On the Market: A Retro Retreat in Camden, Maine
Built in 1967, this octagonal lake house boasts the ultimate midcentury feature: a conversation pit.
Photo via Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty
55 Codman Island Road, Camden
Price: $799,000
Size: 1,640 square feet
Bedrooms: 3
Baths: 2
It’s not every day an octagonal lake house hits the market, never mind a midcentury one set on a sparkling lake in Maine. Built in 1967, this retro retreat is as funky as they come, boasting the ultimate midcentury novelty: a conversation pit.
If you’re not familiar, conversation pits are hangout areas carved into the floor, complete with built-in seating. They were dreamed up in 1957 by architect Eero Saarinen, and were all the rage through the 1970s. These days, in-home conversation pits are pretty uncommon, but writer Kyle Chayka suggests they’re making a comeback as people seek “social spaces in a tech-heavy world.”
“But today conversation pits are objects of fascination, relics of a time when living space was oriented not around a wall-sized flat screen and portable computers, but around looking at and socializing with other human beings in real life,” Chayka writes. “If we want to get back to some actual face-to-face time, what better way to do it than in a cushioned burrow designed to host an intimate gathering?”
While this lake home’s central sunken living room is newly hip again, it’s not the only thing the house has going for it. The place also flaunts eight walls instead of four (far out!), water frontage—and two docks—on Megunticook Lake (groovy!), and almost an acre of land to spread out in (outta sight!). The wood paneling, ship’s wheel chandelier, and stone fireplace, are just the icing on the midcentury cake. Groovy, indeed.
For information, contact Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty, legacysir.com.
Photo via Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty
Photo via Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty
Photo via Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty
Photo via Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty
Photo via Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty
Photo via Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty
Photo via Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty
Photo via Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty
Photo via Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty
Photo via Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty
Photo via Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty
Photo via Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty
Photo via Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty
Photo via Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty
Photo via Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty
Photo via Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty
Photo via Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty
Photo via Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty
Photo via Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty
Photo via Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty
Photo via Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty
Photo via Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty
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