A Fixer-Upper With a Fantastic View
Water-facing windows and handsome original features make this 1830s Eastport Cape a worthy project.
TEXT BY JULIE SENK
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE CHRISTOPHER GROUP
From our Summer 2023 issue
BACKSTORY
From its early days as one of the country’s busiest ports, to its role in the 19th-century shipbuilding and sardine-canning industries, Eastport has been inextricably tied to the sea. Reminders of its maritime past are alive in stately residences built for shipwrights, captains, and sailors, such as this circa 1835 Greek Revival Cape — likely the former home of a captain named, incredibly, Mariner Small. When Small wasn’t on the water, he still had a view of it through his home’s east-facing, six-over-six windows.
SELLING POINTS
A buffer lot, shared with abutters on Water Street, affords new owners the same Bay of Fundy view Small enjoyed. Pilasters and a three-part lintel frame the front door, while the gutted interior retains elegant molded window trim with paneled aprons, a handsome staircase with a rich wood railing and newel post, and a cast-iron mantel with graceful scrollwork. The .24-acre lot will easily accommodate an addition — or a boat.
TO-DO LIST
Renovators will ideally remove the vinyl cladding and resurrect, or replace, the sheathing beneath; the front-door surround will shine up with repairs and fresh coats of paint. The roof is in decent condition, but the foundation should be checked by a structural engineer. The interior is ready for a major overhaul, most pressingly the installation of walls and ceilings, a kitchen, and a bath. The wood floors should be refinished, and some areas need replacing.
Location: 3 Shackford Street, Eastport
Asking Price: $150,000
Agent: Samra Kuseybi, 207-214-7401
