Maine

Winn House // c.1780

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One of the oldest extant houses in the village of Ogunquit Maine is this charming Cape house thought to have been built in the 1780s. The house was later purchased by James Winn (1783-1861) and his wife Philadelphia Maxwell Winn (1785-1855), probably about the same time as the birth of their first child, James Winn Jr. in 1808. Both James Sr. and his son in 1846, launched a 161–ton brig out of Kennebunkport with Captain James at the helm. After several trips James Jr. succumbed to an illness that was aboard the vessel and died at the New York Marine Hospital. Over 150 years later, the house, largely untouched, was seemingly threatened by development pressure on the busy highway. In 1980, the home was donated to the town by then-owner, Phyllis Perkins, and moved nearby to a park on Obed’s Lane. It now houses the Ogunquit Heritage Museum.

Colonial Inn, Ogunquit // 1897

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As Ogunquit surged in popularity as a coastal summer retreat in the late 19th century, the flocks of city-dwellers needed a places to rest their head after splashing in the crisp Maine ocean. The original structure began with a mid-19th century house, likely in the Greek Revival style. It was expanded in the 1880s when it opened as a hotel for tourists, equipped with a mansard roof. The hotel consistently sold out of rooms in the summer months and the proprietors decided to expand in about 1897 with a sizeable Queen Anne style addition. A fire in 1951 destroyed the rear wing of the building and the conical tower roofs were removed, resulting in the final form seen today. The hotel is historically significant because it is the only surviving 19th-century hotel in Ogunquit that still serves as a hotel and largely retains its historic appearance, enhanced following a 2013 restoration by the owners who worked with David Lloyd of Archetype Architects. Other hotels of the period have either been converted to condominiums or been engulfed by modern alterations. The hotel was thus placed on the National Register of Historic Places, a large, and worthy addition!

Nellie Littlefield House // 1889

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One of the most charming buildings in the quaint village of Ogunquit Maine has to be this Victorian inn, located right on Shore Road, the town’s main thoroughfare. The house had its beginnings in 1889 when Joseph H. Littlefield constructed it for his wife Ellen “Nellie” Perkins and their family of four children. Joseph was a member of the esteemed Littlefield Family, which goes back to before Edmund and Annis Littlefield and their six children traveled from England and settled in the town of Wells in 1641. The family was prosperous in the area, and Joseph used his wealth and position in local affairs to develop summer cottages and buildings at the beginning of the town’s large development boom in the late 19th century and early 20th, catering to summer residents and tourism. The Littlefield House was passed down to Joseph and Nellie’s children after their passing, last occupied by Roby Littlefield (1888-1988), who served in local and state politics. It was Roby who was instrumental to establishing the Ogunquit Beach District, which allowed the government to acquire the beachfront in Ogunquit, making it public. The old Littlefield House is now an Inn, known as the Nellie Littlefield Inn & Spa, and it retains so much of its original charm.

Ogunquit Playhouse // 1937

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Opened in 1933 in a converted garage and relocated to the existing building upon its completion in the summer of 1937, the Ogunquit Playhouse is an important part of Maine’s historic twentieth-century cultural landscape. The Playhouse was founded by former Hollywood director and Broadway producer Walter Hartwig and his wife Maude, and the building was designed by theater architect Alexander Wyckoff. The site on Rt-1 was intentional as the highway was the main coastal route for the inter-war summer tourist travel. The Colonial-inspired theater was in keeping with the historic nature of New England, but with the grandeur to attract a nation-wide summer audience. Early articles mentioned the building constructed of “…steel and wood, painted white with green shutters and roof, is simple in line, suggesting the Colonial architecture of New England”. Walter Hartwig died in 1941, and his widow Maude took over as the producer for the upcoming season. In 1947, she engaged George Abbott, New York’s most distinguished playwright/producer to share in the managerial duties, and in 1950 John Lane arrived as co-producer. Lane acquired the property in the following year, counting among his first tasks the rebuilding of the stage which was destroyed by a storm the year prior and changing the landscape to move the parking lot in front of the building to the side. The Ogunquit Playhouse continues its 26-week season runs from May through October, with off-season co-productions at The Music Hall in Portsmouth, NH. Go see a show before the season is over!

Old Ogunquit Methodist Church // c.1880

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Ogunquit, which means “beautiful place by the sea” in the indigenous Abenaki language, was first a village within Wells, which was settled in 1641. Ogunquit grew as a fishing village with shipbuilding on quiet tidal waters protected within smaller alcoves. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the village was discovered by artists, who flocked to the area for the natural scenery and bucolic coastal scenes perfect for painting. At this time, summer residents came to the sleepy village en masse, facilitating the construction of summer resort hotels and commercial buildings. Ogunquit seceded from Wells in 1980, and has been one of the most visited villages in Maine. Ogunquit has been a destination for LGBT tourists and businesses, adding to the rich culture there. This church building, shows the history of the town well. It was constructed as the village’s Methodist Church after 1872 in a vernacular Gothic style with lancet windows and entry. The church merged with the nearby Wells Methodist Church in the 1970s and later moved to a new church building between the two towns. The former Ogunquit Methodist church was purchased and converted to a gift shop, frequented by locals and tourists alike.

Knight Library // 1912

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Prior to 1899, the Ladies Sewing Circle of Waterford carried on a lending library at the Ambrose Knight store, run by Sarah and Carrie Knight. Interest in the library grew and more room was needed for books. The Knight sisters began construction of a stone building, but both died only a few weeks apart in August 1911 during its construction. The building was completed in 1912. On Oct. 1, 1937 a fire destroyed parts of the library and other nearby buildings. In early 1938, the library’s second floor was reconstructed in the new Dutch Colonial style, giving the library a very different look.

Bear Mountain Grange Hall // 1844

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This large wooden building in Waterford, Maine, looks much like a church, because it was built as one in 1844! The building was constructed as a Universalist Church just over a decade after a local Universalist Society was formed in the area in 1830. In the subsequent decades of the church’s founding, dwindling membership by the time of the Civil War required the group to sell the building to local businessmen. The town rented a space in the building which used a floor as a school, after an additional floor was added to the base, giving the building the vertical appearance it has today. in 1896, the Bear Mountain Grange purchased the building as a meeting hall, allowing the school to operate in the building (an arrangement that lasted until 1949)! The building has seen better days, but besides the chipping paint and some wood-rot, it retains the original windows and has been relatively un-altered!

Ambrose Knight House // c.1810

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The most architecturally significant example of the Federal style in Waterford, Maine, is this c.1810 home built for Ambrose Knight, who operated a store in town. The high-style Federal home features a well-proportioned fanlight over the entrance with a Palladian window above, all with geometric moulding. The home was likely built by a housewright who employed designs from Asher Benjamin’s pattern books for builders, as the high-style features and Palladian windows are uncommon in this part of Maine.

Dr. Leander Gage House // 1817

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Dr. Leander Gage (1791-1842) came to Waterford from Bethel, Maine in 1817. He erected and lived in this Federal style house which overlooks much of the South Waterford village. Gage was a prominent medical practitioner in town and involved in local politics as a moderator at town meetings and as a school committee member until his death. The home has a Federal style stable and 1840s barn attached and had remained in the Gage family until at least the 1980s.

Waterford Congregational Church // 1928

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Upon first glance, this transitional Federal and Greek Revival style church building in Waterford, Maine, appears to date to the early-mid 19th century, but things are not always as they appear! The Waterford Congregational Church we see today was actually built in 1928, after a fire that year destroyed the previous building, constructed in 1837. The congregation hired Maine architect John Calvin Stevens, who designed over 1,000 buildings in his career. The church was “masterfully recreated in almost every detail” from the 1837 building, down to the 1,200-pound bell cast from the historic Revere foundry bell.