By Andrew Macdonald
Duckworth Real Estate broker Piers Baker’s October 2023 listing of an historic home, quite likely the oldest such structure east of Quebec City, has sold.
The home since 1980 of famed photographer Sherman Hines and his spouse, Andrea Hines was listed on the Duckworth realty website for $2.79 million. It was also listed on MLS.
The property sold on Feb. 5th, 2024 for $2.4M.
Baker worked with the buying agent’s realtor, Brenda Newcombe at Viewpoint Realty.
“Having the distinction as being the oldest existing structure east of Quebec City, the Mission was built by the French at the request of Abbe M Thury for the priests serving the Acadian people as well as a fortification against the English,” said Baker in his marketing material.
The mansion was built in 1699, and is also known as ‘The Olde Stone House’. The property boasts one hundred acres of prime agricultural land and forest. Maps from 1699 show a building matching the Mission’s description at the place where the St. Croix Rivermeets the Avon,” adds Baker.
Sherman Hines hired realtor/broker Piers Baker to sell his home, which he and his spouse have lived in since 1980. It was listed at $2.79M. It just sold for $2.4M (Piers Baker image).
The home is in the Annapolis Valley near Newport, and the Town of Windsor.
“Only 45 minutes from Halifax and 15 minutes from Windsor, the scenic pastoral sweeping hillside views make this one of the most beautiful locations in the country,” said Baker’s listing.
“Currently the residence of internationally renowned photographer Sherman Hines, the potential uses of the estate range from art gallery, museum, event venue, winery, brewery or even a development complex as an artist retreat. The historical importance, impressive land and spring-fed well would enable any of these ventures. It has equivalent value as a family home. A great place for children to grow up with the prized King’s-Edgehill School nearby.
Built in 1699 by Acadian priests, now a residency sold. It was listed by Duckworth realtor/broker, Piers Baker for $2.79M (Piers Baker photo).
“This sprawling estate on 100 acres has 8,585 square feet of living area, and comprises five bedrooms, and four and a half bathrooms. Along with the main residence, there is a chapel, barn museum, a 660-square foot guest house, the old stone house garage and office, outhouse gift shop, chicken coop, storage building and “Falcon 2” for landscaping equipment.
“Luxurious lifestyle and fitness amenities are also part of the package which includes a 20 X 40 foot pool, patio and tennis court. In keeping with the spirit of the Old Stone Home (The French used local fieldstone collected in the fields to build the Mission), the guest house was built with leftover hand-hewn beams; the chapel and barn were rescued, moved, restored and attached to the main home. The gorgeous 50-year B.C. split cedar wood shingle exterior adds to the majesty of the structural aesthetic. The view at dusk from the house of pastoral sweeping hillside grassy fields is spectacular. Walking trails by gypsum ponds and pits through the back edge of the wooded part of the property are a perfect retreat,” says Baker.
An unidentified buyer closed on the property on Feb. 5th.
I caught up to Baker about the sale of his listing, which went on the market last October 2023.
The mansion and property has been on and off the market for the last 10-15 years. Top realtors previously had the listing, but there were no sales deals back then.
In the next story, I report the top ten strategies that broker/realtor Baker deployed to get the sales deal done.
Baker says his strategy included spending copious amounts of time at the property to study its offerings, prior to putting the marketing material together – so he could personally get to know the property he would later list.
“The first thing is that when I put the listing together, I spent two or three days straight at the property just digging into the property. I spent a ton of time there, I drove over from Chester,” where he has a second home, in addition to living in the deep Halifax Southend.
The drive to Newport was easy for Baker because he would drive his son to the private school Kings Edgehill, daily.
“I heard all the history of the property, which was pretty cool. My write-up on the listing took a long time to figure out,” Baker tells The Macdonald Notebook.
He says Sherman Hines since 1980 “spent his life figuring out how to restore that place properly. And, every detail right down to the fireplace mantle. There is a long story to every room, which meant I had to grasp all of that because I knew I would be doing (show listing) tours,” he adds.
He says he pre-qualified those buyers who wanted to see the property, by simply requesting the would-be buyers make a $200 donation to the Windsor Food Bank, prior to being able to tour the listing.
“ A lot of the people that wanted to see the place were not interested in buying the place. They just really wanted an amazing tour of a spectacular property,” explains Baker.
So he pre-qualified the buyers. “That was very tough.”
His approach to the listing was that “at the beginning, the way I wanted to do it was put listing momentum at the beginning.”
That meant getting a free write-up in The Globe & Mail’s Home of The Week section and getting on the cover of the NS Real Estate Book.
Many of the pictures for the listing were actually taken by Sherman Hines, and with his talent for photography, his pictures are stunning.
The mansion sold for $2.4M – it was listed at $2.9M.
Baker says he answered every call and email message from interested parties. “The amount of phone calls was crazy. My phone was going non-stop and emails.”
Also in a way to pre-qualify showings, in addition to food bank donations, he wanted to ensure agents had an existing relationship with their clients.
Baker had to be at every showing – the average show time would run three hours at the property, “because the property is so huge and there is so much to talk to.”
Chester-Halifax realtor Piers Baker is a broker/realtor at Duckworth Reality. He moves metro Halifax and NS South Shore properties and lives in Halifax with a second home in the Village of Chester.
“At one point, we had a showing a day for a couple of weeks.”
Baker says he was able to get passionate about this listing because from the very beginning, he fell in love with the mansion and acreage. “I loved this house. I did not want to buy it, but it spoke to me. It’s a spiritual place. When you are there, there is a certain feeling of peace at the property. You feel like you are in the presence of a place on earth with peace,” he says.
“That meant when I was showing this place I was genuine with my interest and my love of the history of the place, which helps the listing. If you are selling a place and you love it, then it is easy for me to sell.”
Baker says the inside of the mansion “is like a museum filled with wonderful treasures. “So, the reason for three-hour showings, it is an incredible story.”
Andrea Hines’s father was a leading art gallery dealer in Yorkville, Ontario, and one of his best customers was NB- raised and later UK press baron, Lord Beaverbrook – he was an ancestor of Baker’s family.
“How cool is that,” adds Baker about his connection to the Hines family. Another historical connection Baker shared with the Hines’ is that his great aunt Isabel MacNeil, who once ran the Kingston Pen, had lunch in the 1970s with Sherman Hines, and convinced him to do his popular photograph books on Outhouses of NS, now in its 10th edition.
In the listing’s first 24-hour period, there were 3,000 hits on Viewpoint, speaking to the property’s appeal.
“A bunch of people flew in from Ontario to view the listing,” says Baker. The three main locales for showings were Toronto, Montreal & Halifax residents.
“There were also calls from New York,” he says.
The Marketing Material
“In the main house, the dining room is a splendid place to hold dinner parties and the country kitchen has been fully updated, including the addition of a large island, providing optimal space for cooking. There are many living areas with grand fireplaces to warm up in the winter months, three comfy bedrooms with exposed beams, a jet tub, and period furniture maintaining the home’s aesthetic integrity.
The kitchen. (Piers Baker image).
“Accessible through a heavy French cart-wide door reinforced with iron, the ancient root cellar is the original powder magazine for ammunition but would now make an ideal wine cellar with tasting and dining rooms. There are two rooms of stone walls, barrel shaped ceilings, exposed hand-hewn beams and stained-glass windows,” the listing states.
“An additional seven buildings are located on the property comprising the Poplar Grove Chapel, the guest cabin, chicken coup, triple bay heated garage and office, a storage building, “Falcon 2” for landscaping equipment, the Out House Gift Shop,” adds the realtor/broker.
“A few miles from the property is the famous Grand Pre, where the Acadians were expelled from the province from 1755 to 1758. At that point, the Mission and lands became the property of King George II of England and the Chancery. By 1760 the Township of Newport was created, and the home and land were granted to two young men from Rhode Island, named Aaron Butts and George Brightman.
“In 1761, ‘the Old Stone House’ was built by John Chambers (c. 1733-1814) who arrived from Newport, Rhode Island at Newport Landing in May 1760 on board the sloop Sally. After that, it passed into the hands of numerous owners until it was purchased by the famous photographer Sherman and Mrs. Hines in 1980. They have spent three decades meticulously restoring the estate,” explains Baker.
Piers Baker has listed a home built in 1699 for $2.79M. It is located in Newport, Annapolis Valley. (Piers Baker photo).
