The price, if not the house, is eye-catching

Simple courtesy towards guests, let alone esthetics, would suggest some kind of sheltered entrance here.

New today, 55 Old Stone Bridge Road, asking $895,00. Old Stone Bridge was a mid-70s development built on the former Chimblo property, which was a great place to camp when the Chimblo brothers opened it to local Boy Scout troops, but not prime building land: rocky, hilly and in other sections, swampy. A number of contractors built houses there nonetheless, of varying quality, depending on which builder was involved.

Current sales tend to cluster around $1.5ish, so this price seems attractive, depending on both the quality of the land it’s perched on and its condition. Listing agent Steve Archino is very experienced, and not known, by me at least, for giving houses away, and has both set the price and described it as being sold “as is”, so as always, I’ll trust Steve’s opinion, sight unseen.

It certainly doesn’t look like much, but if salvageable, this might be an opportunity to get into town at an affordable price. It reminds me of Pal Nancy’s and my own first purchase, when we moved from Greenwich to Bangor, Maine, long ago. I was fresh out of law school, and living on a Bangor, Maine associate’s salary, we had limited means, but we were just-married then, without children, and could devote evenings and weekends to rehabbing an 1835 farmhouse to good effect, at low cost. But that was then; today, I’m not sure how many young people have the skill to perform such work or, and more important, the inclination to do it.

But it could work. Old Stone Bridge is a very decent area, and this house might be worth the effort, though I’d certainly recommend a thorough inspection.

No a/c, certainly needs a new hvac system, including furnace, and this master bath is … unfortunate.

spacious terrace for entertaining your three closest friends