Save This Place

East Winthrop School schoolhouse

Old School

Save This Place

Raise your hand if you see the potential in this charming antique building. 

Photographs by Dave Dostie

THE BACKSTORY

Old Village Road forms a half-mile crescent that begins and ends on Route 11 in East Winthrop. It’s a quiet neighborhood, dotted with reminders of the settlement for which the road is named: the 1823 Baptist church, a few 18th- and 19th-century homes, and the one-room East Winthrop School. Completed in 1914 to alleviate overcrowding in a nearby brick school, it soon had enrollment issues of its own, and older students were transferred to school in Winthrop. The last of the town’s district elementary schools, East Winthrop School closed in 1952.

original East Winthrop School coat hooks
the exterior of the East Winthrop School

WHY RESCUE IT

In the 1950s, the Kennebec Journal lamented the consolidation of Winthrop’s small rural schools and predicted of East Winthrop schoolhouse, “The days of this venerable building are numbered.” Fortunately, it survived, and historic photos reveal it’s undergone little, if any, alteration. The original chalkboards, hardwood floors, and 16-foot-high, pressed-tin ceilings remain. The main room overflows with daylight, courtesy of expansive windows on all sides. The building is suitable for a variety of low-impact commercial uses, a studio, or a workshop. Or it could be modified for residential use for a buyer who likes open-concept design. The two rear rooms can be transformed into a master bedroom and bath.

WHAT YOU’RE IN FOR

To be livable, the schoolhouse needs plumbing installed, a new furnace, and an updated electrical system. Renovations that were started on one of the rear rooms need to be completed, the wood floors should be refinished, and all windows should be fitted with new storm windows. On the plus side, the roof and foundation are in overall good shape.

Location: 62 Old Village Rd, Winthrop
Asking Price: $110,000
Agent: Chris Vallee; 207-622-2220

Shortly after we went to print, the East Winthrop Schoolhouse was saved. Click here for more houses that need heroes.