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Q&A With the Owners of Hacker's Hill in Casco

November 23, 2009 - CASCO -- The Hall family of Casco has owned Hacker's Hill for many generations and have recently decided to sell their much-loved property on Quaker Ridge Road, a parcel they have kept open for the public since 1994.

The Lakes Region Weekly ventured to the top of Hacker's Hill last week for a conversation with Conrad and Jeff Hall, owners of the hilltop property since 1989 when they bought the land from Conrad's father Hacker, the hill's namesake.

The family has listed Hacker's Hill for $1.6 million with Keller Williams Real Estate based in Gray. The hill - which many visitors think is owned either by the state or a conservancy group - is a favorite with leaf peepers and other nature lovers who enjoy the panoramic views of the White Mountains, Sebago Lake and western Maine mountains.

Seated at a picnic table atop the hill last Thursday was 73-year-old Conrad Hall, and his 47-year-old son Jeff Hall, both of Casco.

Q: Who in your family originally bought this property?

Conrad Hall: That would have been my ancestors, my father's grandfather as far as I know. It may go back further than that. I can't be 100 percent sure, since it's so far back. There's no record of it as far as I know of.

Q: How long has it been in the family?

Jeff Hall: Some it goes back 50 years, but most of it is more than 100 years.

Q: How many acres do you own up here?

Jeff: It's 52 acres in two different lots, but they are connected by a 50-foot-wide section.

Q: Why are you selling?

Jeff: I'd say there are several reasons for it. The primary reason is the amount of work required for upkeep. Donny (Fowler, of Casco) and my dad do the lion's share of the work. I've got three younger children and coach baseball in the springtime so when it's the toughest time (for upkeep) I'm not here. It also requires opening and closing the gate morning and night. There are roughly six acres that we mow on a weekly basis, or more frequently, on top of regular upkeep like trash and port-a-potties. So it's expensive.

Q: How much do you spend in a typical summer?'

Conrad: Well, we have the property taxes, $1,100-$1,200 a year. The major mowing runs between $800 and $1,000 with a big tractor to mow the fields. We have to rent the tractor and the man who steers it, too. The old family tractor won't do anymore. Then, add your gasoline, parts, wear and tear, blades. These hills and rocks do a number on the mower. Not only that but the kids get up here and they don't understand and throw rocks out into the grass. And if you don't see them, bang! A mower doesn't last very long up here.

Q: So the upkeep is definitely a factor. Any other reasons why you're selling?

Conrad: I'm 73 years old...

Jeff: And he's done enough. We obviously like the conservation part of it and being able to give stuff to others. So many people are good up here, think a lot of it and really enjoy it. There is a small portion of people who are disrespectful.

Q: Vandalism?

Conrad: A little bit. They break into Jacob's Well down here and steal the money out of it. There will be broken bottles; they'll spin up the fields. But, obviously, that's a small percentage of the people.

Q: Any other reasons to sell?

Jeff: Money, that's another thing. I've got three kids who will hopefully be going to college some day.

Q: And Conrad, you'd like to have a little money for retirement?

Conrad: Definitely.

Jeff: He's 73 and he's still driving for Casco Rescue.

Conrad: We have no money to pay for the work to be done up here. Donny's health isn't getting any better.

Jeff: We started the conservation effort with the town and Loon Echo Land Trust probably five years ago knowing time was eventually going to run out when we could no longer keep the property up.

Conrad: We've also been fortunate that the neighbor at the bottom of the hill has been nice to open and close the gate. Bill Wales is his name, he and his wife. That's helped immensely.

Q: It seems you feel a little bad closing this off to the public?

Conrad: We feel terrible about it. We've made it available to the public for 15 years at the level it's at.

Q: Any mixed emotions?

Jeff: I wouldn't even say they're mixed. We feel bad about it.

Conrad: We would love to have a group purchase it and keep it as is. But someone would have to take the ball and run with it, and raise some money.

Jeff: I think one of the big issues we've had is that there's not much incentive, as long as we continued to do it. If you're a conservation group, why bother? You'd rather spend your money elsewhere on (some piece of land) that is in imminent danger.

Q: Are you disappointed that the Loon Echo Land Trust isn't able to purchase it?

Jeff: I was involved a little bit with them from another standpoint, but they've bitten off quite a lot with buying the side of Pleasant Mountain, and they've conserved a lot of acres in the area. But the pockets are only so deep, especially in this economy.

Conrad: And the town couldn't afford to buy it. We talked with some of the selectmen and the town manager about five years ago.

Jeff: Yes, it's been part of the town's comprehensive plan and I think people are in favor of it, but being in favor of something and actually being able to buy are two different things.

Q: What do you think Hacker would think of the sale?

Conrad: Probably sad, but he would also say, you have to do what you have to do.

Jeff: He was pretty practical.

Q: What role has Don Fowler played up here?

Conrad: If it hadn't been for Donny, this wouldn't be what it is today. My dad tried to keep it open but people would come up here and party.

Jeff: It was party central. I remember every Sunday morning, he'd take me up here with a couple barrels and we'd collect bottles they hucked and smashed into rocks. At the time, my grandfather was an active farmer and he baled the hay up here. You'd cut a tire on the tractor. That's what got the gate closed in the first place and we made people walk up. That was back in the ‘60s and ‘70s when he first paved it.

Q: Why did Hacker originally open it to the public?

Conrad: He didn't verbalize a great deal to anyone. You pretty much had to gather your information from what he did. I think he appreciated it, the view.

Jeff: He was community service-oriented, chairman of the Casco Days committee at times, fire chief. He was a volunteer through and through.

Q: You said Donny has been very important. In what ways?

Jeff: If you take our ownership out of it, it's 90 percent him. He basically showed up with a tent...

Conrad: First time I met him, he was sleeping up here in a tent. He was at a crossroads in his life and wanted to know if he could stay up here, and wanted us to know that if people came up here, they would see no trace of him, as far as him staying up here. Most of these stones you see around here, he carried them up here physically.

Jeff: The benches, every bit of décor up here is his handiwork.

Conrad: Picnic tables, he keeps those painted.

Q: What about the bathroom? Who built the bathroom?

Conrad: He did.

Jeff: So, he really made it possible to open it back up to the public. Donny said, don't you worry, it'll be fine. And it's grown since then.

Q What about the towers? Was that an attempt to get a cash infusion to keep it open?

Jeff: Well, it certainly did help. We did get some pre-paid leases, there's no question we made some money on it.

Conrad: Yeah, but that's long gone. About four years ago.

Q: What company owns the cell towers?

Conrad: Well, one of them is AT&T. The other is owned by a company that sublets it to Verizon and Nextel-Sprint. (Ownership) changes quite a bit, actually.

Jeff: It started off with the town of Casco having their repeater up here. That was the original antenna.

Q: Does your family ever use Hacker's Hill?

Conrad: Very limited.

Jeff: I think of it as more of a place to go and work.

Conrad: Yeah, me too.

Jeff: And he should ten times more than I do. We probably derive the most benefit from the hill in November when we close it during hunting season. We post it for hunters. We close it the last day of October and open it back up when the snow melts.

Q: So Halloween weekend could be the last time it's open to the public?

Conrad: Right, it would be the last weekend.

Q: Have any offers, any bites?

Jeff: Cathy Manchester said there's been a lot of hits on the Web site, but no formal offers. We've had some people with multiple looks at it, but those are individuals, not really what we're hoping for.

Q: Who would be your ideal buyer?

Jeff: A conservation group that wanted to leave it open. Like Cathy (Manchester) said, she'd be willing to forgo her commission on it. And we'd work with them, too. We're not opposed to a payment plan.

Q: How about the spiritual part of Hacker's Hill? There are a lot of religious monuments up here, namely the tree that split in a lightning storm in 1997 and formed a cross.

Jeff: We're both Christians. Donny takes it to a much higher level than I do, but it's also helped on the quality of life on the hill. My grandfather used to have problems with the motorcycle gangs who came up here and raised holy heck, but having the symbols, it reminds people, and it's tamed it down.

Conrad: A lot of people come up here specifically for the spirituality, which we think is great. The formation of that cross in 1997, happening as it did a few years after we opened it back up to the public (in 1994), rattled us around a little bit in reference to spirituality. Everything basically started with the cross, with Jesus dying on the cross, and what Donny has done here, it's almost like God is saying, you are leading people in the right direction.

By John Balentine keepmecurrent.com 11/11/09


Lakes:
Regions: Sebago


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