Eden Apartments is located in a country setting on the Woodbury Road in Bar Harbor, Maine - yet only a 15 minute walk from the center of town. The housing project is made up of 6 duplexes, five of which are two bedroom apartments. The sixth duplex is two story and each side has three bedrooms. The waiting list for the three bedroom apartments are quite long..
Each apartment has a front and rear lawn which is mowed by the housing authority, as well as a fenced in rear play area for small kids, and each unit has its own long driveway. There is a garbage dumpster on site by the housing authority garage, with no fee for deposing garbage.
In recent years the entire kitchen's was torn out and rebuilt with brand new cupboards as well as brand new electric stoves and refrigerators.
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| Woodbury Road, Eden Apartments - driveways along left side of roadway |
HEAT;
Units can be heated by two separate means, there is the baseboard electric heat, which some residents prefer, but can get expensive. Each unit also has recently been fitted with air exchangers which heat each unit at half the cost of electric heat, and also serve as air conditioning in summer months.
PARKING;
Each unit has its own long driveway. Driveways are plowed as needed by the housing authority, you do need to shovel your walkway.
MAIL:
Each apartment has its own mailbox, and mail delivery is anywhere from 2pm to 3;30 pm six days a week.
PLAYGROUND;
Yes, located at about the center of the project and easy to access.
SMOKING;
Smoking is not allowed in any of the apartments not on the outside grounds.
FLOWER GARDENS;
You can plant a small flower garden along the side of the apartment.
STORAGE AREA;
Each apartment has its own outside fenced in area, and each unit also has a large storage room inside each apartment.
WASHER/DRYER;
Each apartment comes with a coin operated heavy load washer and dryer. It costs 75 cents to wash and 75 cents to dry, but it actually takes two sets of quarters to get the clothing completely dry, so drying is actually $1.50 - the housing authority comes in about every three months to collect quarters from the machines.
LAWN SPACE;
Each apartment has its own front and rear lawns, mowed by the housing authority.
CARPETS;
yes and no. Recently the housing authority has begun tearing out carpets as people move out and replacing them with hardwood flooring. So you may get wall to wall carpets, or hardwood flooring.
CLOSETS;
Each bedroom has a large closet, with the Master Bedroom having a large walk in closet.
TWO BEDROOM FLOOR LAYOUT;
Front door opens up into the living room. Straight ahead is the door to the large storage room. The living room area is large, and next to the storage area to the left is the kitchen, which is not a full room, in other words, you won't be setting up a table in it. There is an opening in the wall in which to serve food through into the dinning room on the other side. So you enter the kitchen from the living room, halfway through there is a large cut out in the wall to serve food through, and you can finish walking through the kitchen, turn the corner and enter the dining room. Or you can enter the dining room from a doorway in the living room - this is important because what many do who are in need of three bedrooms is to turn that large dining room into a third bedroom and serve their meals in the living room.
At the far end of the kitchen are the washer and dryer.
To the right of the front door is a large storage closet, than a short hallway to the bathroom. Just past the bathroom is the two doorways to the two bedrooms, with the master bedroom on the right, and the kids bedroom on the left. The master bedroom also has a doorway leading out into the fenced in area in the rear of the apartment.
Floor layout for three bedroom apartments; As you enter the front door, you have a large coat closet on the right, folding doors straight ahead to the washer and dryer, and the dining area to the left. Some use the dining area as a living room area, and some turn it into a forth bedroom. From the dining area there is a hallway leading past a stairway, past the door to a large storage area, and into the living room area. You can also enter the kitchen from the living room, as well as from the dining room. The kitchen is large but not large enough for table or chairs.
A door in the living room leads out into the fenced in play area.
Up the staircase and you have a kids room straight ahead as well as one to the right. A short hallway has a doorway to the bathroom with the master bedroom at the end of the hallway. there is also a nice closet with shelves in the hallway as well.
the master bedroom has a large walk in closet.
In all units, only the Master bedroom has a lock, children's rooms have no locking doors.
REPAIRS
Minor repairs get placed on a waiting list and can take some time before they get to them. Major repairs, such as your stove no longer works or you have a leaking pipe, get fast tracked and quickly -
PETS
pets are now allowed, but there is a sliding scale depending what the pet is or the size of the pet. They have a yearly added deposit for pets, as well as a monthly or yearly record keeping fee per pet. the only free pet you can have is a goldfish or other tiny fish, in a glass bowl, that does not have a pump or filter.
PROJECT SETTING;
Located in a country setting only minutes from downtown stores, the roadway is lined with tree's. This is a small project where each duplex is well spaced from the next. And despite a number of young kids living in it, this is a fairly quite project.
At one end of the Woodbury Road is Parsons Lobster Pond, which is located next door to the Kebo Valley Golf Course. The free Island Explorer buses also pass by the end of the road and you can get off one or wave one down from there.
On the other end of the Woodbury Road is West Street Extention, go right and it leads down the hill to West Street and Cottage Street and the food store just around the corner. Go left and you are about a five minute walk from one of the entrances into Acadia National Park.
A few basic questions answered on Bar Harbor;
YMCA - yes, Park Street
YWCA - yes, Mount Desert Street
ballfields - yes, across from YMCA
skate park - yes, across from YMCA
main food store - Hannaford's on Cottage Street
Gas stations - three, 2 on cottage, 1 on Main street
Library - yes, Jesup Memorial Library on Mount Desert Street; has a children's room as well as a computer room with free wifi and computer access.
movie houses - yes, 2
Parks - yes, several
Post Office - yes, Cottage Street
Subway - yes
cabs - yes - from the project or in town fare is $5
public transportation - yes. Downeast Transportation operates a bus from Hannafords to the city of Ellsworth as well as the city of Bangor, Maine. $5 to Ellsworth and $9 to Bangor, fare includes round trip.
There is also the free Island Explorer buses which take people to villages all across the island as well as places inside Acadia National Park for free.
COLLEGE - yes, the College of the Atlantic located a short ways away on Eden Street.
Elementary school - yes, a short ways from the project. A school bus picks students up in the project.
HIGH SCHOOL - yes, but not within walking distance. Buses pick up students and transport them to MDI high School.
HOSPITAL - yes, Mount Desert Island Hospital, which is not far from the center of town.
CHILDREN'S PUBLIC WADING POOL - yes
PUBLIC PLAYGROUND - yes, next to the YMCA
CONVENIENCE STORES - yes, 2 Both located on Cottage street. Big Apple and the circle K - Mainway store, which is open 24 hours a day.
IN TOWN LAUNDRY MAT - yes
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| Left, washer/dryer, coat closet, front doorway | - Eden Apartments, Bar Harbor Maine |
RENT;
Rent is set up two ways, and which method you chose is up to you. There is the basic flat rent, where you pay around $980.00 per month (you need to check this out, I know its $900.00 plus, it may be less or more than $980.00) and your income has no ceiling of how much you can earn, and than there's the rent based on 30% of your income. So someone with a good paying job, you would want to chose the flat rate. Some one with less income would want to select the rent based on 30%.
DESPOSIT
I believe they like to have the deposit paid for up front, but they will allow you to make smaller monthly payments if you don't have the money and ask to make payments on it.
COMMUNITY SERVICE
It is required by law, so if you not disabled, you will have to work at least 20 hours per month, or do 8 hours of community service per month. Most do their community service by doing nursing home visits, helping out at a local church, or volunteering at the local library or hospital. Even helping out at the YMCA would count.
Bar Harbor Housing authority
80 Mount Desert Street
Bar Harbor,
Hancock County,
Maine
(207) 288-4770
The MDIEHA handles five housing authorities:
1. Bar Harbor offers two communities dedicated to senior/disabled individuals, and one family community.
2. Southwest Harbor offers two communities dedicated to senior/disabled individuals.
3. Mount Desert offers one community dedicated to senior/disabled individuals.
4.Tremont offers one family community.
5. Ellsworth offers one community dedicated to senior/disabled individuals.
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| Eden Apartments, Bar Harbor Maine |
