The state of Maine offers a lot in the way of living. It’s the best place I’ve ever settled down and while it’s difficult for me to say this, I’m content here. The reason it’s a challenge for me to make that claim is because I’m somewhat of a nomad. Before moving to Maine, I believe I’ve had something like 14 different addresses. I’d gotten used to moving around and for me to stay in one place for more than five years is surprising. I’m getting older though and I suppose the last thing on my mind is relocation. So Maine is now my home.
In this post, I’d like to discuss the property upon which I, or we, reside. It’s a magical place and I’m extraordinarily lucky to have landed here so long ago. I’ll show you some photos of our location and then insert some video as well. While neither the photos nor video are award winning, they should give you some idea of what it’s like for me to walk through the grass and forest on a regular basis.
Our House
There have never been very many homes or properties for sale, or otherwise known as on the market, in western Maine. It’s a fairly unpopulated place. When Laura and I began our search for a home in the area, there were a mere handful available. Each one was wildly different than the next, so when it came time to make a decision for which one to buy, it was a gamble. I’ve seen markets where neighborhoods have included row houses with cookie-cutter construction on offer. “For sale: Choose from model A, B, or C.” After looking at one, you pretty much knew what to expect from the rest. That’s not the way it is in Maine. Usually, someone buys some land and then builds either what they can afford, what they thought they could afford (leaving the house half-done), or their dream house. In our case, the previous owners built what they could afford. It wasn’t an expensive building to construct and it’s not expansive by any meaning of the word, but it’s large enough for the two of us and it’s got plenty of land. To me, the smaller the better. I’m completely over my youthful days of spending tons of money to fix things up and then maintain them for the rest of my life. I’ve been living on a semi-strike for the past 10 years. I think my very first house in 2005 did me in. Far too much work for little to no reward. I basically remodeled the entire house, only to move out within three years. If memory serves, we lost money on the entire endeavor. Lesson learned.
I’ve been posting to Instagram for some time now and each picture I share generally garners approximately 15 “likes.” You know the type of pictures – woods, birds, mountains. Things that would leave people somewhat ho-hum. Good photos, but not really anything anyone would write home about. A few days ago, I snapped some pictures of our property. I had just mowed the lawn and was proud of the way things looked. I had also recently purchased a new phone with a snazzy new camera and was itching to take pictures of anything I could think of. Since I was standing on my front lawn with camera phone in hand, I captured this scene.
I posted this picture, as well as a few others I’ll show you below, and my “likes” doubled. I also earned myself about 10 comments. This has never happened before and it was at this moment I realized that people enjoy looking at human-made things much more God-made things. Yes, mountain ranges and beaches are beautiful, but a person can’t buy either of those to live in. A house? Sure. A person can live in one of them. So really, those favorable reactions prompted me to write this post. I have yet to show much of our property, so I figured now is as good a time as ever.
I’m not sure what style of home it is. I like to say it’s cottagey. It’s got pine board and batten siding and it’s of the post and beam type of construction, which gives the interior tons of character and strength, sort of like me. Character and strength. Someday, when we clean up the inside all nice and sweet, I’ll give a walking tour of that. It’s very cool.
Our Land
I grew up on a third of an acre. I used to think that was a pretty large piece of property. It wasn’t something I could hike around, but as far as bicycle riding and climbing trees went, it was plenty. Up in our part of the world today, we’ve got much more than that and around these parts, a third of an acre just won’t cut it for most people. Folks in Maine enjoy their space – a lot.
Our property in Maine initially included five acres. It was approximately 200 feet wide and 1000 feet long. About two of those acres are lawn with specimen trees scattered throughout and the rest is forest. When we arrived, the lawn contained only a few apple trees. Today, we’ve got dozens of pines and firs, plenty of fruit trees, and even more shade trees. It’s been rewarding to watch these trees grow through the years.
Forest Walk-Through Videos
Today, after purchasing the parcel next door, we own 15 acres. As I said above, two of those are lawn with the house and the remainder is forest. Beautiful forest that’s jam packed with towering white pine trees, an overabundance of balsam firs, hemlocks, maples, oaks, birch, and many more. The forest is one of my favorite place, so Laura and I walk through it regularly.
I recently captured some walking videos and uploaded them to YouTube. I’ve been very hesitant to take this kind of video in the past because my DSLR camera doesn’t offer any type of scene stability. Any video I had taken had come out horribly. This new camera phone (Samsung A54) is pretty awesome. Besides the awful white balance in some parts of both videos, I’d say the quality is pretty good. The best part? When I walk with it, the entire scene doesn’t jiggle around to make the viewer sick to his or her stomach.
In both of these videos, I walk through the lawn areas for a bit and then head back into the woods. If you’ve got a free hour to spare, I invite you to check them out. They’re pretty fun, if I don’t say so myself.
Maine Firewood, Apple Blossoms, Forest Trail Tour, & Pine Tree Growth
Maine Property Tour & Forest Walk
Moving to Maine
Since I was a young boy, I’ve loved the rural life. I always knew I wasn’t the type to live in an apartment in a city or a house in a neighborhood. I enjoy my space and privacy too much for that. And even if I did happen to live closer to people, in order for me to be happy, they’d need to be silent. I simply don’t want to be bothered.
Well, apparently I’m not alone with that sort of sentiment because if the past few years have shown us anything, there are TONS of people who’d like to move to the country. Maine, as well as other northern New England states, has had its largest influx of new residents – EVER. Beginning in 2020, herds of folks have been attempting to escape from their crowded city lives to buy their dream farms, weekend getaways, self-sufficient homesteads, and any other type of non-city styled living arrangement in the more rural parts of these lands. And right about now, there’s very little left from which they can choose. Properties on the market are as scarce as they’ve ever been and prices have risen to all-time highs.
Laura and I moved to Maine in 2013 when the market was very stagnant. Our home was listed for sale for five years before we bought it. If we listed it for sale right now at double what we paid, we’d probably have offers the very first day. We bought our home on the cheap. We got a great price, so even at double its cost, the price would still be relatively low when compared to today’s prices out there in the real world.
I read a lot about moving to Maine and northern New England at large. Since the good land has been mostly scooped up, people are now keeping family land in the family or not moving away as adults, as they had initially planned as children and teenagers. Basically, people are saying that since they’ve already got the land, they’re never letting it go, which I wholeheartedly believe is a good idea. Yes, there are still some parcels available in western Maine, but they can be large and somewhat expensive. If you were ever inclined to make the move, my advice would be to gather a few friends together to buy 100 acres or more. Large parcels cost much less per acre, but you’ve got to be sure you can get utilities and a good road to wherever you’d like to build your house(s). There’s a lot to think about when making a move to the country, so if you have any questions, please leave a comment down below. I’ve learned a lot since the time I’ve arrived and I’d hate to see someone make a horrible mistake when it comes to escaping the city life only to land on something they can’t even build a house on.
I hope you enjoyed this post and the photos I shared. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below. Thanks!
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