This lakefront mansion in Northfield is a bit of a fixer-upper.
That’s why its sellers are sweetening the deal by also offering the services of a local contractor to help restore the $1.25 million property.
“Usually, you can’t find people to do the work. It’s impossible, they’re two and three and four years out, and this is such a unique project,” listing agent Jane Towle said. “But here we have a very skilled guy that lives right on the lake.”
The scope of work needed on the stately home is vast. Though its stone exterior has held up very well, Towle said, the interior needs a total overhaul: everything from the woodwork and windows to the walls and utilities needs refinishing or restoring. But a local contractor who has already completed some restoration work on the property is happy to continue with a new owner, according to Towle, the designated broker of Presque Isle’s RE/MAX County office.
That’s a huge selling point for a Maine homebuyer. In remote regions of the state there is a massive shortage of construction workers and skilled laborers — especially when specialized work is involved.
“There’s plenty of work. There’s just not a lot of workers,” Justin Albee, who owns Machias-based 4 Shore Construction, said. “Skilled labor is really hard to find.”
There’s been an increased demand for the carpentry and construction services of companies like Albee’s in recent years, he said. His company has a 9-month waiting list. In the Down East region, Albee suspects this has been driven by people moving there from out of state.
Not every fixer-upper on the Maine market can come with a contractor, but it might be a selling feature for those who can afford to take on a pricey restoration project. It seems to be doing the trick for this Northfield property, which Towle said has only been listed one day and already has generated a lot of interest from potential buyers.
That interest may also be because of how unique this home is. Local stonemasons crafted the house in 1915 on a private, artificial peninsula on Bog Lake, which is about a 15-minute drive from Machias.
It’s got a storied history, too. Up until the 1940s, the cottage was a summer camp called Camp Silver Rock, Towle said. Scores of children traveled to Northfield to swim, fish and sail on the lake, and at night they’d lodge there. Since the camp closed down, the home has been a private residence and is on the market now for the first time in decades, Towle said.
Though the property fell into disrepair in the last decade, Towle sees that as an opportunity — a blank slate for someone with enough money to make it their own. With a little help from the contractor, that is.
“It is built like a stone fortress,” Towle said. “It needs restoration and some renovation and, with the right buyer, with a vision, without a doubt it would be absolutely magnificent.”
