FAIRY HOUSES

DO YOU HAVE FAIRY HOUSES on your property? I bet you do! Fairy Houses are famous in Maine where they even have special celebrations for them. I was cleaning up out in the yard today - it is 60 degrees!!!! and the last week in January, and I noticed a fairy house over where a mighty maple once stood. It took very little work to enhance the "property." A few pebbles here and there, a little vine hand rail... and a few flowers (bottom 1/3rd, middle) from the rosemary in my herbal windowbox... yes, it is in bloom again! This box sits next to the house under the kitchen window. I have an old piece of plexiglas bent over it to keep the frost off (or snow should we ever have any this year.)

As kids we knew about, and often made, Fairy Houses when I lived on Peaks Island. We would pretend to suddenly find them and show them to tourists. Sometimes we would charge a nickle! LOL! Hey, in those days, you could buy a popsicle for 5 cents! Even today, there are Fairy House tours on some of the islands and even a 3 day festival at Boothbay at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, usually held in early August.

Mackworth Island lies just outside of Portland but feels like it’s miles away from the city. The small island is circled by a lovely coastal walking trail. About halfway around the circuit is a charming woodland fairy house village with views out to Casco Bay. Some of the houses are built against trees and stumps, while others are freestanding upon the thick, soft cushion of pine needles that cover the forest floor.

The Mackworth Island permanent Fairy Houses Village was established by local families in cooperation with the State of Maine Bureau of Parks and Land and the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf.
This superb village has been established for several years and gets more magical all the time! It is in constant use all year round (weather permitting.) We used to make mini-igloos in the winter!
The village is a 10 minute walk from the parking lot around the island to the north side. The island is accessible by road, but parking is limited. Mackworth Island is located in Falmouth, just off route 1 heading north from Portland.
The official Fairy Houses Village sign reads:

“The village provides fairies with cottages during their visits to the island.
We invite you to visit the village and admire the creativity of the builders. If
you are so inclined, you may use your own imagination to expand the village or
provide needed maintenance to the existing cottages. Thank you for treating the
island with care and respect.This helps to keep the fairies coming back!”

Further north is Monhegan Island.

The magic of Monhegan seems to inspire us to acknowledge the fairy realm by
building little houses. In the island’s Cathedral Woods, tall spruces stand
like the pillars of a grand cathedral, drawing our eyes upward. For a
generation, this moss-floored forest has been the site of Maine’s most
well-known and beloved fairy house village. (Note: Due to too many people
building fairy houses there in recent years and damaging plants and mosses
in the process, visitors are now asked not to build any new houses. Just
enjoy seeing any that you may spot on this enchanted island.)

Next warm day when I have a few minutes (like when does that ever happen?) I really must look around the back 40 and build a real nice fairy house. I am sure they will move in right away! Maybe I can get a little neighbor to help me... Hmmmm.