- The Maine Farmhouse Journal
- Renovating our 1830's Farmhouse in Sebago, Maine
- Encounters with bats, ladybugs, ghosts, Moxie, fellow Mainers, and whatever else comes to mind
- Journal Entries are posted on several websites (see list below)
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Stories About Life in Maine!
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The Farmhouse is known in the area, and on our deed, as the "John Meserve Farm". His father, Samuel Meserve, was one of the early settlers in Sebago. We believe that Samuel built this heavy timber, mortise and tenon
farmhouse in about 1830. It is built in the traditional "big house - little house - back house - barn" style of connected buildings common to the region. Legend has it that a crew of 30-40 men labored to build the house and barn on the ridge just west of Sebago Lake.
The kitchen ell was probably built around 1889, and was joined to the main house. The carriage house is of different construction, and was probably brought to the site and joined to the house and barn about the same time that the kitchen was added. Bringing in a building to make a connected farmstead was a commonplace event at the time in this area. The "J. Meserve" farms is shown on the 1871 maps of the town. Samuel Meserve first showed up in the U.S. Census for Sebago in 1840. In 170 years, we are only the fifth family to have owned the Farmhouse - which speaks volumes about the solidness of the structure and the character of the community. Today the Farmhouse and buildings are just as sound and tight as when they was built - not a sag or tilt anywhere! The house inspector said it is in excellent shape, even considering it's age. Read more about the John Meserve Farm and the people who lived there, about the curved walls that are an unusual feature of the Farmhouse, and our progress in renovation in the various Journal Entries listed above. |
The old book business demands a dry, clean place to store the inventory.
We have gathered all of the piles of books stored in various places
around the country, and this barn is just the spot for them. The
Meserves had a good, tight barn built, and it was improved with a solid cement floor by Richard and Dot Howard. It'll be just right for our books, and we've built an office into the carriage house connecting the house and barn, so we can do our data entry and orders without having to go outside in those cold, snowy Maine winters!
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| The farm sits on 16 acres more or less of field and woods. There are nearly 1,000 high-bush blueberry bushes on the place that we carefully prune, fertilize, and irrigate. Then when the picking season begins in mid-July, we open the fields to pick-your-own customers. Visit the webpages for Crabtree's Pick-Your-Own Highbush Blueberries to learn more about this fun and delicious activity for the family. Come and visit us during the blueberry season! |
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Sebago is located about 30 miles northwest of Portland, Maine. It is a community of about 1,500 people. The population grows to 3-4 times that size in the summertime with the folks who have places on the lake. It nicely meets our desire to be in a small town, with a warm sense of community (just like the last couple of places we've lived), with citizens active in their town. Sebago has good fly fishing for trout and bass, deer hunting, and cross-country skiing right handy. Striper fishing is a short drive to the ocean. The fall colors, snowy winters and mountain views that are such an important part of living in New England are right out the back door. If things get too bucolic, it is not a long drive to Portland's airport, theatres, symphonies, assorted cultural stuff and good microbrew pubs. |
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We'll keep you informed as the work continues through our Journal Entries - check them out at the top of this page. Our Journal Entries are listed on:
And you might have also seen some of the Farmhouse Journal articles on:
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This page was last updated April 3, 2009.
Copyright © 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 by Allen Crabtree