f e B r u A r y / m A r C h 2 0 1 9 8 3 o E o t E o t from toP: Ake DoolIttle; CourteSy Photo; wAnDBy SourCeS reSourCeS: new york tImeS, kenneBunk StAr, SeACoASt onlIne, wreCkhunter.net, Some olD mAIne newS, SomeolDnewS.Com, kenneth gooDwIn, AnD PortlAnD monthly Magnificent Absence t o di erent ti es str le or the sa e space in “the L .” By CoLin . saRgent I t’s March 9, 1921. The British steam- ship Wandby has a date with desti- ny. She’s bound for Portland through a white fog, but she hasn’t sighted land since Algiers. Suddenly, the bridge watch echoes with, “Breakers ahead!” Blind to fortune, the freighter crashes into a lovely cove in Kennebunkport right beside Walker’s Point. At 11 knots. Immediately across the street, in the same time/space continuum, anoth- er collision is happening 98 years lat- er. A “modern” dwelling straight out of the Brady Bunch has made the mistake of crashing into 2019’s real estate mar- ket. Usually, it’s a good idea to consider saving a building. But this one, like the Wandby, is sadly a total loss. diving into tHe ReCk It’s so out of true “its doors are flapping,” the listing company says. Its porches are rotten and dangerous. Few will weep when the 1,700-square-foot structure is torn apart board by board and taken away. No one is presently living up here in this elevat- ed lot with its unforgettable views of Wand- by Cove. A side window is open, inviting intruders. Lonely but defiant, the chirp of a single neglected smoke alarm calls to the curious as they approach the front door. “It used to be owned by a retired doc- tor in his nineties,” says builder Kevin Lord of Dr. Robert F. X. Gilday, 89, who bought the property in 1981. With part- ner Tim Harrington, Lord purchased the outmoded wreck with its dreamy lot “in July” of 2018 for $1.2M. Now, having dis- covered this site—”the house was invis- ible from the street”—Lord & Harrington LLC have had a new design created [chirp] by Fiorentino Group Architects of Ports- mouth, New Hampshire. daRe to dReaM Because the new design is a Shingle Style marvel with a turret that is “nearly 5,000 square feet,” the proposal must “go before the Planning Board on February 20,” Lord says. We step gingerly across the front porch and look at the magnificent absence of the Wandby. When the ship crashed, the sickening sound of metal gnashing against rock carried a reported three or four miles. Kennebunk schools closed so students could run to see history in the waves. [Chirp.] What a spot for you and your loved one to eavesdrop on the world. Hearts’ memo- ry summons a picture of Dr. Gilday and his wife, Judith, up here, toasting their good fortune. To the right is Walker’s Point. Fur- ther to the right are views of the beaches as they rush toward Mt. Agamenticus. It’s this singular lot, and not the house, that makes this location our “House of the Month.” Be- hind it is the old swampland known as “the Lake of the Woods.” You could “probably ice skate there because I believe it’s fresh water,” Lord says. “It’s a gem of a site,” Lord says. “We’re calling it Sanctuary. The purchaser will get an approved house design. Central Maine Power is working on the engineering draw- ings to bury the telephone wires under- ground” to guarantee an even better view. “The $2.5M price also includes a tie into town water. The price includes the house being demolished and taken away”— (roughly a $25K value). “I’ve gone fishing right out there,” he says of Wandby Cove, a difficult place to anchor. “I throw in a mackerel, and the stripers come!”