The history of The Ballot Box is a work in progress. Researching this information is a lot like doing a human's genealogy; it involves researching deeds backward in time. Most houses don't move their locations for the life of the structure so the hunt involves researching the parcel of land that the house was built in. But in this case the house was moved!

This is what we know so far (going backward in time)...

2009 - Present

On October 23rd 2009, a wonderful little renovated carriage house was sold to Lynn and Gene VOGT, and became known as The Ballot Box!

The house, and 2.4 acres of land in Newcastle Maine, was sold by Jake Ramsay to the VOGTs. The house had been moved to this spot from a previous location in Damariscotta in 2007, dropped onto a new foundation, had a new potable fresh water well drilled (407 foot well, with a 7 gpm pump), a new septic system put in place, all new plumbing, a new 100 amp electric service, two new Rinnai propane heaters, and lots of new interior things (doors, some windows, two new dormers, new upstairs bathroom, etc.). It was totally renovated, so it has the 1860s charm of a carriage house (with wide pine floors, exposed beam ceilings, and the original carriage house sliding door still attached for effect), but it's new! It is effectively a new house, with the charm of an antique! The Ballot Box!

2007-2009

Sometime in 2007, a carriage house on the shores of the Damariscotta River in downtown Damariscotta Maine (but not the land it was on!) was sold by its owner, George F. Hervochon to Jake Ramsay, who then had it moved to its current location in Newcastle Maine. It was located behind a large house made up of condominiums on the corner of Elm Street and Lewis Point Road in Damariscotta Maine, and the carriage house blocked the view of the river for the condominiums, so it had to go! They literally picked it up and moved it 3.6 miles to a 2.4 acre plot of land in Newcastle. Portland TV Station WCSH-6 filmed the move and had the film clip on its web site for a while, but it has since been removed. I am trying to get a copy of the video, but as of yet have not been successful.

The move - and the improvement to the remaining condos' view - was a prime focus for a real estate posting on a local real estate company's web site at the time:

A great listing just got better. The Elm Street Condominiums in Damariscotta recently "lost" the carriage house which had stood between the main building and the water behind the property. This was a long planned move but is still is amazing how much the view has been opened up and the back of the building and yard is filled with light.

I always find it impressive watching buildings being moved and apparently so do a lot of other people as the job attracted a small crowd of onlookers and even a videographer from Channel 6 in Portland. ... watch the video of the carriage house going down Route 1 to its new home in Sheepscot...

In early March 2010 I wrote an email to the person who owned the house at its previous location asking about it previous "life," and received a reply from his daughter on St. Patrick's Day 2010, giving us more information and pre- and trans-move pictures of the house. The email is as follows:

Hi Gene,
Sorry it has taken me forever to get back to you....... I got your email right before that storm. We lost power for a few days and then I just lost track of it.

... I can answer most of the questions that you have. I have attached all the pictures I took the day of the move. The carriage house was on the corner of Elm Street and Lewis Point Road in Damariscotta. We completely renovated the main house on the property that was 4 apartments when we bought the property around 1987. When we renovated we sold the units as condos and in the contracts was the fact that we would relocate the carriage house since it was very close to the main building and blocked views of the river. The carriage house was very run down when we bought the property but my mom and dad completely renovated that in the early 90's. Lifting it up putting a foundation underneath it and making it into a rental unit.

I have more pictures of the inside that we used to advertise the building for sale that I will send in another email. I also think I have the link to the news coverage of the building move. That will take a little more digging to find.

I will send along more answers as I think of them. Glad you are enjoying the Carriage house. It is a great building and the property it was moved too is really lovely too.

Best,

Anni

The before pictures, and pictures of the move, are on the PHOTOS page.

1987

A large house and accompanying carriage house on the corner of Elm Street and Lewis Point Road in Damariscotta was purchased by George F. Hervochon, a local builder/architect, from Jane D. Pitts on June 24, 1987 (Lincoln County ME Registry of Deeds, Book 1401, Page 118). The large house had been broken up into four apartments sometime in the past and was renovated by the new owner into four condominiums which were sold with the promise that the carriage house would eventually be relocated since it blocked the views of the Damariscotta River for the condominiums.

The most recent description of the original location is from the 1987 deed:

A certain lot or parcel of land in Damariscotta, County of Lincoln and State of Maine, with the buildings thereon, bounded as described as follows: On the South by Elm Street; On the East by the road leading to Lewis Point; On the North by the waters of Back Cove, of the Damariscotta River; On the West by other land of Jane D. Pitts.

In the early 1990s the carriage house was converted and renovated for human habitation as a rental property, along with the conversion of the large house into condominiums.

1977

The large house and the carriage house that was with it was purchased on the 15th of August 1977 by Jane D. Pitts from three members of the Brewer family (Charles F., Horace C., and William P.) and from Betty M. McDonough (Lincoln County ME Registry of Deeds, Book 926, pages 33 & 34). Jane D. Pitts is also listed on the deed as owning the land to the west of the parcel being sold. Speculation on my part, but it looks like it was an estate sale by the children of the deceased.

[...temporary gap in the details about the structure and its ownership from 1976 back to the 1860s - I'm working on filling in the gaps...]

The structure is rumored to have originally been built in the 1860's as a true carriage (as in "horse and carriage") house, on the shores of the Damariscotta River.

We will fill in more gaps as we find out more information...