A luxurious home at the base of Ragged Mountain offers privacy and panoramic views of the surrounding wilderness.

Rockport’s Ragged Mountain has been a playground for John Hart all his life. Growing up in nearby South Hope in the 1960s, Hart and his friends rode their one-speed bikes to the 1,300-foot peak to clamber up its rocky ledges and scamper among the birches and century-old oaks. As years passed, he continued to visit the vast woodlands — to hike, camp, and find the quiet he craved. One blue moon in 1983, Hart took his wife, Rhonda, up to a rocky outcropping on the mountainside, and described the home and life that he wanted to build with her there.

“I was overjoyed,” Rhonda recalls. “It was a place to dream about.”

In 1989, the Harts bought 240 acres at the base of Ragged Mountain and hired renowned Camden architect Christopher Glass to bring their 6,000-square-foot dream home to life. Cathedral ceilings and open-concept kitchen/dining/ living areas provide the spacious interior Rhonda imagined, while birch and wide-pine boards on the walls and floors impart the earthy warmth John wanted. Gaping windows put the Harts in constant contact with the towering birches and maples that envelop the home and offer yawning panoramas in every direction. “You come up here and feel like you’re alone in the world,” Rhonda says.

For 25 years, the Harts savored the immense beauty that surrounded them. Their twin daughters whiled away afternoons building fairy houses by the brook and picking wild blueberries at the edge of the mountain. In the spring, John tapped the maples for syrup. Rhonda manicured the landscape with irises, peonies, and hydrangeas, and kept binoculars handy for watching the hummingbirds and red-tailed hawk that often hovered close by.

Over the past five years, the Harts sold 200 acres surrounding the house to the Coastal Mountains Land Trust — ensuring that the natural refuge they love will be protected for generations to come, and that their home will remain the private wilderness retreat they have relished. “We were so lucky to enjoy this beautiful place for so many years,” Rhonda says. “I’m so glad that another family will be able to as well.”

Location: 61 Hope Street, Rockport
Price: $945,000
Status: Available

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