KENNEBUNK – Hunt and Katie Edwards, the owners of Kennebunk’s Wedding Cake House on Summer Street, appear to be selling the property.
Citing the cost of maintaining the old home, the couple attempted to get permission from the town to operate the house commercially – including as a wedding venue – but encountered fierce resistance from neighbors.
Hunt and Katie Edwards, the owners of Kennebunk’s Wedding Cake House on Summer Street, appear to be selling the property. Dan King photo
In January, the Kennebunk Select Board officially decided not to move forward with a proposed contact zone for the property, making it unlikely that the owners would be able to pursue commercial use.
The eight-bedroom, 6,263-square-foot home has been listed for sale online with a $2.6 million dollar price tag.
The couple declined to comment on the sale.
The home is located in the Suburban Residential Zone and Historic Preservation Overlay district, and current zoning rules prevent the owners from operating it commercially, which prompted the Edwardses to go through the Planning Board approval process to obtain an exemption last year.
According to the owners, this arrangement would help them offset the costs of the house’s repairs and maintenance, including the preservation of its ornate trim. The house, which is said to be the most photographed property in Maine, was first built in 1825, according to Hunt Edwards.
The couple told the Planning Board in September that they had so far sunk hundreds of thousands of dollars into restoring the home, according to town documents.
A group called “Friends of the Wedding Cake House,” which includes nearby neighbors of the property, strongly objected to the proposal, saying it would cause noise and traffic, change the character of the neighborhood, and encourage other property owners to start asking for similar permissions. They also feared that the change would decrease their property values.
The contract zone proposal did make it past the Planning Board and to the Kennebunk Select Board – but in early January, the Select Board decided not to send the proposal to voters to appear on the March 5 ballot (to be enacted, the contract zone proposal would need voters to approve it).
At their Jan. 23 meeting, Select Board Chair Shiloh Schulte appeared to be the only member of the body interested in finding a way forward for the contract zone proposal, according to meeting minutes.
The Select Board considered two motions – one to send the proposal back to the Planning Board and another to move the proposal to a Town Meeting and a vote – but neither motion was “seconded,” effectively precluding a path forward for the contract zone.
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