NORTH BROOKLIN, Maine (NEWS CENTER) – Robert and Mary Gallant have owned the former E.B. White farmhouse nestled on Allen Cove for more than 30 years.
The couple said it was with heavy hearts that they chose to sell the more than 200-year-old home.
"This is really sad,” Robert Gallant said as he walked through the barn Thursday. “This really as much home to us as South Carolina."
The sprawling 44-acre property is the couple’s second home. They said they have decided to return to South Carolina to be closer to family year-round.
Still it was a dream for them to find a place in Maine.
"When I was a little boy I always wanted a log cabin, and I fell in love with Maine then,” he said.
Much more than a cabin, the large home, barn and several out buildings are scattered about the beautifully-landscaped property.
Gallant said they were dedicated to maintaining the character and history of the property—including countless remnants from White himself.
"He took me down here and showed me this corner of the door,” he said as he walked down to a door below the large barn.
That spot was where a spider spun its web, inspiring White’s timeless novel Charlotte’s Web, according to Gallant.
"The rest is history,” he said.
It was White’s former caretaker, who later worked for the Gallants, that shared many of the stories of the home with the couple.
Those stories and items left behind are found both outside and inside the house.
The couple kept the office space where White is said to have sat for hours at his typewriter before his death at the home in 1985.
The Gallants bought the home shortly after.
In the bedroom where White died, there is even a fire ladder left behind in the closet that was meant to attach to the second story window.
Mary Gallant said it was because White feared fire and was often known to be safety conscious.
“Our feeling of knowing E.B. White is not only from his works which we very much enjoy, but just from the things that were left around here,” she said.
Other prominent items included the original old stove in the kitchen and a rope swing in the barn.
Mary Gallant said since being feature in Yankee Magazine, the home has gone viral. She said they have been overwhelmed by the attention and have some interested buyers.
She hopes one falls in love with the home the way she did.
"The obvious reason is the beauty of it and the tranquility of it,” Gallant said.
It is special piece of American history nestled in Downeast Maine—a place the Gallants said will be hard to let go of.
"I'm not saying that we won't come back to Maine. I wouldn't want to be very close to this house because it would make me too sad because I love it so much,” Mary Gallant said.
The property was listed for $3.7 million.
