10 Miles River Road - Hamilton, Massachusetts

playhouse

NEW ENGLAND

Status: Listed
Price: $2,695,000
Presented by: LandVest, an exclusive Affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate in Maine and New Hampshire and select areas of Massachusetts, Vermont, and Rhode Island
Contact: Lanse Robb – lrobb@landvest.com

The year was 2006. The weather was rainy with more than a chance of flooding. Cyrus and Fie were driving through Hamilton, Massachusetts, getting a feel for the “classic North Shore town” to which they sought to move from Connecticut. A road closure forced the couple to take a turn. Soon after, they came across a for sale sign at the beginning of what Cyrus describes as “quite the statement” – a 100-meter driveway framed by sugar maple trees.

At the end was 10 Miles River Road, the former carriage barn of a large estate and the soon-to-be home of Cyrus and Fie. Built in the 1880s, the house had been recently restored to its former charm after prior owners transformed it to a contemporary. “Bless the previous owners,” says Fie. “They did a wonderful job of renovating the historic property back to what it should be.” The renovation was hallmarked by the installation of beams and doors sourced from old barns in Vermont and Maine.

Over time, Cyrus and Fie left their own stamp on the 6+ acre farm. Cyrus invested in solar panels in order to be green, both environmentally and financially. Fie, born and raised riding horses in Denmark, equipped each horse stall with a walk-out, facilitating safe and seamless access to the arena, paddocks, local trail system, and the Myopia Hunt Club, which abuts the property. Fie also had a “quite luxurious” chicken coop built. “We try to take care of our animals as best as we can,” says Fie. “It was important to me that the property could support a good quality of life for the animals.”

10 Miles River left its mark on Cyrus and Fie as well, most notably the memory of the day they were married. Indeed, the weather was rainy with more than a chance of hurricane when the couple were wed under a tent on the grounds of the home, surrounded by close friends and family. “It was absolutely awesome,” says Fie. “They say that rain means good luck, so we’ll take it!”

To accommodate Fie’s growing dressage training business, Cyrus and Fie recently moved to a larger, 15+ acre farm. “In renovating our new home, we invested quite a bit of time and money to mimic what we had in Hamilton. We just loved it so much,” says Fie. For example, they replicated the charming wine room. They also tried to replicate the quaint courtyard, but as both admit, “it’s just not the same!”

“The wine room is in the core of the house and has brick floor, so it stays incredibly cool even the summer. What it would take to make it temperate controlled would kill the charm of it. You wouldn’t be able to see it from the kitchen or from the hallway,” says Cyrus.

Cyrus and Fie trust that the buyer of the timeless 10 Miles River will not simply be its owner, but also act as its steward. “Being a steward means that you plant a sapling knowing that you’ll never see it become a tree,” says Cyrus. “Every single time we lost a maple tree, and we did lose some, we would plant a new one.” Given this trust, they know that countless more stewards will come across “quite the statement” – a 100-meter driveway framed by sugar maple trees.