Courtesy / Fitzgibbons & Latham
Original brick fireplaces, beams and wide-plank floors are some of the historical features in the 1785 Parsonfield farmhouse.
August 2, 2019
'Equestrian retreat,' with farmhouse dating to 1785, hits the market
Courtesy / Fitzgibbons & Latham
A 150-acre horse farm, the Old Pease-Elisha Piper Farm in Parsonsfield, is on the market for $995,000.
A 150-acre "equestrian retreat" that was established from a farmhouse built in 1785 has hit the market for $995,000.
The property is located at 192 South Road, Parsonsfield, in York County on the Maine/New Hampshire border.
Known as the Old Pease-Elisha Piper Farm, the estate was expanded by its current owners and upgraded to a first-class equestrian retreat, according to the listing.
The retreat consists of a 4,000-square-foot two-story Georgian-style home, indoor/outdoor riding arenas, five paddocks and a three-story barn, along with open meadows, conserved forest land and ponds that are home to a diverse wildlife habitat. The northern boundary abuts the 8,600-acre Leavitt Plantation Preserve, which is managed as a sustainable working forest and has more than 80 miles of recreational trails.
The 1785 farmhouse still has many of its original features, including five working fireplaces. All systems have been upgraded and the ell has been renovated with an open great room, large kitchen, living room and bedroom with half bath. The attached carriage house is considered an opportunity for a collector or artist studio.
The stand-alone barn is in good condition and has additional horse stalls and amenities.
Less “frosty” location
According to a history associated with the listing, Elisha Piper was a farmer from Wakefield, N.H., who sought a less “frosty” location for a farm, in what was then called “Parsontown.”
Piper built a log camp covered with hemlock bark and cleared several acres, hauled a bed and cooking utensils on a hand sled over the mountain from Wakefield, and planted corn and other crops. He acquired additional land and built the original one-story frame house, adding a second story around 1812.
The property was handed down through the generations. Stanton Pomeroy was the last member of the Piper line to live there, until his death at age 84 in 1991.
Horse-friendly
The property has a complicated lineage and there’s some uncertainty as to whether the original owner was Piper or another family named Pease, Fitzgibbons & Latham’s Chad Latham told Mainebiz.
Most recently, the property has been the home for an owner of show horses.
“It has an amazing, state-of-the-art arena and stables,” he said.
Another feature of the property is the private rural acreage that includes a 100-acre conservation easement, put in place by previous owners, he said.
“They didn’t want the land to ever get sold off or split up,” he added.
The property’s owner, Donna Dulude, told Mainebiz she bought it in 2008 after she and her daughter fell in love with horseback riding.
Courtesy / Fitzgibbons & Latham
The property includes 150 acres of pasture, meadow and paddocks.
“My daughter started riding when she was 2 years old and fell in love with horses,” she explained.
Dulude was 45 when she also started riding. By the time they had acquired five horses, Dulude and her husband, an engineer, decided they should buy a farm, she continued.
Sweeping lawn
At the time, the family was living in the neighboring town of Limington, where they owned and ran Aerox Aviation Oxygen Systems, a designer and manufacturer of aviation oxygen systems and accessories.
She and her husband enjoy old houses and Dulude is a history teacher. In search of a farm, they came across the Parsonfield house and fell in love with it. At the time, the interior was run down but still possessed its original charm.
“It was in the same family for over 200 years,” she said. “That’s what really do drew us to this property. It was just so beautiful: that sweeping lawn up to the house, the stone walls and the history.”
The Dulude family moved in, performed upgrades to the house, and built horse-friendly features, including a new barn with stables, an indoor arena, a tack room and wash stall. The family eventually had seven horses.
But when their daughter grew up and moved away, the couple bought a retirement home in Vermont, to be closer to Dulude’s family. They sold Aerox several years ago.
Dulude said the ideal buyer would be one who appreciates old homes.
“It is truly an original house,” she said. “It has all the modern features, but when you step in, you feel you’re stepping back in time.”
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