Tiny Lebanon house comes with lots of land, history

The 'caretaker's cottage;" below from top, the bedroom, sitting room and kitchen; finally an image of the 'camp,' a former tearoom that operated in Lebanon or Milton in the early 20th century before it was moved to present locale. (Harrison Thorp photos)

WEST LEBANON - A lot of history, a lot of land and a very little house.

One of Lebanon’s most interesting properties went on the block last month.

It could be the littlest house in Lebanon. 

Formerly owned by the well-known Blaisdell family, the tiny house on Dixon Road is selling for $194,900. 

It also comes with 37 acres of woods and meadow, plus a camp that was a former tearoom, and a large barn, both outbuildings tucked in deep woods a five-minute hike up the hill.

Edie Goldenberg of Michigan has owned the two properties on Dixon Road since the early ‘90s. One is the 1850s-era New Englander at 134 Dixon toward the top of the hill, the other is the aforementioned diminutive “caretaker cottage” below.

The “caretaker cottage” as it is called was rented out to a couple who took care of both properties for Goldenberg, who has been summering in Lebanon for more than 20 years.

Goldenberg is selling both properties separately.

The cottage consists of a small kitchen, a small sitting room, a small bathroom with shower and you guessed it, a small loft upstairs for sleeping quarters.

A propane space heater in the kitchen provides wintertime comfort.

Halfway up the hill to the camp and barn is a 19th-century family burial plot featuring the headstones of Thomas and Lydia Blaisdell among others. He lived from 1818-1892, she from 1812-1896. A Civil War memorial near his grave bears testament to his service in America’s most deadly conflict.

At the top of the hill the camp and barn look out on woods, a broad meadow and field grass.

Goldenberg said Ina Blaisdell Shaw was born in the New Englander in the 1880s and lived in the cottage in her later years until she died in the late 1980s at the age of 102. In the summer she lived mostly in the camp to enjoy the serenity of the woods where deer and moose were often seen.

The timeframe of when the camp, or teahouse, was moved from its commercial location is unknown. It had been located near a gas station in Milton or Lebanon, or perhaps even at Blaisdell Corner in South Lebanon. No one knows for sure.

The camp has a wonderful big fireplace and custom windows that open up to the inside and hook on the ceiling to create a great summer crossdraft, Goldenberg said. The camp was originally constructed in the early 1900s, she guessed.