Queen Anne

Joseph Fletcher House and Stable // 1889

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With red brick and slate siding and all the finest trimmings, this house looks like a present wrapped under the Christmas tree! The Joseph Fletcher House is located at 19 Stimson Avenue in Providence, Rhode Island, and is an excellent example of a Queen Anne residence with the innovative use of siding types often found in the style. The residence was built in 1889 for textile manufacturer, Joseph Edward Fletcher (1866-1924), the son of wealthy, English-born manufacturer, Charles Fletcher. The Fletcher house and adjacent stable were designed by Stone, Carpenter & Willson, one of the most prestigious architectural firms in New England at this period. It is believed that the site was developed by Charles Fletcher, as a wedding gift to his 23-year-old son and daughter-in-law following their marriage. The home was recently sold, and the interiors are as stunning as the exterior!

Daniel T. Kidder House // 1884

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This charming Shingle/Queen Anne style house is located on Sumner Street in Newton Centre, a street of fine suburban houses built for businessmen who commuted into Boston. This house was built in 1884 for Daniel Tufts Kidder (1852-1941), a glass dealer. Daniel got his start under the employ of Hills, Turner & Harmon, jobbers of plate, window and mirror glass, and manufacturers of mirrors, eventually working his way up to salesman and later as president of the consolidated company, Boston Plate and Window Glass Co. It is believed that Mr. Kidder used antique and imported glass in his home when it was built. The house remains well-preserved and characteristic example of the fanciful Victorian styles.

Maine State Building // 1893

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The Maine State Building is a one-of-a-kind landmark located in the Poland Springs Historic District of Poland, Maine, though it was not originally built in this location! The Victorian structure was built in 1893 at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago (aka the Chicago World’s Fair) as one of the State Buildings constructed by each U.S. state to highlight their history. Designed by Chicago architect Charles Sumner Frost, a Lewiston, Maine native and MIT graduate, the building was constructed of granite with a slate roof. After the close of the fair, the Ricker family of Poland Spring, purchased the building from the state. They had it dismantled, moved to Maine, and rebuilt on their resort, which brought even more visitors to their property. In Maine, it reopened in 1895 as a library and art gallery for their hotel guests. Along with the Norway Building in Norway, The Dutch House in Brookline (a personal favorite), the Palace of Fine Arts (now the Museum of Science and Industry) and World Congress Auxiliary Building (now the Art Institute of Chicago) in Chicago, the Maine State Building is one of the few remaining buildings from the 1893 World’s Fair, and the only State Building remaining. It has been lovingly preserved and operated by the Poland Spring Historical Society, who operate the building as a museum.

Poland Springs Beach House // 1909

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The Poland Springs Resort in Poland, Maine, brought thousands of visitors to the once sleepy community to take in the clean air and healing spring waters on the grounds, and eventually built recreational facilities to keep guests entertained for summers. An 18-hole golf course on the grounds was originally designed by Arthur Fenn in 1896 and redesigned by Donald Ross in 1915; and the Ricker family who owned and operated the resort, sought to take advantage of the nearby Middle Range Pond for guests. In 1909, this 1909 eclectic Queen Anne beach house was built on the northwest edge of Middle Range Pond. For twenty-four years, it was set over the water, supported on piers, but in 1932, it was moved to the east and was set on land. In 1982, the building was remodeled to a private home, now available for rent.

Hiram Ricker House // 1893

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The Hiram Ricker House sits in the Poland Springs Historic District of Poland, Maine, and was built as the personal residence of its namesake, who developed this formerly sleepy town into a destination in the 19th and 20th centuries. Hiram Ricker (1809-1893), the son of Wentworth Ricker and Mary Pottle, helped turn his father’s country inn in Poland into a popular late 19th century resort, bringing in droves of tourists to take in fresh air and the healing natural spring water. He and his wife, Janette (Bolster) Ricker had six children, all but one of which helped run the resort. This Queen Anne style residence was designed by Lewiston architect, George M. Coombs, and is set back down a long drive overlooking the resort grounds. Sadly, Hiram Ricker died the same year his residence was built, but the home was occupied by the Ricker Family for years after, notably by Hiram’s son, Hiram Weston Ricker. It is covered in later siding, but the trim details are preserved and typical of high-end Victorian homes of this period in Maine.

Riccar Inn // 1913

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The Riccar Inn, now known as the Presidential Inn, was constructed in 1913 on the grounds of the former Poland Springs House. The structure was the last of the hotel buildings constructed by the Ricker family, who started the resort aimed at drawing in tourists to take in the area’s natural healing waters. The annex hotel building was named Riccar Inn, with the spelling “Riccar” from the historic surname used by members of the family before they emigrated to America. The Queen Anne/Colonial Revival style hotel building survived the 1975 fire that destroyed the main hotel, the Poland Springs House. Architecturally grand, this three-story irregular plan hotel has a flat roof and features a four-story projecting double bay in the front facade topped with two octagonal towers. While covered in vinyl siding, much of the original ornament still shines (and there is likely more underneath the siding to be uncovered at a future date). What a beautiful building.

Mighill House – Baldpate Inn – Baldpate Hospital // 1733

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Just below the summit of Baldpate Hill in Georgetown, Massachusetts, stands an architecturally idiosyncratic old structure with a long history. The oldest part of the structure was built in 1733, as a residence for Stephen Mighill (1707-1783), a Deacon of the town’s church and brewer of beer. The early years were filled with much sadness, as Stephen and his wife Elizabeth, lost six of their nine children in youth or infancy, including an eight-year-old son who died after falling into a scalding hot vat of liquid in a malt house on the property. The Mighills also owned slaves, who tended to the house and malting operations here. In the 1890s, the property was acquired by Paul Nelson Spofford, a Georgetown native who moved to New York to make his fortune. It was Mr. Spofford who greatly enlarged the dwelling for use as an inn, naming it the Baldpate Inn. The gambrel-roofed tower was reportedly Spofford’s private space to look out over the rolling hills and forests. After Spofford’s death in 1912, coupled with the tourist trade falling off in the Depression years, the property was sold to a group of physicians who established a psychiatric facility, known as Baldpate Hospital, here in 1939. Today, the complex is known as the Baldpate Treatment Center, an addiction recovery center, who do a great job at maintaining the main structure and former stable on site.

New Gloucester Town Hall // 1886

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New Gloucester, Maine was established in 1736 under a Massachusetts Bay Colony grant of a 6-square-mile tract of land in the Maine Territory to sixty inhabitants from the Gloucester fishing village on Cape Ann. The first white settlers here built cabins in the forests in the 1740s, which were largely abandoned from 1744–1751 due to the heightened native tribe attacks during King George’s War. As the Native Americans gradually withdrew to Canada, the settlers moved out into their own newly built homes and the town has grown ever-since. New Gloucester was incorporated on March 8, 1774, and was named New Gloucester after Gloucester, Massachusetts, the native home of a large share of the early settlers, as Maine was still a territory of Massachusetts until 1820. Previous to 1886, the First Baptist Church was used for a town meeting house, but in that year the new Town Hall, this building, was dedicated. The building is Queen Anne in style with varied siding, applied ornament in the gable, with a more Classical portico at the entrance.

Boothbay Harbor Opera House // 1894

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Historic meeting halls can be found in nearly every town and city in Maine. The Boothbay Harbor Opera House was built in 1894 to a design by the prominent Portland architectural firm of Francis H. Fassett and his son, Edward F. Fassett. The wood-frame building was built as a multi-functional space by the local Knights of Pythias Lodge who hired local shipwrights, who constructed the building in just 70 days. The Queen Anne style building was converted to a local opera house and has been a cultural institution for the region ever-since!

Spruce Point Inn // c.1892

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Spruce Point Inn sits amongst acres of pristine pine forests on the shore of the rugged coastline in Boothbay Harbor, in Mid-Coast Maine. The Inn had its beginnings in the 1890s as a hunting and fishing lodge when the peninsula was an undeveloped and remote point on the outer edge of Boothbay Harbor. The enchanting location off the beaten path attracted rusticators, who sought to escape the hot and polluted air of Boston and other cities, for the coastal breezes on Spruce Point. Private cottages were built nearby the old lodge, and frequented by summer rusticators year-after-year. By the 1940s the lodge was converted to an inn and many of the private summer cottages surrounding were acquired and rented out for summers. The buildings exhibit the warm, natural materials typical of the region, with weathered shingles and expansive porches that invite guests to take in the ocean breeze. Inside, the beadboard walls, wood floors, and fireplaces paired with period-appropriate furnishings really provide an authentic historic feeling. The resort’s first saltwater pool was constructed in a rocky outcropping right at the coastline and was recently restored, providing visitors a unique experience to swim in a historic saltwater pool just over the ocean! Over the years, the inn has undergone several renovations and expansions, ensuring that it continues to meet the needs of modern travelers while preserving its historical significance. The Spruce Point Inn is more than just a place to stay; it is a part of the rich history of Boothbay Harbor and ongoing legacy, a historic getaway that blends both luxury and history in a setting unlike any other.