ORR’S ISLAND, HARPSWELL – It’s a rare home from whose oceanfront heights you can look out and see an eagle flying below you. And often, glimpse the big bird’s shadow slipping past. Whereas in the gardens here, you might be pleasantly startled by a hummingbird buzzing inches from your ear, en route to a choice selection of native-species nectar.

Inside the home are more natural wonders.There is a Maine-shaped stone, found on the property’s 202 feet of waterfront, set in the three-plus-season sunroom’s floor-to-ceiling stone, wood-burning fireplace. The kitchen’s gorgeous dark-concrete counter and undermount sink are brightened by pretty sea glass that the owner collected on the shore at Eastport and Campobello. Accenting and illuminating the sea glass are delicate in-counter fiber optic lights – an inspired touch.

The 3,816-square-foot, 2008 home is environmentally-friendly to the degree that its mechanical systems were built so that geothermal heat can become the primary heat source in the future. The creation of architect Steve Normand, the house was “conceived and designed over a period of years … (during which) I was able to experience the land in all seasons and weather conditions,” he noted.

A primary goal was that the home should inhabit its splendid setting as naturally as if it had been here for many years, and “found” leaded glass and a pair of striking eyebrow windows are among the details that help achieve that classic Maine cottage feel.

Enhancing that character are the property’s two outbuildings: the shorefront, shingled, 1930s “Periwinkle Cottage” with its deck; and across the drive, a charming garden cottage that borders a 3/4-acre parcel that is available in addition to these 1.48 acres.

East-facing, the property looks out to Small Point and a number of islands, such as Ragged, which was long the summer home of Maine poet Edna St. Vincent Millay. Large windows and full-view doors maximize the ocean views, as do decks and porches with their differing orientations.

The three bedrooms include a first-level guest suite, and two upstairs suites, one the master with private balcony. There’s a great office/studio above the garage and off the mudroom, which has a delightful, curved built-in bench. The daylight, walkout lower level features a fireplace in its recreation/family room.

The home at 66 Back Shore Lane, Orr’s Island, Harpswell, is listed for sale at $1.85 million by Joane Tait of Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty in Brunswick. (Please note that Orr’s Island is completely auto-accessible.)

For more information or to arrange a private viewing, please contact Joane at 729-2820; 751-4124; or at jtait@legacysir.com.

Produced by the Marketing Department of the Maine Sunday Telegram, the Home of the Week is provided at no cost.

Photographs by Gary Pennington.

Send HOW suggestions to jrolfe@pressherald.com.

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