What makes your home a Green or Healthy Home?
The professionally designed and installed 3 KW, grid-tied photovoltaic system supplies all of the domestic electrical needs, using conventional appliances but if you decide to enlarge, it is an easily expandable system. We have produced a minimum of 16.1MwH since early 2013, which has the carbon sequestering effect of 14.1 acres of forestland for one year or 311 tree seedlings grown for ten years.
Besides everything else, this PV system powers our electric hybrid water heater (GE Geospring) so we say we heat our water with the sun.
The house and garage/workshop are made from locally grown/harvested timber with wood siding milled from this area. We use about 1 cord of wood in an average winter and 2 cords in a colder than average winter; we burn about 1/2 tank of #2 heating oil if we are lazy about building the evening wood fire in our low emissions, high efficiency Lopi Endeavor wood stove. The locally sourced Brownville slate hearth and chimney are a beautiful visual and practical asset for heating with wood.
We have a separately enclosed and insulated 5' X9' root cellar/canned goods pantry in the basement to store a season's worth of organic root crops grown on this property; the home's long axis exposure is situated slightly SSW to take advantage of full southern sunlight for passive solar heating through large insulated windows in the main living space. Much of the firewood we burn can be salvaged dead/down from the 8.8 home acreage or wood cutting operations along Rt 11 within a few miles of home. (Excellent quality cut, split local beech, maple, yellow birch firewood is currently available @$200/cord). There have been some years when we burned much less than a quarter tank of heating oil and used only salvaged wood combined with passive solar heating.]
Vegetable gardens and fruit plantings are all organic stock and organically maintained.Property Description
A comfortable energy efficient home, sitting on 8.8 acres, in a sunny setting surrounded by thousands of acres of contiguous forests with hiking, x-country skiing, birding, hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, swimming, kayaking, and canoeing, literally out your backdoor. This home was built by a master builder in 1987. Extensive recent improvements and energy investments to the basic house setup.
This home is very energy affordable with energy efficient appliances; large passive solar capacity; grid-tied pv system; energy efficient hybrid water heater; drilled well that has never gone dry; 2000 gallon septic tank with leach field; fresh, low VOC paint and trim. The home is private from neighbors, yet just off Maine State Route 11. Custom designed and built native slate hearths and chimney acts as heat sinks for solar gain in late fall, winter, and early spring. We have long frontage on a navigable stream (Middle Branch of Pleasant River) which is crystal clear water flowing out from the mountains of the Appalachian Trail "100 Mile Wilderness" (Piscataquis County). We also have a 28' X 40' gambrel garage/workshop with concrete floor, 200 amp entrance; long axis full southern exposure for growing or simply passive solar heat in the garage; huge upstairs storage = room for all your equipment.
We have established and productive organic raised vegetable beds; also high bush blueberries, Boyne raspberries, asparagus bed, rhubarb, blackberries; and other fruit trees, all organic stock and organically maintained. Enjoy your peace and privacy yet only 40' to Orono UMO campus, 50' to Bangor/Brewer with a wide range of shopping, entertainment, dining and supplies. We are about 1/2 hour south of Millinocket, which is the gateway to Baxter State Park, Allagash Wilderness Waterway and the new Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. We are a 90'(beautiful) drive through North Maine Woods KI/Jo-Mary forestlands to Greenville and the Moosehead Lake region. Our location also provides, within an hour drive, access to hundreds of lakes, ponds, rivers and streams with wild brook trout fisheries- not to mention putting your canoe in from your own frontage on the Middle Branch or a short walk across the road to the East Branch. We are 1 mile down the road from access to extensive AMC recreational lands/trails, portions of the Appalachian Trail and AMC Maine Wilderness Lodges for four season recreation, all located within the larger Maine North Woods Ki/Jo-Mary Multiple-Use Forest Management unit. These lands are one of the best-kept secrets of the legendary North Maine Woods.
Our location is the perfect spot for self-sufficient living in the Maine woods with easy access to amenities. If you are looking for green living and a happy outdoor life with clean air and clean water, this may be your perfect new home. Give it a look!
Neighborhood Description
We live on the northern edge of an old railroad and river community (Brownville JCT.)with a discontinued slate quarry of well-known quality. There is a long history of the rails carrying health seekers from Boston and New York to the healing waters and fresh air of the North Maine Woods, including the historic health resort on Silver Lake, just 7 miles from this home. The resort is long gone but its history remains. We live on the edge of the locally named "Prairie", currently in hay production.Market Area
This location on RT 11, does have market potential market gardeners or entrepreneurs to intercept camp owners and recreationists heading to adventures. The major grocery store is Tradewinds in Milo. There are gas/convenience stores 3 miles south in Brownville; excellent hardware stores located in Milo.School District
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Brownville Elementary school is about 5 miles south, High school is in Milo 11 miles south. This has traditionally been considered a good school system with excellent educators.Community
Brownville is a rural community of 1207 people (2010 census); located in central Maine in Piscataquis County, population 17,535. This county is home to Katahdin, Maine's highest mtountain; also and the headwaters of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway.Location of Home or Land
Rural
Elevation of Home
Mountain
Air Quality
| Agriculture in Area | yes |
| Industry in Area | no |
| Air Pollution in Area | no |
| Pesticide Free | yes |
| Fragrance Free | yes |
| Cleaned with Green Products | yes |
Interior Environment
| Heating System | Other |
| Cooling System | Other |
| Ventilation System | Other |
| Whole House Filtration | None |
| Whole House Vacuum | no |
Energy & Water
| Energy System | Photovoltaic (PV) |
| Water System | Well |
| Wastewater System | Septic System |
Construction Information
| Exterior Finish | Other |
| Interior Finish | Gypsum Board - Sheet Rock |
| Interior Paint | Low VOC |
| Floor Material | Vinyl |
| Roof Material | Asphalt Composition Shingle |
| Window Material | Vinyl or Vinyl Clad |
| Insulation Material | Fiberglass |
Garage / Car Port
| Garage / Carport | yes |
| Garage Type | detached |
| Number of Cars | 4 |
| Garage Area | 2240 sqft |
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