Spacious and private house in Camden, short walk to the water.

This is home base for everything Mid-coast Maine has to offer. This house is made for entertaining as well as quiet nights, and has everything guests could want, for shorter stays or longer adventures. It is perfect for families staying for awhile to learn about the area before they buy a house. It is also great for those who are staying temporarily for work, or simply to enjoy the winter holiday season or the summer in the lovely village of Camden.

Although VRBO does not have a booking feature that makes this clear, the house is available for one-month stays and longer Oct. 1-May 30. $4,000 a month and tenants pay for fuel costs. (We are responsible for every other cost of running the house during that time).
June 1-Sept 30 the rate is $900 a night (we pay all costs of running the house during the season), with a one-week minimum. For stays longer than two weeks during June-Sept we offer a 25% discount.
We are offering the main house, which is about 6,300 sq ft. There are five bedrooms in the main house, and three-and-a-half baths. There is a deck, an upper lawn and lower lawn, a gardening shed, and a stand-by generator. There is a mini bar and sink in the “music room”, for easy entertaining. There is an art studio on the first floor that is filled with natural light.

The guest apartment, which can be locked off from the main house and has its own entrance/exit to the driveway, will be reserved for our occasional use. In the off-season, we will come up very rarely. As the weather gets warm, we will come up occasionally, but not much in the summer of 2027, because we will be traveling.

The house is in a very convenient location: a few minutes' walk to downtown, a few minutes' walk to Laite Beach, an easy bike ride to Rockport Harbor, a quick drive or leisurely walk to Camden Hills State Park, and a 15-minute kayak paddle out to Curtis Island. One of the best secrets in Camden is that there is a row boat at the public landing that can be rented for half-day and full-day use. A great way to explore the harbor, go to Laite Beach, and another way to get to Curtis Island.

The local grocery, post office, restaurants, shops, art galleries, library, river, and town park are within easy reach- almost all are within half a mile of the house. If you are feeling like you want to venture further, there are many shops, restaurants, and two museums in Rockland, which is a 20-minute drive from the house.
You can see the inner harbor from our deck (more so since the photos, because a tree fell over in a storm!). There are also tree-framed views of the harbor through several windows. The house is across the street from the water, and guests can sneak through the lower garden, through the bushes, and onto the sidewalk which will take them either into town or out to the beach.

This house is one of the most private in the Village, because of the tall hedgerow and other mature landscaping, yet it is steps away from the ocean and the busy life of downtown. For those seeking even more privacy than on the deck or in the gardens, there is an enclosed courtyard. This is is a great space to sit in the sun and watch the birds, and eat a pear from the pear tree, or nap on a lounge chair.
The house has central AC in the bedrooms. It is heated by oil-fueled hot water baseboard and electric "kick" heaters and wall heaters, and an air exchanger that pulls hot air down from the upstairs landing to the living room. There are two working fireplaces (woodpile under the deck) and there is a two-story solarium. The solarium is not heated, so it is not practical to use in the cold months, and the doors must be kept closed Nov.-April. The kitchen has an AGA gas cooker, for people who enjoy a challenge and the ability to bake many pies at once. It also has a conventional stovetop and oven, for those who do not enjoy stove- and- oven- related challenges.

The house is fully furnished with typical furniture and equipped with everything the occupants might need, including office supplies at the desks, towels, linens, numerous kitchen gadgets and appliances, placemats, coasters, glassware, dishes, candlesticks, vases, etc. Although guests can easily walk to the library, they won't need to because there are hundreds, possibly thousands, of books in the various rooms. We lost count and put most of them in the basement, but there are plenty left for you to read!

There is art on the walls, area rugs, cozy throws, many pillows. There are two vacuum cleaners and lots of cleaning supplies. However, it is important to note that this house is big and unless you adore cleaning all day, is it probably wise to have some outside help with housekeeping if you are staying for a longer time. We do not provide housekeeping while guests are occupying the house, but can arrange this for guests, as well as referrals for services such as personal assistant, private chef, and boat charters.

There is a large media library consisting of VHS tapes, DVDs, music cassette tapes, classical CD collection, and audio books. There is a baby grand piano and sheet music, a grandfather clock, a barometer, wind chimes, and outdoor wicker furniture (on the deck) and cedar furniture (in the lower garden).
There is a hammock that guests can bring out of the garage and use (we will get a frame if you want to use the hammock), and additional outdoor chairs stored, plus a card table. Coming in 2027...a grill on the deck.

TVs: one in downstairs master bedroom (w/ROKU), one in dining room with integrated DVD player and ROKU) (Dining room TV is inside a media center with the stereo. The stereo has CD, radio, and tape components), one TV is in the study (CRT with DVD player and VHS player). This is a bit of an analog house, but guests are welcome to bring in more modern technology. We have newly-installed fiber Internet, with routers throughout the house. Garage and laundry room are outfitted with many items that a guest might find handy. There is room in the garage for one car and the driveway can accommodate about eight vehicles if you arrange them carefully. The studio has a sink, large easel, and lots of storage for art supplies. We have many Halloween and Christmas decorations in the basement which tenants are welcome to use. There is a gardening shed with lots of pots and tools for guests to use for container gardening. (If a tenant loves gardening, and wants to take on the weeding and light pruning of the courtyard and rose bushes, we will will reduce the rent accordingly. Otherwise, we have a gardener who does a spring and fall clean-up.)
We are open to requests that a guest may have to make their tenancy more comfortable or to their taste. If it's reasonable and we can do it, we are happy to help.
Tenant may contact CMP (power) and PG Willey (oil) for past utility costs of running the house.