The former home of JD Salinger, set "a mile and a half down a winding, bumpy dirt road flanked by 'No Trespassing' signs", has been put up for sale by its current owner.

Salinger bought the Cornish, New Hampshire property in the 1950s, according to local paper Valley News, moving there from New York after the runaway success of his novel, The Catcher in the Rye. Its current owner, Joan Littlefield, has lived there since the 1980s, and is asking $679,000 (£407,000) for the four-bedroom, 12-acre property.

"Formerly the home of writer JD Salinger, this charming house is set in an enchanting garden of flowers and trees. Land on both sides of the road ensures privacy," writes the estate agent. "Garden spots to sit and dream."

Salinger was famed for his fierce protection of his privacy, withdrawing from public life in the 1950s and publishing nothing after Hapworth 16, 1924 was released in 1965. Journalists visiting him in Cornish were given short shrift: in 2009, a reporter from the Spectator heard the author shout "something that sounds like 'Oh, no!'" before fleeing the intrusion; in 1986, novelist and former New York Post reporter Charlie Carillo said Salinger responded to his revelation that he was a journalist with: "Oh, go away, please! … I've had enough of that, please!"

Valley News reported that Salinger's former home, now "filled with little cushions, crystal china and fabrics in warm pinks and oranges, reflects three decades of use by the Littlefields, but still conjures impressions of a cozy writer's den".

Littlefield told the local paper that she had decided to sell after the death of her husband two years ago, and that she was thinking about advertising the property in the New Yorker "in the hopes of attracting literary types".

According to Valley News, the Littlefields discovered "various Salinger memorabilia" after acquiring the house in the 1980s, "including old chequebooks, sections of fence and, notably, his toilet".

This was put up for sale on eBay by a collectibles dealer, along with a note of authentification from Littlefield. The vendor asked $1m for the toilet, "uncleaned and in its original condition", writing: "Who knows how many of [his] stories were thought up and written while Salinger sat on this throne!"

Salinger died in 2010. A biography claimed last year that five posthumous books by the writer were set to be released by 2020.