489 Dyers Bay RD Steuben, ME 04680

Own a creative refuge in Maine with this stout building built in 1982 for a business proprietor: Work downstairs, live upstairs.

An authentic retreat on a gorgeous 3-acre lot with a bluff overlooking Dyer Brook and Dyer Bay, with vintage apple trees, circling eagles, water views and solitude, this 1-2 bedroom, 2-bath house can be lived in again by a renovation-minded buyer. Demo was started by an owner who regrets letting go of his 'Boathouse' dream - walk your kayak down to the brook at high tide, paddle under the bridge to the open ocean and bird sanctuary across the bay - but knows that the creative energy here is excellent.

Once the site of quintessential Down East wreath-making and lobster businesses, the property can be your creative blank slate: Paint, sculpt, or throw pottery? Show downstairs, live upstairs. Write, edit, or publish? Store kayaks & canoes down, write the Great American Novel up. Bake, brew, cook, grill, or bartend? Cook/sell down, count profits up.

Boat or fish? Park your boat outside on level tarmac, tow it 3 mins east and put in at Pinkham Bay Bridge. Or walk 100 feet to the estuary on your property and cast your line.

Or use the well, massive septic system (see disclosures), furnace, and bluff perch for an entirely new build, maximizing views down Dyer Bay and back north, up the estuary. You won't pay the higher shoreline taxes because you're technically 'across the street' from the ocean - despite ocean access under the bridge. All the views, but lower costs.

The quaint town of Milbridge is a 5-min drive east on Route 1. Bustling Ellsworth, Bar Harbor, and Mount Desert Island are 30-40 minutes west. Watch birds and hike in the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge across Dyer Bay from you. Bike 1.7 miles to the Eagle Hill Institute for a lecture, concert, or dinner. Trenton has BHB airport with its 90-min flight to Boston on Cape Air. Wheels up in Boston is 2.5 hrs to a cocktail with gobsmacking water views.