Alfred

Considering both population and geography, Lyman is a smaller town than neighboring areas. It sits at just under 50 square miles and the total population, as of 2020, was less than 5,000 people. “There’s no center of town. It’s a rural area. There’s not much there, but it’s a nice place to live,” says Joyce Veroneau, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Realty in Kennebunkport who has been serving the area since 2002. Instead of a host of amenities, Lyman offers a true sense of serenity and community at local stores or one of the town’s annual events. Roads surrounded by mature trees welcome visitors and residents, winding along the area’s homes and farms. Residents can head to a nearby park and enjoy some time out on one of the town’s many ponds. The Bunganut Lake Camping Area is one of the main places for recreation, with a variety of spots for locals to enjoy a playset or the water. Near the campground is the Lyman Town Park, which offers plenty of picnic space for locals to enjoy the views of the lake after taking a hike. Just across the street is Bunganut Field, which offers a wide-open space with two baseball diamonds, perfect for athletes of all ages. The area also has a wide variety of farms and orchards, many of which have spaces open to the public for those who wish to get their hands dirty and get closer to nature. Equestrians will also enjoy Rest & Be Thankful Farm, a seasonal horse boarding facility that hosts events and offers classes. Lyman’s most popular spot for beer and a bite to eat is the local beerhouse, Funky Bow Brewery & Beer Co. This brewery, set back in the woods, ferments coffee porters, IPAs and Kolsch-style beers, hosts live music performances and makes homemade pizza in a brick oven. Locals can also head to the northern end of the town to get to Town Line, a family-owned restaurant with a wide variety of home-cooked food served at a table, at the bar or to go. Locals can shop for daily necessities at the nearby Goodwins Mills General Store on the neighborhood's eastern end or the Dollar General in the south. Big box stores like Target can be found in Biddeford, 8 miles away. Lyman is the place to find a home surrounded by nature and trees. Mid-Century Cape Cods, classic wooden cabins and ranch-style homes make up a majority of the neighborhood, with almost every home sporting a spacious yard. Many homes also have winding driveways hiding homes among the trees, and some even having water access along one of the many ponds in the area. Prices can range from around $375,000 to $800,000 for a home. For locals looking to build their own homes, the town also has multiple open lots that typically sell for $100,000 to $250,000. Children in Lyman attend school through Regional School Unit 57, which cares for multiple neighboring areas. Students can start their education in the middle of the town at Lyman Elementary School, which receives a B-minus rating on Niche. Students can then move on to schools in Waterboro at Massabesic Middle School, which receives a C-plus rating, before finishing up at the C-minus rated Massabesic High School, which has been serving the community since 1969. Being a rural town, transportation is key for residents of Lyman. “It’s good for commuting if you worked in Portland or Biddeford – it’s not far from the turnpike,” Veroneau says. The area is very car-friendly, with residents needing to drive along Alfred Road and Route 202 to get most of their daily necessities. For trips outside Maine, locals can head to the Portland International Jetport, 24 miles away. Southern Marine Health Care Hospital is 9 miles to the east of town. The town of Lyman works hard to bring the community together at events such as the annual Easter Egg Hunt at Lyman Elementary School. The event features both baskets of goodies and a raffle for local families who attend. For indoor fun, the community also has an active library that offers story hours for preschoolers, craft nights and book clubs for adults. More events can be found in nearby cities like Biddeford, where locals can attend River Jam & Fringe Fest, which is a weekend of activities ranging from fireworks shows to live music and activities for children.

Hollis is a quiet town in southern Maine, with a variety of homes on spacious lots. “I like the small-town atmosphere,” says Debbie Tefft, director of the town’s parks and recreation since 1986. “People are really friendly, and it’s not like city living.” As the only restaurant in town, The River Tap Bar and Grill in the Salmon Falls Country Club is one of the few watering holes people flock to. For more options, locals travel to nearby towns. The California Fields Wildlife Area is a nature preserve spanning most of the town's northern part, and the Hollis Sports Complex features several athletic fields. Neighbors celebrate Hollis Community Day every August with live music and games for all ages. Students attend Maine School Administrative District 6, which receives a C-plus from Niche. State Route 25 runs through Hollis, connecting to Portland, about 20 miles away. Locals can grab dinner from River Tap Bar and Grill, a public restaurant inside the Salmon Falls Country Club, after playing a round on the nine-hole course designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. Tefft says that she and her neighbors often travel to the nearby towns for more options, including the farm-to-table Oak & Ember in Buxton or the Town Line Family Restaurant in Lyman. Skip’s Lounge is another eatery in Buxton, about a 3-mile drive away. Its menu features twists on pub classics, such as mac and cheese tacos, and hosts a pool league and cornhole tournament twice a week. Hannaford is about 3 miles away, while Plummers Shop’n Save is around a 7-mile drive. “A lot of people like it for its fresh-cut meats,” Tefft says. Target, Walmart and Home Depot are all within a 16-mile drive. Trees surround the spacious properties that fill the town, which average around two acres. While traditional farms are harder to come by, many lawns feature small gardens decorated with shrubs and bushes. A variety of homes sit on these large lots, including Colonial Revivals and Foursquares from the early 20th century and mid-20th century ranch styles. Cape Cods are the most common houses, built anywhere between the 1970s and 2000s, often with attached garages. Prices tend to fall between $225,000 and $575,000. The CAP Index gives Hollis a Crime Score of one out of 10, compared to the national score of four out of 10. The Federal Emergency Management Agency classifies parts of Hollis as Zone A, meaning that there is a 1% annual chance of flooding. While chances of severe flooding are slim, flood insurance is recommended for all homeowners and is required for anyone with a federally backed mortgage. The California Fields Wildlife Area features about 2 miles of trails that span about 2,700 acres of pine forests. “People walk their dogs there,” Tefft says. The preserve is only a short drive from the Hollis Sports Complex sports fields, including a softball field, dual-purpose tennis and basketball court, a walking path and a playground. At Pleasant Point Park, about 1 mile outside of town, locals can walk along the Saco River or spend the day on the water, whether kayaking or swimming. The town is part of the Maine School Administrative District 6, also known as Bonny Eagle Schools. Hollis Elementary School earns a B-minus from Niche. Bonny Eagle Middle School offers extracurriculars ranging from archery to chess club. Before graduation, Bonny Eagle High School seniors must complete a capstone project that focuses on personal development, career exploration or community service. Both schools receive a C-plus. Locals come together for Hollis Community Day every August. “It started as a Pirate Fest,” Tefft says. Pirate Fest began as a 5k with a fun theme that attracted people of all ages and has grown into the celebration that neighbors enjoy today, with games, live music and fireworks. While the event has moved on from its nautical theme, some attendees still dress to it. Hollis is a largely car-dependent town. State Route 35 intersects U.S. Route 202 and leads to Portland, about 20 miles away. Even with these major roads, the area is relatively quiet. Most people fly out of Portland International Jetport, and the closest emergency room is at Southern Maine Health Care, both about 17 miles away.

Situated in southern Maine’s York County, Dayton is a rural residential neighborhood that maintains proximity to urban areas. Swathes of farmland interspersed with white Cape Cods and red barns populate the area, and open lots are framed by groves of pine-oak forests. “Dayton has a rich agricultural history, and I appreciate that there’s still a fair amount of farming here,” says Keith Harris, a fifth-generation farmer who owns Pumpkin Valley Farm in Dayton. “Plus, Dayton is only a 30-minute drive from Portland.” While residents can drive to Saco or Portland for urban amenities, they don’t have to travel far to find farm-fresh meat and produce, Maine maple syrup or farm festivals. Neighborhood farms host community activities and cross-country skiing, and the Saco River presents chances to fish and paddle. Most of Dayton is in a 3-acre zoning district, so properties sit on spacious lots along quiet country roads. Homes are situated on cleared grass fields or in the dense pine-oak forests. There is currently limited inventory in the southern Maine area, and houses are often passed down generationally. When properties come on the market, buyers can find 1940s farmhouses on multiple acres for around $800,000. Properties built in the 1970s and 80s are more common and usually come in ranch and Cape Cod styles. Prices start around $330,000 and rise to $480,000. Those seeking more rustic lodging can find log cabins built in the 1980s for about $600,000. Dayton hosts plenty of recreational opportunities in the Maine countryside. Skelton Dam Boat Launch offers convenient access to the Saco River to go fishing or enjoy boating along the water. During the winter, residents can go cross-country skiing on the groomed trails at Harris Farm. Just across the northern edge of Dayton is Pleasant Point Park, which offers forested nature trails with glimpses of the river. Residents can gather for an outdoor picnic and wade in the river at the beach, while the adventurous can jump into the river on the park’s rope swing or launch a kayak or canoe onto the river. Pumpkin Valley Farm hosts seasonal events, the largest of which is a fall festival with a 5-acre corn maze and pumpkin patch. “In 2018, we added the Sunflower Festival in an effort to extend our relatively short operating season,” Harris says. The festival features bright blooms with wood-fired pizza and live music. In the spring, locals can greet the farm’s newest additions on baby animal days. During the weekend of Maine Maple Sunday in March, residents can stop by the sugar house at Cole Farm for maple syrup and ice cream and family-friendly activities. Harris Farm operates a country store stocking local eggs, milk, beef and in-season vegetables. Cole Farm sells maple syrup year-round, and farmers can go to the farmer-owned cooperative Andy’s Agway for animal feed and garden supplies. For household essentials, locals can stop by Dayton Country Store, a small but well-stocked store that sells a few hot foods, including pizza and wings. Gonneville Farm Ice Cream and Homestyle Cookin is another local favorite serving country-style dishes and ice cream. The neighborhood is rural but not secluded — Saco and Biddeford are 6 miles east and host supermarkets like Hannaford and big box shops like Target. Children can begin school at Dayton Consolidated School, which earns a B rating from Niche. The district does not have a public middle or high school, but Dayton has a town tuition program that allows students to attend the private Thornton Academy without paying tuition fees. Starting in sixth grade, students can attend the A-minus-rated Thornton Academy, which has over 200 course offerings, including dance, songwriting, Arabic and Chinese. Since Dayton is a rural neighborhood, residents rely on personal vehicles to commute and run errands. The neighborhood’s state highways allow residents to travel to nearby towns and connect to Interstate 95, on which they can drive 20 miles north to Portland. There are fewer amenities at hand in Dayton, so locals must drive out of town to access resources like medical centers and supermarkets. The nearest hospital is Maine Medical Center, which is 23 miles away in Portland.

What’s in a name? In the case of the rustic Maine village of Waterboro, it turns out there’s quite a lot. This small, rustic, aptly named town is home to a ton of lakes. It has ponds, like Lake Sherburne and the Northwest Pond, all over town. But its big selling point is Little Ossipee Lake, a popular gathering spot that people flock to all year long. Waterboro is a peaceful, rural lakeside town that’s close enough to grocery stores, amenities and even the city of Portland, but far enough away where the only sound you’ll hear is silence. “It’s always been a friendly kind of close-knit community,” says Joyce Veroneau, Realtor with Coldwell Banker Realty in nearby Kennebunk. Here, you’ll find a mixture of lakeside properties and giant rural lots where houses are spread far apart from one another. Most of the houses were built in the 20th century, says Veroneau, but there’s also a fair amount of new construction. You’ll see wood-sided, open concept waterfront homes for $900,000, tiny conventional cottages near the water for $450,000, 4,800-square-foot Cape Cods on 11 acres of land for $800,000, apartments on 10 acre lots for $200,000 and ranch-style houses built in 2018 for $400,000. Here, you can really, truly hide away from the world, if that’s your wish. The town shares the Lake Arrowhead Community subdivision with the nearby town of Limerick. Houses are much closer together in Lake Arrowhead than they are in the rest of Waterboro, and residents can take advantage of its clubhouses and community events, like boat parades and ice cream socials. The town’s main attraction, Little Ossipee Lake, is a 557-acre lagoon that is a one-stop shop for all different types of waterfront activities. You can jump in the water and swim from Bob Fay Memorial Park or launch your motorized boat from Gobeil Park on Route 5. Fishing is also allowed -- you can catch trout, large and small-mouth bass, pickerel and more depending on the time of year, and there’s also a campground. It’s lively in the summer, but people also go ice-fishing at the lake in the winter, Veroneau says. “For some of the people who live on the water, that might be their vacation home, but people don’t have a second home in Waterboro unless it’s on the water,” she says. When the temperature drops, a certain subsection of Waterboro comes to life. Since 1974, the town has been home to the Ossipee Mountaineers Snowmobile Club, an organization that works with property owners to maintain a more than 40-mile snowmobile trail system in town. The club meets on the first Saturday of every month from September to about April, and new members are always welcome. Once a year on a Sunday in March, Mainers across the state come together to celebrate one of its greatest exports – maple syrup. On Maple Syrup Sunday, as it’s called, syrup producers host gatherings for their communities where people can sample the syrup, eat sweets, play games and more. Maple House Farm in Waterboro is a participant in the event, and offered its syrup, homemade vanilla extract, maple treats and homemade bread to the community in 2023. There’s no downtown district in Waterboro, and there are no mom-and-pop stores, says Veroneau. But you will find convenience stores, a handful of restaurants and XOTA Brewing Co., which makes pale ales, Irish stouts, red ales and sour beers, plus more. Children in Waterboro can attend school through Regional School Unit 57, which serves Waterboro as well as Alfred, Shapleigh, Lyman, Limerick and Newfield. The school district teaches about 3,000 kids in prekindergarten through 12th grade. You can pick up Route 202 in Waterboro, which runs south to the New Hampshire border and north to Augusta and beyond. It’s a 40-minute drive to Portland, so commuting into the city is doable. This town by any other name would be just as sweet. But Waterboro is the perfect name for this waterside community.

With a century-old country club, major retailers and plenty of homes about 35 miles from Portland, South Sanford is more than the Sanford Seacoast Regional Airport that sits at its center. “It has a little bit of everything,” says Realtor Karen Cudworth with Lakeside Realty, a lifelong resident of the Sanford area who has been working in the area for 24 years. Many residents are members of the Sanford Country Club, celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, and can spend time outside at the Kennebunk Plains Preserve. They can grab a bite from one of the many breakfast spots in Sanford, including Mel’s Raspberry Patch, and go shopping at Walmart. The neighborhood is part of the Sanford School Department, which receives a C from Niche and offers an extensive vocational program. Trees surround the grassy lawns that fill the neighborhood, decorated with manicured bushes and shrubs. Cape Cods from the early and mid-20th century sit among ranch styles and bilevels from the late 20th century. Most of the new construction boasts colonial influences. Prices tend to fall between $275,000 and $575,000. “There are a lot of houses, so some of them are more affordable,” Cudworth says. “But there are a lot of other fees that go along with living there.” She explains that water bills and garbage collection fees are higher than in the surrounding neighborhoods. South Sanford receives a CAP Index Crime Score of two out of 10, compared to the national average of four out of 10. The Federal Emergency Management Agency designated properties along the Mousam River as Zone A or AE, meaning annual flooding is at least a 1% chance. While flood insurance is recommended for anyone in those high-risk areas, it is required for homeowners with a federally backed mortgage. Many locally owned eateries in the area are breakfast diners that close at 2:00 p.m. “Sanford has always been a breakfast kind of town,” Cudworth says. “Breakfast places are always busy and hopping.” Mel’s Raspberry Patch serves family-style meals as early as 6:00 a.m., while Sweet Memories serves more traditional dishes, such as pancakes and omelets. Locals can order a homestyle dinner from Shain’s of Maine or visit popular restaurants such as Applebee’s. Residents can get groceries from Shaw’s and do the rest of their shopping at Walmart and Lowe’s. The Sanford Chamber of Commerce works with Pilot's Cove Cafe, a popular restaurant in the airport, to host the Sanford Brew Fest at the Sanford Seacoast Regional Airport every September. It features as many as 20 breweries and live music. The Sanford Farmers’ Market is held on Saturday mornings from May to October, about 2 miles from the neighborhood. Vendors include local growers, bakers and artists. Kids receive a $2 voucher for fruits and veggies every weekend, while veterans get a $20 voucher every Saturday in September. As part of the Sanford School Department, students can complete kindergarten through fourth grade at Carl J. Lamb Elementary School before attending Sanford Middle School for fifth through eighth grade. Both receive a C from Niche. Sanford High School earns a C-plus and partners with the Sanford Regional Technical Center (SRTC), a vocational school that works with eight colleges to provide hands-on experience in fields ranging from welding to cosmetology to video production. Cudworth says the SRTC is “an attraction for people who have kids in school.” One of the neighborhood’s highlights is the Sanford Country Club, which is celebrating 100 years in 2024, “It’s a nice location,” Cudworth says. “I’ve been around here a long time, and it’s always been here. If I were listing a property in South Sanford, I would mention it.” Besides offering an 18-hole course to members and the public, the club is a popular event venue for weddings and other celebrations. Locals can hike through the Kennebunk Plains Preserve, which spans about 135 acres. Blueberries grow in the preserve and can be picked starting in August every year. Kids can run around the playground and practice basketball at Carpentier Park, about 3 miles away. Residents of South Sanford rely on their cars to get around, with Main Street connecting with both U.S. Route 202 and Interstate 95. The Sanford Seacoast Regional Airport is a municipal airport in the neighborhood. It is part of the Sanford Airport Solar Project, which creates enough solar power to provide electricity to about 20,000 homes. Even with this airport in the area, most residents fly out of Portland International Jetport, about 32 miles away. The closest emergency room is at York Hospital in Wells, about a 10-mile drive.