i spent a long stretch of time in maine this summer, as i have the past 5 summers. i go with my family each year, driving the distance from georgia.
i am continually inspired by its beauty, people, and the life there. this week, i am sharing what i saw.
- rinne

for years, we have been intending to travel to the nearing homestead, on cape rosier, an out-of-the way peninsula not too far from where we stay in maine. this year we finally made it there. like most maine journeys, the approach was half of the fun- after passing through small, waterside communities the road narrowed to one-lane wide and hugged the coast the rest of the way, giving glimpses of the water in between wooded roadsides. a simple mailbox marked the spot.

helen and scott nearing were the first wave of the back-to-the-landers. they dropped out of society in the 30′s after the depression, heading to a farm in vermont. once that area got overdeveloped by the ski industry, they retreated to maine to cape rosier in the 1950′s. they inspired the homesteading and DIY movement in the late 60′s/early 70′s. by then in their seventies and nineties respectively, helen and scott nearing had lived a life of growing their own food, building their own houses, spending time on the land and with the land, and not paying too much attention to Society. they were not hermits though- they hosted visitors constantly and were eager to share their way of life. they wrote many books and their ‘living the good life’ is considered by many to be a bible.

the house and land are overseen by the good life center. on this day a young woman was tending the garden- she and a friend have been doing so since the center is between caretakers. she directed us to a computer to watch a short documentary about the nearings. we sat and watched it on the porch and thought it funny that a dvd player sat next to the row of the nearings’ wooden shoes.

a view inside the house:

a view from spirit cove from the house:

the homsetead is made up of five acres. some of it is open, some wooded. a greenhouse, two yurts, a privy, woodland trails, and a veggie garden exist, in addition to the main house and work shed.

the two yurts were designed by william coperthwaite, subject of the quiet and luminous book, a handmade life. to say that they were perfectly sited is an understatement. one sat in the open, the other in the woods.

even the privy was great:

as we left we walked on the woodland path to see the second yurt and saw the fairy houses that had been built.

the end.