Set back from the road in one of Falmouth’s large swaths of undisturbed nature, Marc Christensen’s home looks like a slice of Hamptons real estate, transported.

There are seven bedrooms. There are three kitchens. There are two home gyms. There is a swimming pool, a basketball court, a batting cage.

“It’s a very large house,” Christensen said. “I’m a single dad, so it probably is more than what I need.”

Soon, he hopes to have some paying guests.

Christensen is hoping to open a business at the expansive home this fall, offering upscale bed-and-breakfast accommodations, along with cooking lessons from some of New England’s culinary stars.

Under the moniker Mirabelle House, he is preparing to start cooking classes Oct. 10 with Zapoteca’s Shannon Bard, who will guide guests through a course of tapas, for $200 per head.

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“Such an incredible resource around here are the chefs,” said Amanda Howland, Mirabelle House marketing director. “It’s very small groups who will come and really have a one-on-one experience.”

Riding the wave of food-focused tourism in the state, Mirabelle could become an all-seasons getaway, Howland said, offering views of the snow-covered fields and cozy, fireside afternoons spent learning to cook from professionals.

But the endeavor could run into trouble before the first burner is lit.

Christensen and his partners have not yet asked the town for permits to run the home as a bed-and-breakfast and cooking school.

The house is in an area zoned for single-family homes, light farming and other low-intensity uses.

Bed-and-breakfasts are allowed in the area, but are considered a conditional use, requiring property owners to submit an application and be approved by the Zoning Board of Appeals.

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Falmouth’s definition of a bed-and-breakfast also could prove problematic for Christensen’s business plan.

According to the town ordinance, a bed-and-breakfast “provides overnight accommodations and breakfast, but no other meals or cooking facilities, to guests for compensation.”

Next week, the town’s code enforcement officer is expected to make a ruling that will likely be pivotal to the business opening on time.

Justin Brown, the code enforcement officer, declined to speak specifically about Mirabelle’s case, but said he plans to rule on whether the business fits the zone by Monday.

On its website, Mirabelle proffers full-scale wedding accommodations, event planning and corporate retreats, in addition to the food-focused programming.

Room rates are as high as $500 per night for the Saffron room, but there are other, lower-cost spice-themed rooms available. (The Verbena suite features a king bed, private entrance and a dry sauna, at $350 per night per couple, while the Sage suite boasts only a queen bed and separate bath.)

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“They’re offering a lot of potential services,” Brown said. “I think the issue is seeing what is a primary use, what could potentially be ancillary or subordinate uses.”

Brown declined to comment on what options Christensen would have if the town torpedoes his plans.

Christensen’s upscale home business will be the latest chapter in the home’s illustrious history. It would also not be its first time at the center of a local regulatory controversy.

Originally built in 1993 as a corporate retreat by the heirs to the Shaw’s supermarket fortune, the home once included 160 acres.

The Shaw’s heir, Howard Davis, died in 1995 and left the home and its grounds to his wife, Mary Alice Davis. Several years later, she tried to convert the home into a spa and develop the open space into a subdivision, but residents of the neighborhood’s posh homes organized against her. The development never came, and the town, in the midst of writing a master planning document, eventually implemented the low-impact zone that currently governs the neighborhood.

The home and its grounds changed hands next in 2004, when it was purchased by businessman Eric Cianchette. Later Cianchette split the property, keeping the abutting grounds and donating the home to the University of Maine foundation, which used it as a corporate retreat before selling it back into private hands, where it has remained.

Christensen, a former neurosurgeon, bought the home about 18 months ago, spending the intervening time upgrading and renovating the grounds and the interior.

He says he will not begin accepting overnight guests until the permits are sorted out.

“We’re basically going through the process with the town,” Christensen said. “We can push things back.”


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