The old Town and Country Block building at the edge of Houlton’s historic Market Square is listed for sale at $750,000.
The 5,673-square-foot, five-story building includes two commercial levels leased by Fedcap Opportunity Center and four leased apartments.
The building has towered over Market Square for 126 years, housed the beloved Town and Country clothing store for nearly half a century and is now home to a local nonprofit that helps people get job-related skills.
“The tenants are remaining and Fedcap has five more years on their lease,” said owner Stephen Hutchinson, who has had a connection to the building since he was a newborn. “It’s like a second home. I have always been there. I know every inch and nook and cranny.It’s a wonderful building.”
Formerly home to the Town and County Clothing and Footwear store, Hutchinson’s father, Eugene Hutchinson, purchased the building in 1974 from Leland Ludwig Jr. and expanded what was then a men’s clothing and footwear store to include a jean shop in the basement and eventually a women’s clothing line.
The family business sold everything from workwear to tuxedos, Hutchinson said.
“We had Carhart, Dickie, Woolrich, Nike, Northface, Lee, Levi, Columbia,” he said. We carried most major brand names then also rented tuxedos for proms and weddings.”
Hutchinson operated the family-owned business for nearly four decades before its 2016 closing. In 2017 he formed Town and Country Block Inc. and renovated the building into the commercial and residential hub it is today.
As part of the renovation, Hutchinson installed a new furnace, new oil tank, sprinklers from the basement to attic and an HVAC unit in every office. On the main commercial floor are three offices, a classroom, a computer lab and an ADA-compliant bathroom; on the lower level are four offices and an ADA bathroom.
The upper levels include three two-bedroom apartments and a one-bedroom unit.
The landmark temperature gauge made from the bottom of an oil storage tank on top of the building was designed by Leland Ludwig Jr., who operated Petroleum Products Inc. and was an MIT graduate.
The structure of the building fits into the period of downtown revitalization that followed the expansion of the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad and a series of fires that reshaped the district, according to historic records.
Hutchinson said he decided to sell the property because “It was just time.”
The building is listed by CORE realtors.
