Location. Location. Location.

In the 1800s, Old Town had it all. The city sat at the confluence of two rivers, with swaths of forest on all sides and a railroad hub in its center. If ever a city were destined to become a lumber capital, this was it.

And as anyone who has lived in a mill town will tell you, lumber meccas are filled with grand old homes. A quick drive through downtown is like flipping through an architectural guidebook – gracious Queen Annes and Italianates line one street, while tall, austere Federals and Gothic Revivals dot another.

But one of the city’s finest was built in 1885 by a map master – James W. Sewall, who founded the Sewall Co. The three-story Stillwater Avenue home boasts details such as wavy shingles, scrolled molding and a “sunrise” motif on the architrave – and that’s just the exterior.

“Old Town has an enormous number of architectural gems,” said James Page of Old Town, president of the James W. Sewall Co. “There are literally dozens of older homes in town that have been well-maintained and have kept their architectural integrity. … The house in question differs in degree – it’s bigger than most with a much bigger lot – but not in kind from the others.”

Though Stillwater Avenue has become a busy thoroughfare, Page’s relatives have said much of the neighborhood remains unchanged. The Victorian, painted the color of coffee ice cream, is the most visible in this enclave of larger homes with sweeping lawns, tall hedges, rock walls and long driveways. Built on what was then the Sewall Farm, it borders the University of Maine Forest to the back.

“Backing up on university woods gives a feeling of being in the country while really being in town,” Page said.

Page grew up in Caribou, and the home passed out of his family long before he moved to Old Town, but he lives nearby and his relatives remember the home’s earlier days. His cousin Louise Gray Moody, along with Joseph Sewall and Elizabeth Sewall Gary, filled him in on the home’s history.

Over the years, two of the city’s most prominent families have lived at 259 Stillwater Ave. James W. Sewall’s son, also named James W., married Louise Gray, the daughter of the founder of Old Town Canoe.

Though an outside owner bought the home, it was later purchased by Louise’s nephew Braley Gray. Since Braley left to build Puckerbrush Farm riding center in Newburgh, the home has been occupied by several other families, including the current owners, Ed and Lois Nase. After spending five years in the home, the Nases have since moved to Pennsylvania.

“When we got the call to come look at this house, we were pretty excited,” said Sherry Brooks, a Realtor with Town & Country who listed the home. “A lot of people were curious. A lot of people said, ‘Oh, I’ve always wondered about this house, I’ve always wanted to see it.'”

It’s something to see. With six working fireplaces, elaborate interior molding (each room is different, which may have to do with the number of owners), tall windows and cozy window seats, soaring ceilings and a master bath suite that’s a bather’s dream, the home is a haven for romantics and architecture buffs alike.

And the setting? Well, it sits back from the road, with perennial beds in the front yard and a large lawn in the back. It’s private. Wooded. Serene.

Location. Location. Location. Looks like this Old Town home still has it.

The Sewall-Gray home

Where: 259 Stillwater Ave., Old Town

Built: 1885 by James W. Sewall, occupied by two of Old Town’s prominent families, the Sewalls and Grays, who founded Old Town Canoe

Bedrooms: 5

Fireplaces: 6

Bathrooms: 4

Interesting features: Intricate interior and exterior molding, a breakfast room with tiled fireplace, window seats, a huge antique soaking bathtub, stained-glass windows.

Dried flowers hang from a doorknob in one of the home’s five bedrooms.

The exterior of the Stillwater Avenue home boasts wavy shingles, fancy trim and a “sunrise” motif in the architrave.

Each of the first-floor rooms in the 1885 has different molding, including this intricate scrollwork in the breakfast room.

An Old Town gem has many appealing facets, among them a setting suited to its architectural and historical significance