Summerguide 2019

This paradise reflects your deepest thoughts in its mirror.

By Colin W. Sargent

Incomparable Kingdom

Some islands don’t live in real time. They live in mythic time. If you’re looking for a getaway on an island straight from an Eric Hopkins painting, this is it.

Centuries ago, five-acre Ram Island off the St. George Peninsula was prized by settlers as a sheep pasture surrounded by a universe of blue water. No need for a collie here! One still morning, the flock woke to the ringing sound of hammers.

Today, this granite-trimmed isle hosts a modern four-building compound, dock and boat included. Three plush post-and-beam bungalows are selfie-worthy for guests. The center courtyard and boardwalk paths connect the smaller dwellings to the big show.

The main mansion has a dining room with cathedral ceilings; water views; and a wraparound porch.

You’ll never want to leave the great room—a showstopper. Its russet wooden rafters mimic modern art. They shock the stillness with the illusion of motion, the joists refracting, ducking, shifting, and racing to a dramatic peak like lovely, flapped-out fans. Anchoring the room is a massive brick fireplace.

Words, Music, Romance

Still more rare: a dreamy octagonal library designed to let you push off from the shore of your imagination. Remember libraries? This one has built-in shelves and floor-to-ceiling windows. Indulge yourself. Disappear into a great story.

Who dares to dream on this scale? Sometimes it’s not “follow the money.” Sometimes, thankfully, it’s follow the library, with words and music as your guide. Composer Alan Fletcher runs the world-famous Aspen Music Festival. Before that he headed Carnegie Mellon’s School of Music. His husband, philanthropy guru Ronald J. Schiller, is the founding partner of Aspen Leadership Group, LLC, an executive-search service for the non-profit sector, and the engineer behind billion-dollar gifts to learning and arts institutions with libraries on the scale of Cornell, Princeton, and the University of Chicago.

These two cultural power brokers find their way back to the island each summer for soul sustenance and private reflection, walking barefoot along the beaches to the cries of gulls. Putting their words in print:

Exploring the Personal

“We have owned an island home since 1997. Our first island home was on Lake Winnipesaukee. We moved to Ram Island in 2013, in part to be on the ocean, and in part to own a fully private island. For the past 22 years, whether traveling a couple of hours by car, or all day on multiple flights, the last ten minutes of the journey has always been the most important, and the most magical. Crossing the water means leaving everything else behind.”

‘Psychic Decompression’

“We found the property through a friend, and the first time we stepped onto the island we knew we were home—before even seeing the structures and interior courtyard! Though neither of us grew up in New England, we knew we wanted an island home there—we love the Maine coastline, the warm days and cool nights, the seafood.

“We love being surrounded by lobster boats and having Outward Bound as a neighbor. We also love that so many artists and writers live and work in the area, also attracted by the natural beauty and peaceful environment.

All This, and Heaven Too

“The town of Rockland, with the extraordinary Farnsworth Museum, with great restaurants, and with wonderful shopping, is 15 minutes away. But on the island, it is all ocean, birds, gorgeous sunrises and sunsets, and starry skies. Both of us write—one of us writes books, and the other writes music. One couldn’t ask for a more quiet and inspirational surrounding.

“We were married on the island, with 40 family members in attendance, and the island has been host to other weddings in the past. It is the most enchanting location for a family or friends gathering!”

Make Ram Island Your own

If you buy Ram Island this summer, your first order of business will be to circumambulate the 1,700 feet of granite ledge surrounding your kingdom. Sometimes the cliffs drop to lustrous beaches. Want to be luxuriantly alone? The boathouse at the head of the dock lets you eavesdrop on the whisper of the waves.

Making Connections

Fancy scaring some seagulls? There’s a 2014 Boston Whaler Super Sport with a 40-hp outboard motor at the end of your dock, all gassed up, waiting for you.

Dreaming of an all-night cocktail party? There’s a “tent platform for overflow guests”—just don’t call them that.

Dig infrastructure? Three rainwater collection tanks with an 1,800-gallon capacity are here to slake your thirst, and a solar array provides electricity for your island. Because it’s yours now—there’s no turning back.

Solar array on the blink? Just flick the switch to your backup generator.

Insist on pizza delivery? Included on the mainland just 800 feet away is your own deeded parking and boat storage area, where the delivery car is just pulling in. Let them know you’re approaching with flashlight signals.

Got a yen for zen? Stone statues are hidden around the island to watch you chase your dreams.

Brass Tacks

“The whole island is assessed for $432,600,” reports the St. George town assessor’s office. “The house was built in 1990, for the late Wilson Alling,” of Greenwich, Connecticut, an educator, dreamer, and divinity scholar who bought the island in 1979. “Harbor Builders worked on the house.” What was the purchase price when Fletcher and Schiller bought it? “One million, two hundred thousand dollars.”

It’s now or never. The price is $1.395M. Don’t check your mobile for comparables. This Shangri-La deserves a special place among the incomparables. 

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