A historic mill property, the Elms Guesthouse, is up for sale.

Located across the street from the Sappi paper mill, the building, which is owned by Sappi, served as a guesthouse for mill officials and customers for a number of years.

The Elms is listed on Loopnet.com, a national real estate Web site, with an asking price of $750,000. Jeffrey Pina, director of corporate communications for Sappi North America, said the company was no longer using the Elms as a guesthouse and in recent years, had used the building primarily as a meeting area.

Since the company was no longer using the building with any frequency, Pina said the company decided to sell the property, which is situated on almost an acre of land on the Presumpscot River, directly across the street from the mill. “As part of a company initiative to take advantage of assets that we are not using, we decided to put it up for sale to help with our bottom line in these challenging business times,” said Pina.

Janice Usher, a member of the Westbrook Historical Society, said the Elms, which was built in 1882, is one of the city’s significant historical buildings. She said the building, which is part of the Cumberland Mills Historic District, was designed by noted Portland architect John Calvin Stevens. Usher said Stevens designed several buildings in Westbrook, most notably the Cumberland Mills block just down the street from the Elms.

Community and Economic Development Director Erik Carson agreed with Usher’s estimation of the significance of the Elms to the city. “It’s a remarkably intact historical gem,” said Carson. “It’s one of the few architecturally intact buildings that the city has.”

When the Elms was built, Usher said it was intended to be a residence for Mill Agent William Longley, but he passed away before he could move in. His widow lived in the house for a time, and when she moved out, it was converted into a guesthouse to serve the mill across the street. “For years it was the guesthouse for the mill,” Usher said. “It was really special for the customers to stay there.”

Usher said the building was technologically advanced for its time. “It had lights by 1887,” said Usher. “It was one of the first places in Westbrook to have electric lights.”

The Elms remained in use as a guesthouse until September 1999 when it was closed, said Usher. While the building has mostly remained vacant since then, Usher said it is still in good shape inside. Last year, as a part of a celebration for the 150th anniversary of the S.D. Warren paper mill, the Elms was opened for public tours. Usher took the chance to tour the house, and she said the interior was extremely well preserved.

“It’s just awesome,” she said. “The rooms are gorgeous. It’s just unique.”

Carson said the Elms is important to the city as a link to its past. He said the building was “representative of what the Warren portion of the mill was all about.”

Since the Elms is so significant, Carson said the city would be interested in helping the new owners preserve the building. “We would be happy to work with the owner or the future owner to help preserve the integrity of the building both inside and out,” Carson said.

The Elms Guesthouse, built in 1882 is being put on the market by Sappi.