RAYMOND – The “wow factor” is a real estate industry term commonly used to describe a home’s foremost attribute – often, a dazzling kitchen, a striking great room, or a sumptuous bath.

A much rarer phrase is “awe factor.” Certainly it has never appeared here in the 17½ years that this weekly home showcase has been published.

Until now, courtesy of this Sebago Lake estate, whose every feature impresses favorably, whose highlights are far too many to recount here, and whose overall effect is to inspire a degree of awe.

The 11,993-square foot home was built in 2009 to the highest standards of quality, craftsmanship and design. It is tucked behind a circular drive down a 3/4-mile private lane, on 19.1 acres whose 1,126 feet of protected lake frontage can accommodate big boats, and include a sandy beach, a docking system, and a mini-lighthouse at the end of the jetty on Schooner Cove.

In its shingles-and-stone exterior, the home has the character of a classic Maine coast “cottage,” and a setting to match, from the surrounding low blueberry bushes and nearby islands, to the sweeping westerly views across the lake to the far hills and even, with stunning clarity, to Mount Washington.

Sunsets are particularly magnificent, and the soaring, arch-beamed great room, its west end entirely made up of windows, maximizes enjoyment of their beauty. This open-concept main-level expanse takes in seating areas; a gorgeous, dream kitchen; and a dining space that opens to the sun porch. A stone fireplace towers to the great room’s peak, and the big boulders at its base are in scale with the broad flagstones of the patios outside.

Luxury details in this 17-room home can be practical, such as leather-wrap staircase handrails; lifestyle-enhancing, as in the theater with wet bar and 10-foot screen; and a bit whimsical – a built-in drinking station for dogs, for instance, in the hallway to the multiple-room master suite wing. There everything – bow-windowed, coffered-ceilinged bedroom excepted – is doubled. Opposite its octagonal glass shower enclosure, the “hers” bath has a handy breakfast-bar kitchen.

Outbuildings range from the charming, cedar-aromatic little bath house near the water, to a huge garage for boats, RVs, etc., which stands near the cook/caretakers’ home – perfect for a couple – just up the road. Most furnishings, among them the home gym’s equipment, will convey. So, surely, will the “awe.”

The home at 64 Sunset Chimney Road, Raymond, is listed for sale at $7.5 million by David Banks of RE/MAX By The Bay in Portland. Please contact David at 773-2345 or at dbanks@davidbanksteam.com.