Redeveloped historic Gehring House ready to welcome residents

Construction crews are tending to the final details at the historic Gehring House, which the Center has redeveloped to create quality apartments for year-round residents. Tenants will be able to move in as early as mid-May.

“I am just so excited that we’ll soon have people living in the Gehring House again, bringing it back to life,” said Robin Zinchuk, former director of the Chamber of Commerce and a volunteer supporter of the project. “This building has been such an important part of Bethel’s history, and it’s wonderful that the Northern Forest Center is able to modernize it to meet today’s needs.”

The building includes nine apartments on three levels. It has been updated to modern standards while maintaining the historic integrity of the building, built in 1896 by Dr. John Gehring. The apartments include one studio, six 1-bedroom, and two 2-bedroom units.

The Center is opening the building for tours on Thurs., April 24, from 9 to 11 am and 4:30 to 6:30 pm, and on Sat., April 26, from 9 –11 am. Lease details and rental applications are available online.

“This project creates more quality, long-term rentals in Bethel,” said Center Program Manager Amy Scott. “Our goal since the start was to create housing for middle-income, full-time residents. We’re specifically creating apartments for primary residences – not the second-home market, nor for short-term rentals. And we’re proud to pay full property taxes even though we’re not required to as a non-profit.”

In 2022, the Center paid $1.85 million to buy the 10-acre parcel and the historic Gehring House, which had stood empty since 2009, and $4 million to redevelop the property, bringing the total cost to $5.9 million.  The renovation included reconfiguring the interior to create nine light-filled apartments, restoring historic features, and updating building systems throughout.

Scott said that the Center made it a priority to use as much wood as possible in the project. “We restored as much of the original wood as we could and added new wood products, such as insulation made of wood fiber from TimberHP in Madison, Maine. The building uses wood pellet boilers and wood pellets from Maine Energy Systems in Bethel and nearly all the new lumber and pine siding is from Hancock Lumber.”

The reclaimed floors and locally sourced wood alone will store almost 18 tons of carbon dioxide – equivalent to offsetting the emissions from 1,800 gallons of gasoline burned – for the lifespan of the building.

The Center funded the project using its Northern Forest Fund, comprised of low-interest investments from people who forgo higher returns to invest in community revitalization, and charitable contributions from private foundations and individuals, and historic tax credits. The Betterment Fund and the William Bingham Foundation, which both originated with philanthropists from Bethel, were among the lead supporters of the project. The project did not receive any federal housing subsidies.

The building redevelopment project is part of the Center’s community revitalization work in western Maine and is one of several housing development initiatives underway. Woodhull Construction served as general contractor on the project and hired numerous local contractors and trades people to work on the project.

The Gehring House is on the National Register of Historic Places, and the renovation conformed to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.