About — NHSH

About NHSH

Founded in 2005 by islanders who saw the housing problem coming

The mission of North Haven Sustainable Housing is to provide housing opportunities to sustain a year-round island community on North Haven.

We do it four ways: developing homes for sale, creating year-round rentals, developing housing for elderly and disabled residents, and running energy-efficiency programs. We provide housing for the island's teachers, students, builders, caretakers, fishermen, bakers and artists.

Create

Build new homes on donated and purchased land, designed for Maine winters and modest budgets.

Preserve

Buy existing year-round houses before they become seasonal, and hold them with deed covenants.

Sustain

Weatherize, insulate and rent below market so a year-round household can actually afford to stay.

History of action

Twenty years, one house at a time

Founders: David Cooper, Pat Curtis, John Dietter, Charlie Pingree.

2005
Founding
North Haven Sustainable Housing is founded as a 501(c)(3) in July 2005 by community members who believed that creating more housing was essential to the island's future. Founding board: David Cooper, Pat Curtis, John Dietter and Charlie Pingree.
2006–2007
First home built
On land donated by Charlie Pingree, NHSH completes its first new home. After years of the North Haven rental shuffle, Courtney Naliboff and Bill Trevaskis buy it in 2007 and become NHSH's first homeowners.
2008–2009
First renovation and resale
NHSH buys its first existing year-round home in the downtown district, completes an energy-efficiency renovation, and sells it to a family of four with an affordability covenant that keeps it in the year-round community forever.
2010
MaineHousing grant funds a rental duplex
With a grant from MaineHousing's Affordable Housing Initiative for Maine Islands, NHSH buys the historic Dyer House from James Dyer and, with Cooper Construction, creates two three-bedroom rental units with major energy upgrades.
2013–2018
Weatherization Weeks
NHSH brings mainland energy auditors to the island for the first Weatherization Week. Over five years more than 50 homes are audited and air-sealed, many receiving attic and basement insulation. Volunteers also build winter window inserts to tighten leaky windows.
2015–2019
Southern Harbor House
Mary White donates a home at the head of Southern Harbor to create long-term care for the island's elders. With Southern Harbor Eldercare Services, NHSH runs a capital campaign that raises over $3 million to build the six-bed Southern Harbor House, plus a two-bedroom staff apartment in the renovated garage and a conservation easement with North Haven Conservation Partners.
2016
Downtown family rental
NHSH purchases a three-bedroom house downtown and weatherizes it. It becomes one of the year-round rentals NHSH manages.
2017
Brokering sales to island residents
Two seasonal families sell property to island residents at a discount through NHSH, with affordability covenants attached: a small in-town home and a buildable lot on North Shore Road.
2018
Two generous donations
Chris, William and Jay Pingree donate 11.4 acres on South Shore Road for a future NHSH subdivision. Nancy and Jamie Davisson sell NHSH an in-town house at below-market value.
2019–2022
South Shore subdivision takes shape
NHSH works with the town and planning board to update subdivision rules so year-round homes on South Shore Road become viable. Approval for a five-lot subdivision arrives in 2021; in 2022 Elliot Brown General Contracting builds the road and utilities go in.
2022
Lottery home sale and the Little Red House
Staff and volunteers renovate the Davisson house and sell it to an island family chosen by lottery from qualified year-round buyers. The downtown Little Red House is resold under its covenant to a young island couple doing the upgrades themselves.
2022
School partnership and a new rental
NHSH buys the school's "magnet" house to support North Haven Community School's Off-Shore Year program with the Hurricane Island Center for Science and Leadership, with plans for a two-bedroom apartment above the garage. NHSH also works with Kate and Paul Quinn to keep their in-town rental in the year-round community.
2023–2024
Four rentals with an $840,000 MaineHousing grant
NHSH wins the maximum award from MaineHousing's Affordable Housing Initiative for Maine Islands, a 0% forgivable loan with a 45-year covenant, and gap financing from the Genesis Fund. Three apartments and an accessory unit go all-electric with heat pumps. Eighteen households apply for the first three.
2025
First South Shore Road homes, and three homes by lottery
The first two three-bedroom homes on Fish Hawk Road, off South Shore Road, are completed and offered to qualified year-round residents alongside a downtown home at 174 Main Street, priced on a sliding scale with covenants. The Bangor Daily News tells the story: summer residents who helped create the island's shortage are now helping ease it.
2025
Our Island Home campaign
A $1.6 million campaign to match the MaineHousing grant, subsidize the South Shore Road homes, fund energy help for low-income households and staff the work for three years: nine homes in all.
2026
Twenty years in, 217 Main Street
Two new rental units rise at 217 Main Street, opening by year's end. The August Summer Reception opens their doors to the island, followed by cocktails at the Pingree Boathouse at Iron Point. Jason Mann leads NHSH as Executive Director.