The watercolor is painted on an ivory, textured watercolor paper and is signed in pigment "J Smillie" in the lower right. It is dated beneath the signature: "Oct. 2d. 1880"; and is titled in pigment in the lower left corner of the image. This watercolor is directly from the artist's estate and has never been on the market before.

Originally a part of Portland, Maine the citizens petitioned for their own government in 1765, including all the area lying south of Portland Harbor and east of the Spurwink River. Commercial and industrial growth in the north end of the town, nearest the harbor (now South Portland), was in sharp contrast to the rural character of the southern part of the Cape. In 1895, the two sections separated, and the southern end of town became Cape Elizabeth.

Smillie's watercolor was done in 1880 when it was farmland. This exquisite small landscape records a small rural
property with outbuildings, chickens and a well on the MacMariner property.