CUMBERLAND – There is a school of thought that says you can judge a home’s quality and condition by the orderliness of its woodpile. If such is the case, this post-and-beam beauty ranks very high indeed.

Of course, the cedar-shingled home’s appeal is everywhere apparent, not just in the carefully stacked wood that fuels the Hearthstone Heritage stove in the kitchen. This is a totally custom home, built in 2006, and designed for maximum efficiency (thanks largely to passive-solar features, total utility costs were $1,382 last year).

It is a superb family home, with a multi-purpose finished room in the walkout, daylight basement; a delightful library area on the second floor, a cool homework station in the open-concept main living area, and – much cooler to kids, certainly – a “hidden” crawl space connecting two of the second-floor bedrooms.

It’s an architecturally distinguished adaptation of a traditional Maine model, and an aesthetic pleasure throughout, with its abundance of natural wood from exposed beams to the kitchen’s butcher block surfaces; its granite fireplace and 35-foot cathedral ceiling in the living room, high on whose front wall there’s a 4-foot circular window that frames pretty outdoor views, and casts discs of light within.

The four levels of living include a wonderful eyrie of a master suite, one of whose closets could be easily converted to a bath, at the top of the house. Off a first-floor sitting area, there’s a covered seasonal porch with two-bay garage space beneath. A vigorous wisteria is but one ornament of a deck that overlooks the side-yard orchard of apple, peach, pear and plum trees, plus blueberry bushes and raspberry canes. There’s a coop for chickens, too.      

The 2,5,71 (plus 660) square-foot home on 2.1 acres at 59 Orchard Road, Cumberland, is listed for sale at $515,000 by Brian Wilson of Landmark Realty in Portland. Taxes are $7,424.

Please note that an Open House will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.  on Sunday, April 9. For more information or to arrange a private viewing, please contact Brian at 653-8468 or at brian@LandmarkRealtyMaine.com.

The Friday feature home is produced by the Marketing Department of the Portland Press Herald. Photos by Michael Eric Bérubé, www.MaineVirtualHomeTours.com. Please send feature home suggestions to jrolfe@pressherald.com.

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