Harbor House Realty buoy mark Harbor House Realty Portland, Maine Book a showing

Casco Bay & the towns around it

Houses on a coast we actually live on.

We sell homes in Portland, Cape Elizabeth, South Portland, Harpswell and out on the islands. Before you make an offer we will tell you what the road is like in February, where the water comes from, and who owns the strip of shore below the lawn.

Book a showing See the six on our books
  • Portland
  • South Portland
  • Cape Elizabeth
  • Falmouth
  • Harpswell
  • Orr's Island
A Casco Bay harbour, drawn for this page

How we work

Four things we do on every house.

  • We show it in bad weather

    Ask for a second visit on a grey day with wind off the water. A house on this coast looks different in a nor'easter than it does in July.

  • Water and septic first

    Well depth, water test, tank location and last pump-out. We pull the paperwork before you write an offer, not after the inspection.

  • Flood zone in writing

    Which zone the lot sits in, whether the lender will want a policy, and what the last owner paid for one.

  • Island homes come with the timetable

    Ferry runs, winter schedule, freight boat days and where the car actually parks on the mainland side.

On our books

Six homes, from a fish house on Orr's Island to a headland in Cape Elizabeth.

Every listing carries a buoy mark. Lobstermen here paint their buoys a colour nobody else on the bay uses, so a trap is never in doubt. We label houses the same way, and the mark follows the house through the paperwork.

Sample listings Six example homes, put here so you can see how the site works. Real listings replace them at launch.

Bedrooms

Showing all six homes

17 Ledgeway Lane, Cape Elizabeth

Red over white

17 Ledgeway Lane

Cape Elizabeth

$1,285,000

  • 4 bed
  • 3 bath
  • 2,640 sq ft
  • 0.9 acre

Shingled, built for a family that wanted the weather in view. The turret room takes the whole eastern sky, and the porch wraps far enough round to sit out of the wind whichever way it blows.

Floor plan, what is nearby, showing terms

Ground floor

Ground floor plan, 17 Ledgeway Lane LIVING turret bay, east light STUDY DINING HALL stair up KITCHEN pantry behind BATH wrap-around porch, three sides N Ground floor. Four bedrooms and two baths above

What is nearby

  • Two Lights and the state park, a walk down the lane
  • Crescent Beach, open water swimming in August only
  • Pond Cove school, the elementary catchment for this address
  • Portland across the bridge, a short drive off-season

Showing terms

Thursday to Sunday by appointment, one day's notice. Shoes off, the floors are original. Sellers ask for a lender letter before a second visit. Dogs fine outside, not indoors.

8 Sail Loft Way, South Portland

Navy over yellow

8 Sail Loft Way

South Portland

$625,000

  • 3 bed
  • 2 bath
  • 1,780 sq ft
  • 0.24 acre

A cape on a quiet street off Broadway, kept by the same family for two owners. New roof, old windows, a garden that somebody clearly loved. Ten minutes to the Casco Bay Bridge.

Floor plan, what is nearby, showing terms

Ground floor

Ground floor plan, 8 Sail Loft Way LIVING fireplace west BEDROOM KITCHEN dining nook HALL stair up to 2 MUDROOM BATH front step N Ground floor. Two bedrooms and a half bath sit under the roof

What is nearby

  • Willard Beach and the fish houses at the end of the street
  • Bug Light and the Greenbelt path along the water
  • Mill Creek shops, groceries and the post office
  • Bus to the Old Port, or fifteen minutes on foot over the bridge

Showing terms

Any evening after five, weekends open. Tenants live here until the end of the lease, so no showings without a day's notice. The cat stays in the back bedroom, keep that door shut.

44 Vaughan Row, Portland West End

Green over yellow

44 Vaughan Row

Portland, West End

$749,000

  • 3 bed
  • 2 bath
  • 1,920 sq ft
  • Row house

Three floors, plaster mouldings intact, a bay window that gets the afternoon. Small yard behind, parking for one car off the alley, which in this neighbourhood is the rare part.

Floor plan, what is nearby, showing terms

Ground floor

Ground floor plan, 44 Vaughan Row PARLOR bay window west DINING STAIR up to 2 and 3 KITCHEN deck yard N Ground floor. Bedrooms on two, study and bath on three

What is nearby

  • The Western Prom and the view over Fore River at sunset
  • Congress Street, the museum and the library, on foot
  • Reiche school and the community pool two blocks over
  • Old Port and the ferry terminal, fifteen minutes walking

Showing terms

Weekday evenings and Saturday mornings. Street parking needs a visitor pass, we bring one. The seller is an architect and will answer questions about the 1994 rear addition directly.

2 Granite Cove Road, Harpswell

Black over orange

2 Granite Cove Road

Harpswell

$985,000

  • 3 bed
  • 2 bath
  • 2,150 sq ft
  • Deep water

Built low and long so the wind goes over it. Deeded shore frontage, a boathouse that needs sills, and a float you can leave in until November. The road is private and plowed by the five families on it.

Floor plan, what is nearby, showing terms

Ground floor

Ground floor plan, 2 Granite Cove Road BEDROOM BEDROOM water side GREAT ROOM south glass KITCHEN BATH UTILITY deck, full length steps to ledge and float N Single storey. Boathouse is a separate building on the shore

What is nearby

  • The cribstone bridge to Bailey Island, five minutes north
  • Dolphin Marina for fuel, moorings and haul-out
  • Cundy's Harbor for lobster off the boat in season
  • Brunswick for the hospital, the train and everything else

Showing terms

By appointment only, two days' notice, because the sellers keep a boat here through the season. Wear boots if you want to walk the shore. Low tide is the honest time to see the float.

310 Fish Pier Lofts, unit 4B, Portland

White over teal

310 Fish Pier Lofts, 4B

Portland, waterfront

$535,000

  • 2 bed
  • 2 bath
  • 1,240 sq ft
  • Condo

Top floor of a brick fish warehouse, beams and brick left where they were. You hear the boats at five in the morning, which some people buy the place for and others should know about first.

Floor plan, what is nearby, showing terms

The unit

Unit plan, 310 Fish Pier Lofts 4B LIVING beams overhead KITCHEN ISLAND BEDROOM 1 BED 2 BATHS balcony over the pier window wall, harbour side N Fourth floor. Lift from the lobby, stairs at both ends

What is nearby

  • Commercial Street and the whole working waterfront outside
  • Casco Bay Lines terminal for the island ferries
  • Old Port restaurants, and the fish market on the next pier
  • Deeded parking space in the lot behind the building

Showing terms

Weekdays, any hour, the unit is empty. Ask us for the condo documents and the last two years of association minutes before you write anything. The wharf lease matters here, read it.

91 Fish House Road, Orr's Island

Orange over black

91 Fish House Road

Orr's Island

$410,000

  • 2 bed
  • 1 bath
  • 1,050 sq ft
  • Shed and skiff

A working man's cottage, sold with the shed, the traps in it and the skiff on blocks. Insulated for summer, not for January. Water view over the cove, and the neighbour hauls at four in the morning.

Floor plan, what is nearby, showing terms

Ground floor

Ground floor plan, 91 Fish House Road KITCHEN LIVING wood stove BEDROOMS BATH enclosed porch, cove side SHED traps and skiff N Single storey on a crawl space. Shed is not heated

What is nearby

  • The cove itself, mud at low water, swimming at high
  • Bailey Island and the cribstone bridge, ten minutes down the road
  • Store and post office at the north end of the island
  • Brunswick and Route 1 for anything the island does not have

Showing terms

Weekends, daylight only, no power to the shed. The seller is the daughter of the man who built it and will come along if you want the history. Cash or a renovation loan, most lenders will want the heating fixed first.

Where the six homes sit on Casco Bay Cape Elizabeth South Portland Portland Falmouth Harpswell Orr's Island CASCO BAY Chart drawn for this page. Not for navigation.

The bay, west to east

Where the six sit.

Casco Bay runs from the Fore River out past a few hundred islands. Twenty minutes of driving changes what you are buying: city rowhouse, beach town, working island. The buoys below match the marks on the listings above.

  • Red over white. Cape Elizabeth headland, ocean side.
  • Navy over yellow. South Portland, walk to the beach.
  • Green over yellow. West End of Portland, on foot to everything.
  • Black over orange. Harpswell, deep water and a float.
  • White over teal. Portland waterfront, over the working pier.
  • Orange over black. Orr's Island, summer cottage and shed.

Step by step

How a purchase goes here.

Six steps from the first phone call to the keys. On the coast two of them take longer than buyers expect, so they are marked.

What an inspection looks at on a coastal lot drilled well septic tank flood zone line high water low water

  1. Tell us the shape of it

    Budget, rooms, how close to the water, and whether you need to be here in winter. Twenty minutes on the phone saves a month of driving to houses that were never going to work.

  2. Get a letter from a lender

    Sellers on this coast rarely take an offer without one. If you are paying cash, a bank letter showing the funds does the same job. We can name three local lenders who answer the phone on a Saturday.

  3. Walk through, then walk through again

    First visit for the house, second for the weather and the road. Ask to come back on a grey day. Ask what the driveway looks like after a storm. Sellers here expect the question.

  4. Write the offer with coastal conditions in it

    Water test, septic inspection, flood zone letter, and a look at any shore rights or right-of-way. These go in the contract, not on a handshake. We write them in as standard.

  5. Inspection week, which runs long out here

    A well and septic need their own visit, and in one town the same two people do all of it. Book the day you go under contract. Add a tank sweep if the house ever burned oil.

  6. Close at the registry, then the keys

    Title work, a final walk-through the morning of, then signing. Island closings sometimes wait on a boat, so we build a spare day into the date rather than promising one that depends on the weather.

Worth knowing first

Four questions a coastal house asks and an inland one does not.

  • Who owns the shore below the lawn

    Deeded frontage, a shared right-of-way, or nothing at all. All three exist on the same street here, and the deed is the only place the answer lives.

  • Who plows the road

    Many lanes on the points are private. Ask what the association costs, who holds the contract, and what happens when one house on the road stops paying.

  • What the flood map says

    Zone, base elevation, and whether the lender will require a policy. A house that has never flooded can still sit in a zone that changes the monthly number.

  • Whether it holds heat in January

    Summer cottages are common and honest sellers say so. Insulation, heat source, frost-proof plumbing: check before you plan on living here year round.

Who takes the file

One agent stays with you from the first showing to the closing table.

Sample profiles Names, photographs and licence numbers below are placeholders for this demo. The real team replaces them before launch.

Maren Ostlund

Waterfront and islands

Grew up on a lobster boat out of Harpswell. Reads a deed for shore rights before she reads the listing sheet. Handles the Casco Bay islands and anything with a float.

Dell Vaillancourt

Portland and South Portland

Renovated two West End rowhouses of his own, so he knows what a plaster ceiling and a knob-and-tube panel cost to put right. In-town buyers and small multi-families.

Rue Chadbourne

First-time buyers

Walks people through the lender letter, the inspection list and the closing paperwork one page at a time. Patient with questions that feel too basic to ask a stranger.

From buyers

This space is held for a real review.

We would rather leave it empty than write something nobody said. When Harbor House sends us two or three notes from buyers who closed, with their permission to publish, they go here with names and the town they bought in. Ask us for a reference in the meantime and we will put you in touch with someone directly.

What a published review will carry: the buyer's name, the town, and the month the sale closed. Nothing goes up without their written yes.

One form, one reply

Book a showing.

Tell us which house and when suits. We answer the same day with a time, or with the reason it will not work and what else is worth seeing instead.

Digits, spaces and brackets. We text before we call.
Schools, a boat that needs depth, stairs that will not work, a dog. Say it now and we will only show you houses that fit.

Or call (207) 555-0148, seven days, eight to seven.