Her Family Bet on a Maine Town. 43 Years Later, She's Building on Their Legacy.

When Virginia Patnode McFawn's parents first discovered Rangeley, they were returning from a camping trip in Nova Scotia. They took an unfamiliar route, stopped in the small mountain town, and saw something worth building a life around.

A few years later, they purchased an existing building supply operation and turned it into a retail lumberyard. A hardware distributor warned them that Rangeley's population was too small to support the business.

Forty-three years later, Rangeley Lakes Builders Supply is still growing.

Virginia grew up in the family business, surrounded by a community where neighbors knew one another and looked out for each other's children. As a teenager, she couldn't wait to leave. She eventually made her way to New York City, where she worked in the music industry, and later lived in Charleston, South Carolina, and St. Petersburg, Florida.

But Rangeley kept calling her home.

Today, Virginia and her husband, Adam, help lead the family's expanding business. Her responsibilities span operations, staffing, marketing, and the countless decisions that come with running a business in a remote, four-season community.

And that's only part of her schedule.

Virginia and Adam have four children, whom they've homeschooled, and a farm where they raise beef cattle, meat birds, and grow much of their own food.

Then there's North and Found.

Originally called Welcome Home, the home furnishings store grew out of Virginia's lifelong interest in interiors and her belief that Rangeley needed a place where people could furnish and personalize their homes.

What began in an empty building with a $5,000 renovation budget has evolved into a thoughtfully curated retail destination and interior design business.

Virginia oversees the shop's merchandising, inventory, and team while working directly with clients on projects that extend well beyond Rangeley. Her approach combines an appreciation for beautiful materials with a practical understanding of how people actually live.

"It shouldn't look like I designed it," she says. "It should look like their vision."

For Virginia, North and Found also serves a larger purpose. She believes interesting, independent businesses are essential to keeping Rangeley's Main Street active and giving visitors reasons to return.

Her four children have expressed a desire to remain in Rangeley, something she considers both a privilege and a responsibility.

The family business may look different in another generation. Virginia is comfortable with that. What matters is preserving the opportunities her parents saw in a town others underestimated.

And giving the next generation a reason to stay.

photos by Aaron Snow