MANCHESTER – A home with a cool history is a fine thing. From many points of view, a great family home is even finer. Best of all is the home that combines these qualities.
Welcome to 99 Kerns Hill Road, and please admire the elegant port cochere (covered entrance to a courtyard) you pass through (as Red Sox great Ted Williams once did) on arrival at this distinguished address. Here, built in 1916 in the style of a classic Maine coast cottage, is a five-bedroom, two-full-plus-two-half-baths, 4,964-square-foot home that provides three levels of living.
Make that “easy” living, because the property has been so scrupulously maintained and updated for the past 20 years. The $40,000 complement of new Marvin windows is one example. Refinished Douglas fir flooring in the huge screened porch is another. And don’t overlook the beadboard “mud” room with bench and other built-ins.
The newer, custom granite-and-stainless kitchen is another highlight. Its woodstove’s hearth of Hallowell granite is shared with fireplaces in the adjacent dining room (whose hand-carved chestnut paneling is repurposed from a Gilded Age hotel in New York City); and in the living room, which like the dining room has a coffered ceiling.
Up the main staircase or back, “breakfast,” stairs, the four-bedroom second floor includes a spacious master suite (large walk-in, well-appointed updated bath) at the back; three front bedrooms, served by a full bath; and a library. On the top story are the fifth bedroom, a half-bath, and a marvelous side-to-side family room for games and recreation.
The above-mentioned “courtyard” is no mere figure of speech. Ascending past a long swath of lush lawn, the driveway widens into a basketball court with a standalone hoop to the right. Opposite it is a heated, three-vehicle garage that has a full, c. 1,100-square-foot, income-producing apartment above. There is a longtime tenant in place. Next to the garage, the handsome carriage house is also heated, and has been finished (as an indoor basketball court, for now); but is suited to a variety of uses.
The 2.74-acre grounds are lovely, and slope up behind the home into a pretty 50-acre wood with trails. The private location – less than a mile from Route 202 – is extremely convenient to I-95, downtown Augusta and MaineGeneral Health. And even handier to Augusta Country Club’s 18 holes; abundant boating opportunities on Cobbossee Lake; and Manchester Elementary. Town schools are highly ranked, and private Kents Hill is an option.
The home at 99 Kerns Hill Road, Manchester, is listed for sale at $538,000 by Jean Kirkpatrick of Coldwell Banker Rizzo Mattson in Augusta. Please contact Jean at 207-441-5611 or at jean@jeankirkpatrick.com.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.