all the way up to Eastport. Denise said the place "needs a little work," but no matter. We'd be happy there just as long as one of those two decks held up. Price: $300,000.
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