EASTPORT — Sarah Graves likes to fix things.

Years ago, when her White-Westinghouse clothes washer broke, she didn’t call the nearest service center. She went straight to the public library and took out a book on home repairs. She found that the machine’s inlet valve, which is supposed to shut off when the basket fills with water, was busted. She bought a new valve and replaced the faulty one.

When her red Toro lawn mower seized up, Graves handled the problem with equal aplomb. She discovered the traction belt that drives the wheels had worn out. She tipped the machine over and wrestled a new one into place.

So when Graves ventured to Eastport and set eyes on her future home in 1996, she’d done enough house maintenance to know it would be a formidable job to fix the place up. The Federal-style clapboard, with its tin ceiling pressed with grape-leaf wreaths, handsome fan light, and sidelights framing the front door, had been built for an Eastport sea captain in 1823. The wooden sills supporting the three-story structure’s ell were shot, and it was collapsing into the cellar. The double-hung windows rattled as though they were trying to bolt out of their frames. Paint was peeling off the cedar clapboards. Still, sitting on the front steps with coffee and sandwiches from the local IGA, Graves and her husband were taken with the big, white house. They also liked Eastport, the easternmost city in the United States — its maritime history, ungentrified character and wild, scenic beauty. Locals were friendly too.

Restoring Captain James Livermore’s home has proven laborious. But the decision to move to what seems the end of the Earth and buy the rambling fixer-upper has paid off. The house has become her muse and a main character in a series of mystery novels.

For more arts & entertainment news, pick up a copy of The Ellsworth American.

Comments (0)