THE HOUSE THAT TIME FORGOT

      Sitting in  ancient Adirondack chairs facing a cool ocean  breeze, what a way to start a summer. 
 You can do that at Captain Henry’s House in Round Pond, Maine. It was our first stop on a brief trip  north.  

    The 1850's farm house belongs to a Coconut Grove couple who rent it out through Airbnb (to see ”The Captain’s House”  at  www.airbnb.com/rooms/11041490 ).  Heading back in time is a easy at this place. You fly to Portland then drive north an hour to the tranquil fishing village.






    The 150-year-old house sits on 4 1/2 acres rolling down to the harbor. The former owner, "Captain Henry", got his rank serving as a physician in WW II. After the war he'd sneak away from his Harvard teaching job to spend summers in Round Pond.     Above, Henry as a   young man, 1922.

 
    
    It's easy to see why Hank and his family loved this place. It's on the ocean but off the beaten path. It's fully furnished but if you want to go out, seaside dining is just a three-minute walk away.  Along the path you'll marvel at lupine shooting up like colorful rockets.
               
    

   Every Maine restaurant will be happy to sell you a "lobster roll" which is basically a $20 hot dog. 

   
   The farmhouse got real plumbing a century ago but the "old plumbing" is still there.  
    Next to the master bathroom is a wash stand and a chamber pot.


  Connected to the kitchen below is an out house that is in the house. 
   I wanted to try it but encountered stiff opposition from my better half.
   
    When the house was sold to friends two years ago the captain's family chose to sell it “as is”, which, in this case, as it was in 1926. Back then there were no televisions.  People watched each other and
occasionally conversed.

  They also read books (the house has hundreds), 

 
sang songs around the Steinway (there's one), 

or listened to them on the Victrola. We did all of these things gleefully at our Round Pond abode. 

 

Detail, front entrance

            Detail, Barn wall

     There was a small TV but we never considered turning it on. There were too many better things to do… seaside hiking,
  kayaking,
and examining very old hatboxes. 

  Inside each were like-new treasures from the 1890’s ready for the next Easter parade.  

 
   
     

We had a wonderful time living in the past but there were more places to visit.    Two days ago we carefully placed the hats back in their boxes and pushed off for our next Pine State adventure.
                                 
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