Courtesy / Roth Family
Owners George and Shirley Roth, retired to Maine from careers in medicine.
March 21, 2019
Waterfront home that failed to sell in auction gets second chance
Courtesy / Newcastle Realty
A custom-built home on Brookings Bay in Woolwich is listed for $1.65 it didn't sell at auction in July.
A custom-built home on the Brookings Bay waterfront in Woolwich didn’t sell at auction in July, but sellers are hoping a discounted listing price will do the trick the second time around.
The price of $1.165 million represents a significant discount from an unspecified reserve price following the unsuccessful auction, according to the listing by Newcastle Realty of Damariscotta.
The July auction was a marketing strategy that offered the property to select clients, Dennis Hilton, president of Newcastle, told Mainebiz. It was not a distress or foreclosure auction, he said.
Newcastle assisted with marketing the auction, in partnership with John Bottero, vice president and auctioneer with Thomaston Place Auction Galleries. The firms have been working together for four years and typically partner on two or three auctions a year, Hilton said.
The home at 311 Murphy’s Corner Road was one of only two of auctions in the partnership that has not been successful, he said. There were three bidders and bidding failed to meet the reserve. Why was it unsuccessful?
“There’s one thought that there are only so many buyers of $1 million-plus properties,” Hilton said. “But I disagree with that. We’ve just got to get the right people exposed.
Tidal reach
The property has a variety of potential uses, including residence, bed-and-breakfast, retreat or wedding venue, he said.
The owners are almost ready to move into their next retirement home, and are anxious to sell.
The 8,000-square-foot house is on 26 acres.
The owners, George and Shirley Roth, had the home custom built in 2003 at a cost of $1.2 million, on land they bought for $700,000.
The property is on the northern tidal reaches of the waterway passage connecting the Sheepscot and Kennebec rivers, not far from the Derecktor Robinhood Marina in Georgetown.
The Roths created a system of trails through the woods and along stone walls leading to several gardens, and there is a children’s playhouse and teepee. There is more than 1,100 feet on the water with dock providing access to kayaking at all tides.
Features include vaulted ceilings and wall-to-wall windows, seaward views from all the bedrooms, multi-level entertaining spaces, large kitchen, formal dining and living rooms, master bedroom suite, five fireplaces, and additional guest rooms. The approach is via a tree-lined drive with well-tended gardens and landscaping.
The basement level is finished as a ballroom, complete with a disco ball light and jukebox. A deck wraps around the water side of the house. Other features include a full woodworking shop and a recreational room.
Auction strategy
Hilton said his firm has partnered with Thomaston Place, which is owned by Kaja Veilleux, for four years.
“A lot of these leads come from John and Kaja Veilleux. They develop relationships with people who own, most of the time, stately, expensive homes and, for whatever reason, they’re having their contents valued and liquidated. In most cases, the folks making the decision to pursue an auction are more interested in a timely disposal of the real estate as opposed to getting absolutely top dollar.”
Marketing packages go to regional and national publications, ranging from Maine Boats, Homes and Harbors to the New York Times, he said.
“We try to cast the widest possible net,” he said.
Newcastle typically partners with Bottero on two or three auctions per year, he said. Bidders are pre-qualified and must pay a deposit to participate
If a potential buyer wants to make an offer that’s acceptable before the auction date, they can do that, and the auction is canceled, he said.
Hilton credited Dana Moos of The B&B Team Inn Consultants and Brokers for her assistance as a marketing consultant.
Retired to Maine
George and Shirley Roth, now in their 80s, moved to Maine from Harrisburg, Pa., in 2001, when George retired from his career as a neurosurgeon and Shirley as a nurse. The couple chose Maine for retirement to be close to their daughter and her family in Bath.
Living in Falmouth for a year, and then in Woolwich, George Roth continued to work for eight years as a consultant for a neurosurgical practice in Portland.
In roughing out the design for the house, they aimed for a traditional style tucked into a woods overlooking Brookings Bay, the couple told Mainebiz. The couple was into ballroom dancing for a while, George explained. Shirley said they often had weekend guests through the summer.
“Everyone from Pennsylvania wanted to come and see us,” she said. Then she added, joking, “We had a non-paying bed-and-breakfast for a long time.”
The couple decided to sell because the sizeable property got to be too big to care for. They constructed the landscaping themselves and performed maintenance.
“We’ve done it all from the beginning as far as caretaking,” said Shirley.
The couple is now building a smaller house and expects to be in there by April or May.
“Whenever someone wants to fall in love and wants to move here, they’re welcome,” Shirley said. “We built this for our family to come and visit and spend lots of time here. But our two boys are in California. It’s really time for another family to come in and enjoy it.”
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