Maine

Blue Hill Inn // c.1830

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The major part of this structure in Blue Hill, Maine was built as a house around 1830 by Edward Varnum Stevens. Stevens started an inn in his home likely after his marriage to wife, Susannah Hinckley. When Edward died in 1857, the property was acquired by Haskell W. Hinckley in 1858, who was possibly Susannah’s brother. Hinckley was a sea captain and his wife, Fanny Hinckley operated the hotel here for 50 years, known as the Blue Hill House. The hotel became a social center for the community and became a gathering place for many. The structure, now known as the Blue Hill Inn, continues to welcome visitors today. The elongated Federal/Greek Revival style house is excellently preserved inside and out, and guests can stay in one of the 11 gorgeous suites inside, which take you back in time.

George Stevens Academy Building // 1898

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For part one of the George Stevens Academy, see the previous post on the George Stevens House here.

In his 1852 last will and testament, Blue Hill shipbuilder George Stevens appointed five trustees, providing them with land, his “homestead and appurtenances,” and generous funds “to erect, when they deem it expedient, a suitable and convenient building for an Academy, for the purposes of education forever.” After George’s widow died, the trustees made good on George’s will, and in 1898 this Academy Building was opened to its first class of students. The Colonial Revival style building has many full-height windows to allow light and air into the classrooms and a belfry at the roof with a bell to notify pupils when class would begin!

George Stevens House // 1814

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George Stevens (1775-1852) was born in Andover, Massachusetts and settled in Blue Hill, Maine. He became a ship owner and merchant, making a name (and wealth) for himself in town and he showed an interest in education for the growing village. He erected this home in 1814 for his family, which seemingly employed Asher Benjamin’s house plans in the Federal style, popular builder’s guidebooks at the time. With his eyes towards education, George Stevens sat on the board of trustees for the Blue Hill Academy which flourished under the guardianship of the local Congregational Church and trustee president Rev. Jonathan Fisher. He chafed under Congregationalist dominance and wished for a non-denominational local academy. In 1832, he offered to give a thousand dollars and a piece of land to the Blue Hill Academy. His offer included this provision, “The institution shall be put on a liberal scale that all denominations shall have equal rights and privileges.” The Academy trustees said, “no.” As a result, George Stevens provided in his will that after his death and that of his wife this homestead, 150-acres of land, and a large portion of his personal property should be used to establish an academy, an “alternative” academy. In 1891 the Maine State Legislature incorporated George Stevens Academy, leading the “Old Academy” to cooperate with the
new institution, merging their boards and finally becoming a non-denominational academy. The school continues as a highly respected academic institution and retains the name of its founder, George Stevens.

Blue Hill Academy Building // 1833

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This gorgeous brick building sits in Blue Hill, Maine and is an excellent example of a Greek Revival style institutional building found on the coast of that great state. The structure was built in 1833 and originally housed the Blue Hill Academy, a school which provided courses in Greek, Latin and (due to the town’s maritime economy), navigation. The original building was constructed decades earlier when the school was founded, but was quickly outgrown. When the George Steven Academy opened its doors a couple blocks away in 1898, the two institutions were merged. The American Legion eventually purchased this building, renting it to the Blue Hill Grammar School. Renovations in 1909 were designed by Blue Hill native, George A. Clough which likely included the portico and elaborate belfry. After years of deferred maintenance on the building by dwindling membership of the local American Legion post, the building’s future was uncertain. Thankfully, the Duffy-Wescott Post 85 stood up and funded preservation and planning for the building and make emergency repairs.

Judah Chase House // c.1840

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In the early 19th century, the town of Blue Hill, Maine, thrived as a shipbuilding and maritime trade center in New England. One of the town’s sea captains, Judah Chase, had this Greek Revival home built for his new family in about 1840. Just before this, Captain Chase had a brig built in town in 1834, he named it the Thomas M. Lyons. As owner and captain, Judah was hired to haul a shipment from Havre, France to the United States. On the route, gales battered the ship of the coast of the Isle of Jersey, and the ship capsized, the crew survived, but this event may have delayed the building of his home in Blue Hill!

Blue Hill Town Hall // 1895

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Blue Hill is a charming coastal town in Hancock County, Maine that retains so much of the charm that has been lost in many other coastal New England villages. Originally settled by the Penobscot Tribe, the town as we know it was incorporated in 1789 under the name “Blue Hill”, named after the summit overlooking the region. The town thrived early as a lumber and wood shingle exporter, later shifting to shipbuilding. The town was also noted for the quality of its granite, some of which was used to build the Brooklyn Bridge, New York Stock Exchange Building, and the U.S. Custom House at Norfolk, Virginia. In 1876, local quarries employed 300 workers. The town’s wealthy summer residents likely sought a new Town Hall for Blue Hill, as in the 1890s funding was acquired to erect a new building. It came as no surprise that George Albert Clough, an architect born in Blue Hill would furnish the plans for the new town hall. George was the son of Asa Clough an early settler and shipbuilder in town. He moved to Boston to work as an architect and later became the City of Boston’s first “City Architect” designing municipal buildings. For the Blue Hill Town Hall, he designed it in the Colonial Revival style, which remains well-preserved to this day.

Rockbound Chapel // 1900

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Wrapping up our “tour” of Brooklin, Maine, I wanted to conclude with a feature on Rockbound Chapel, one of the village churches in the small coastal town. The chapel (like the Beth Eden Chapel) was constructed at the turn of the 20th century as a village church which saw increased use when the town’s population surged (relatively) in the summer months. The vernacular church building has pedimented lintels over the windows and door, and a steeple covered in decorative shingles which flare toward the base. There is something just so enchanting about these small rural chapels!

Radnor Cottage // c.1907

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The historic summer cottages for middle-class summer residents of Maine have little written about them, but oh are these little cottages beautiful!! This is Radnor Cottage, a charming waterfront dwelling in the Haven Colony in Brooklin, Maine. The summer colony is comprised of a dozen quaint cabins (most historically without running water) for those of more modest means that wanted to escape the city for peace and tranquility on Maine’s rocky coast. The colony was developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a respite for academics and more who did not want to flaunt their credentials or social prestige. This home was purchased a few years ago and the inside looks like it’s never been altered! This is a dream home!

Beth Eden Chapel // 1900

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Almost at the southern, most remote tip of the Blue Hill Peninsula in Brooklin, Maine, I was stunned to come across this enchanting chapel. Completed in 1900, the Beth Eden Chapel is a small wooden frame building that appears to have been the first religious facility erected in the Naskeag area of Brooklin. Although it was erected by the Methodist Episcopal Church of Brooklin, the building was dedicated to the use of all Christian sects who wished to worship in the more remote section of town. Interestingly, the vernacular church employs some late 19th-century detail including the shingled flared siding and triangular motif. The chapel appears to remain open for summer months.

Wolfers House // 1947

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In 1947, world-famous German-born architect Walter Gropius and his architectural group, The Architects Collaborative (TAC) were commissioned to design a simple summer house for his friends Arnold Wolfers, a noted political scientist, and his wife, Doris, whose father was president of the Swiss Parliament. The site was a wild bluff on the end of Naskeag Point in Brooklin, Maine, with broad views of Blue Hill Bay and Mount Desert Island in the distance. The Wolfers’ wanted a house that was not a typical shingled house, provided sweeping views of the natural scenery, and also fit within its surroundings. Gropius nailed it with this house. As originally built, the house was comprised of a main block with large living room, kitchen, laundry room, service hall, and bathroom. A breezeway connected the house to a wing of three bedrooms along a long corridor. Walls of glass frame the waterfront side to take advantage of the views, while the street-facing facade has less glazing to provide additional privacy. After Doris Wolfers’s death in 1987, the house was purchased by an investment banker and his wife and it was listed for just the third time in over 75 years, and has maintained its architectural integrity the entire time.