Here, we see one of our favorite places, as it was Thursday (October 22). We keep a visual record of this iconic connected farmhouse on Bay Road (Route 175).

But, it’s sad to watch it die a little each day while seemingly trying hard to maintain some of the dignity that it had when a large family called her home. At one time, part of this house also acted as a local Post Office. Now, she’s a place visited mostly by seagulls that befoul her roof:

Small farms – real working ones – are declining fast here due to changing times. Maine land values are increasing exponentially; insurers are refusing to insure old houses without extraordinarily expensive safety renovations; mortgage institutions are refusing to fund houses that don’t have adequate insurance, and many older owners do not have the heart or money to tear down their former homes.

There is a movement in Maine to use land trusts to try to conserve some of these farmhouses by subsidizing organic and other small farmers to inhabit them. However, it may be too little too late. The inhabitants of decently reconstructed connected houses and barns now often are not farmers, cows, goats, or horses; they’re business people or retirees who use the barns for cars, snowmobiles, and (in the winter) boats. (Brooklin, Maine)

In the Right Place: Diminished Dignity