{"id":16072,"date":"2019-03-29T09:58:02","date_gmt":"2019-03-29T13:58:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=16072"},"modified":"2020-09-28T13:00:15","modified_gmt":"2020-09-28T17:00:15","slug":"magnificent-absence-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/magnificent-absence-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Magnificent Absence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two different times struggle for the same space in \u201cthe Lake of the Woods.<\/b>\u201d<\/span><\/h4>\n

February\/March 2019 | view full story as a .pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

By Colin W. Sargent<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"FM19-HOM\"I<\/span>t\u2019s March 9, 1921. The British steamship Wandby <\/em>has a date with destiny. She\u2019s bound for Portland through a white fog, but she hasn\u2019t sighted land since Algiers. Suddenly, the bridge watch echoes with, \u201cBreakers ahead!\u201d Blind to fortune, the freighter crashes into a lovely cove in Kennebunkport right beside Walker\u2019s Point. At 11 knots.<\/span><\/p>\n

Immediately across the street, in the same time\/space continuum, another collision is happening 98 years later. A \u201cmodern\u201d dwelling straight out of the Brady Bunch has made the mistake of crashing into 2019\u2019s real estate market. Usually, it\u2019s a good idea to consider saving a building. But this one, like the Wandby<\/em>, is sadly a total loss. <\/span><\/p>\n

Diving Into the Wreck<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n

It\u2019s so out of true \u201cits doors are flapping,\u201d 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 elevated lot with its unforgettable views of Wandby Cove. A side window is open, inviting intruders. Lonely but defiant, the chirp<\/i> of a single neglected smoke alarm calls to the curious as they approach the front door. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt used to be owned by a retired doctor in his nineties,\u201d says builder Kevin Lord of Dr. Robert F. X. Gilday, 89, who bought the property in 1981. With partner Tim Harrington, Lord purchased the outmoded wreck with its dreamy lot \u201cin July\u201d of 2018 for $1.2M.\u00a0 <\/span>Now, having discovered this site\u2014\u201dthe house was invisible from the street\u201d\u2014Lord & Harrington LLC have had a new design created [chirp<\/i>] by Fiorentino Group Architects of Portsmouth, New Hampshire.<\/p>\n

Dare to Dream<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

Because the new design is a Shingle Style marvel with a turret that is \u201cnearly 5,000 square feet,\u201d the proposal must \u201cgo before the Planning Board on February 20,\u201d Lord says.<\/span><\/p>\n

We step gingerly across the front porch and look at the magnificent absence of the Wandby<\/em>. 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<\/i>.]<\/p>\n

What a spot for you and your loved one to eavesdrop on the world. Hearts\u2019 memory summons a picture of Dr. Gilday and his wife, Judith, up here, toasting their good fortune. To the right is Walker\u2019s Point. Further to the right are views of the beaches as they rush toward Mt. Agamenticus. It\u2019s this singular lot, and not the house, that makes this location our \u201cHouse of the Month.\u201d Behind it is the old swampland known as \u201cthe Lake of the Woods.\u201d You could \u201cprobably ice skate there because I believe it\u2019s fresh water,\u201d Lord says.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a gem of a site,\u201d Lord says. \u201cWe\u2019re calling it Sanctuary. The purchaser will get an approved house design. Central Maine Power is working on the engineering drawings to bury the telephone wires underground\u201d to guarantee an even better view. \u201cThe $2.5M price also includes a tie into town water. The price includes the house being demolished and taken away\u201d\u2014 (roughly a $25K value). \u201cI\u2019ve gone fishing right out there,\u201d he says of Wandby Cove, a difficult place to anchor. \u201cI throw in a mackerel, and the stripers come!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

21st Century Relevance<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n

So what value has Lord added himself? \u201cPeople don\u2019t understand what you can do with a property like this if you abide by the proper channels,\u201d he says. \u201cThe drive-under garage will be designed for three cars.\u201d Meanwhile, the ghost of the Wandby<\/i> may be part of the star-maker machine. \u201cThe brewery and distillery we have, Batson River, already has a Wandby beer\u2026 It\u2019s a pale ale.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Likely Buyers?<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n

A<\/span>s for who will buy the new house, \u201cI was talking with President Bush 43 a couple of weeks ago about some repairs at Walker\u2019s Point. Forty-three (former President George W. Bush) got the main house at Walker\u2019s Point. Neil Bush owns the little ranch house nearest the cove [and nicknamed Wandby]. Jeb built a new house on the Point a few years ago. Doro has one, too.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

That leaves former President George W. Bush\u2019s daughters, Jenna Bush Hager and her sister Barbara, homeless. [Chirp<\/i>.] \u201cTim is close to the Bushes,\u201d Lord says of his business partner. \u201cThere\u2019s been some discussion about that! All they\u2019d have to do is cross the street.\u201d Taxes are $7,813.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two different times struggle for the same space.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16075,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[892,232,224],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-estate","category-shelter-design","category-talking-walls"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16072"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16072\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19196,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16072\/revisions\/19196"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}