400 4525ft2

Name: 400 4525ft2
Brand: 400 4525ft2
SKU: genClassifieds-760460
Price: 63.5 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.8 (5 reviews)

63.5,,, USD

QR Code Link to This Post Come and live with us in our gorgeous, grand, historic home with tech upgrades, a short walk from vibrant downtown Hallowell. You'd be sharing with up to five other full-time residents plus owners who drop in occasionally as they plan future remodeling and attend to improvements. This home has grand spaces and cosy nooks, plenty of room to spread out or curl up.

We love living with roommates and we wouldn't have it any other way. We own a home in California which we share with seven others and another place in Hallowell which we have remodeled and now share with three, and we've previously shared in Boston, NYC and NJ too. Then we saw this home and we were bowled over by its amazing features and we realized we wanted to have the chance to bring out its beauty. We set it up with lightning fast internet, super wifi, and digital locks and we upgraded the power supply to the house.

__The neighborhood__
The Governor's Grange is very close to downtown Hallowell - 2 short blocks walk to Water St shops/restaurants; within listening distance of the church bells; easy access to highway and Augusta. You don't even have to walk far uphill after dinner.

Hallowell is a vibrant center for live music, good food and neighborly interactions with a small town vibe. Within walking distance are places for coffee, fresh juice and smoothies, a great variety of restaurants including proper NYC brick oven pizza, renowned pubs and bars, a bakery, banks, a post office, and all around are many different live music offerings. At the bottom of the hill flows the beautiful Kennebec River, and just three blocks away are the lovely Vaughan Woods for a healthy walk or the Rail Trail for a good smooth run through the trees with river views. Yet a quick jaunt away by car are all the big-box stores, services and government offices available around Augusta.

__The house__
The Governor's Grange is a grand historic home built in 1818 in the Federal style
6 full-size bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, kitchen with dining area, grand living room, "mirror room", formal dining room, library, full basement, attic storage
Stunning cathedral-ceilinged kitchen has dishwasher, fridge, range and hood, new microwave, toaster, coffee machine, dishware...
Washer and dryer are conveniently located in the high-ceilinged finished basement accessed from the kitchen (where their noise does not disturb)
Astonishing grand front entrance with main curved flying staircase with two branches onto the upper floor
Beautiful setting in an estate with grass and trees all round, a stream with a bridge, lovely views down towards the river
Decorated throughout with rich colored walls and original hardwood floors
Baseboard heaters from oil furnace
Well-insulated basement (with new improvements to divert radon from house) and metal roof
Use of one side of a two-car garage with indoor access to the house (first come first served between roommates; owner keeps the other side) and driveway
Access to full height basement for storage or other recreation
New electrics with loads of power, smart home Nest Protect features
Fast cable internet provided with top-of-the-line mesh WiFi already up and running (fast and reliable service throughout the house), Google Home devices available.
Baby grand piano (to be tuned January 2017 after it's settled in)!

__The bedrooms__
Each available bedroom is for single occupancy only (to reduce the load on the common spaces). Sorry no exceptions.
Bedroom 1. Huge, grand bedroom with historic fireplace (decor only). Accessed from the grand central staircase. With provided IKEA 3-door closet which you can move to your preferred position in the room. Queen bed. Dresser. Close to large bathroom. 17'1" by 16' 6". Available from 12/1. $600/month
Bedroom 2. [Taken already!]
Bedroom 3. Large room with decent size built-in closet. Accessed from the grand central staircase or an alternative straight staircase. Full bed. Dresser. Close to large bathroom. 16'6" by 10'1". Available from 12/1. $500/month
Bedroom 4. Huge, grand bedroom with access to large hanging rail closet just outside the room. Accessed from the grand central staircase. Historic fireplace (decor only). Full bed. Dresser. Close to "corridor bathroom". 17'4" by 15'9", Available from 12/1. $575/month
Bedroom 5. Small bedroom with privacy in the house "ell". Access up a new spiral staircase in the "ell" (at the base of which is a half-bath), or across a catwalk above the kitchen and through the "corridor bathroom". Full bed, large built-in closet across whole wall. Newly-painted "neutral" walls, new carpet. Loads of electric outlets including USB-A outlets. Dresser. 10' by 9'6". Available from 12/9. $400/month
Bedroom 6. Small bedroom with privacy in the house "ell". Access up a new spiral staircase in the "ell" (at the base of which is a half-bath), or across a catwalk above the kitchen and through the "corridor bathroom". Full bed, small built-in closet. Newly-painted "neutral" walls, new carpet. Loads of electric outlets including USB-A outlets. Dresser. 13' by 10'. Available from 12/9. $450/month

__The furniture__
Bedrooms furnished with period beds, brand new mattresses and box springs, antique dressers and bedside tables, new lamps, fresh bedding, even towels if you need them. Living room equipped with comfy sofa and armchairs, new wool rug, mirror room has sofa, armchair and footstool and new 55" 4K TV with Roku for Netflix. Kitchen has microwave, coffee machine, toaster, electric kettle, knife block, utensils, glasses, dishware, flatware.

__Who we are, what we do__
So far the visitors to the Governors Grange are Mark and Grace, who just bought it. Mark and Grace are British. Mark is an artist who paints in oils. We caught the bicoastal bug while Mark studied in NYC for 4 years and Grace worked in NYC and CA. We have visited Hallowell, summer, winter, spring and fall for many years staying with friends. Family lives about 40 minutes away. For now, Grace's job continues in CA, but whenever we can get away to Hallowell, we do. Mark is a classical realist painter/sculptor (who has a studio under construction around the corner elsewhere in Hallowell, where we sleep when we are visiting the area) but he also expresses his artistry through restoring old houses and bringing out their beauty. He also deals with all the utility companies and the gardeners/snow clearers and fixes anything that breaks. Grace works in tech and deals with anything internet/electronic/smarthome in the house. We don't have cable TV but we do like to watch Netflix or a movie. We have lived with roommates for years, including working grad students and professionals. We enjoy the social interaction and freedom of having independent, positive and friendly roommates. We like to go for a run, a bike ride, or to the gym, to go out and enjoy the countryside, and to take care of our home. We are really excited to be living in Hallowell even though we can't be there all the time. We like to stay reasonably tidy, especially in common areas, but we are not obsessive about it.

__Why "Governor's Groovy Grange"?__
We were told from the previous owner of the house that the first owner was known as the "Governor of Hallowell". There are other stories, but we liked that one.
As you'll see from the photos and 3D tour, at the time we acquired this home the interior has some quite bold colors in some of the rooms. Pretty groovy. We plan to paint the interior over time as needed and use a more neutral color palette... if it's essential for you to have that more neutral palette in place in your room before you move in, let us know - we can try to make that happen. Unfortunately we can't afford to do everything to this property all at once.
We have big plans to update the home over time and put in more features that are useful to our roommates - more bathrooms, more built-in closets, more electrical outlets - always making sure that everyone has a functional set of everything to use and nobody is disrupted by noise or dust. We have no current plans to carry out any major remodel work in 2018.

__Pets__
We don't have any pets. We would like to have a well-behaved cat in the house (with a responsible cat owner): we have enjoyed the presence of up to two cats in a house at a time. It is quite likely we will have a roommate with a cat again so please don't apply if you are deathly allergic or this would make you unhappy. We do not want a dog in the house. Ask us about other creatures and we will think about it.

__Costs___
Utilities Included: Internet, Regular Garbage collection, Gardening
Utilities with bills shared between occupants (owners always pay 1 share): Water, Heating oil, Electricity, Snow Plowing, Wood for stove (so when we are full with 6 roommates including you, plus us, you'll pay a 1/7 share)
Lease term: 6 months minimum, then month-to-month
Deposit: $500 plus first and last month rent (first month prorated according to date)
Payment by credit card, Google Wallet, Paypal, Venmo, bank transfer, check... all acceptable
Up to two cats OK with additional cat deposit $250, no dogs, ask about other pets

__House rules__
No smoking anything, and no drugs on the premises (house and land) please - no exceptions. No subletting.

__What's next?__
Take a look at a 3D walkthrough of the Governors Grange when we first acquired it - before we put any furniture in or improved the safety of the central stair banister or catwalk, or put in the spiral staircase to the "ell": https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=TtPkUYSCqUb

If you like what you see, write to us by email and tell us a bit about yourself. We will be showing the rooms in person on Saturday December 2nd and Sunday December 3rd, and the weekend after that, too and giving you a chance to meet us and possibly other candidates. Let us know what times that day you could come by. Join us in our first wave and appreciate this Governors Grange at the first opportunity, and help us choose the rest of the roommates (we may not "fill up" completely in one round - we want to find the right mix of people). Happy room- and roommate-hunting! (You could move in as soon as December 9th if we have a good.)

Location: Maine -

Added on 3 days ago and expires on 25 May, Ad id: 760460

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