Kennebunkport Village

St. Martha’s Catholic Church // 1903

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A happy blending of Mission, Colonial Revival and Shingle Styles for the Maine coastal community of Kennebunkport, the St. Martha’s Catholic Church exemplifies the charm of this town. The church is sited on a corner lot with a belfry at its corner. The nave features a central entry with Colonial pilasters and pediment above the second floor windows. The roofline is shaped with Mission style parapet walls and arched openings at the tower, showcasing the Spanish influence in the design. The entire building is wrapped with cedar shingles, as a nod to the coastal summer resort it resides. The church operated here until the mid-late 20th century when it was converted to an art gallery, and now is home to condos.

The Kedge // 1887

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Located in the Cape Arundel Summer colony in Kennebunkport, this Shingle style cottage, built in 1887 sits perched on a hill with views of the Atlantic Ocean. Built for John Bach McMaster, a historian who was also a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, the house was the first of two he owned in Kennebunkport, where he summered. The son of a former Mississippi plantation owner, McMaster grew up in New York City and worked his way through the City College of New York. Although he obtained a degree in civil engineering in 1873, he was deeply interested in American history. He worked briefly as a civil engineer in Virginia and Chicago in 1873, but he returned to New York the following year and earned a meagre living by tutoring.

McMaster was appointed assistant professor of civil engineering at Princeton University in 1877. Meanwhile, he planned to write a broad-scale history of the United States. In the summer of 1878 he led an expedition to the American West, an experience that impressed on him the pioneers’ efforts and the need for a social history of the West. His inspiration materialized in 1881 with the completion of the first chapter of A History of the People of the United States from the Revolution to the Civil War. The earnings from the series gave him substantial wealth and he then bought a summer residence up in Maine seen here.

If anyone knows the architect of this house, please share!

Melville Walker House // 1860

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Built for Melville Walker, a sea captain on land gifted to him by his father, this home perfectly exhibits the changing dynamic of Kennebunkport. Melville Walker would often be out at sea for months at a time, and he apparently brought along his wife, three daughters and son on many trips to ports all over the world. The Italianate home was eventually sold out of the family, and by 1901, it was purchased by George Little, an executive with the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. That year, he had the summer home renovated with Colonial Revival detailing, including the hipped roof, dormer, and other detailing. The belvedere, 2/2 windows, and Victorian era porch were retained, showing the original form and detailing of the Italianate version. In the 1950s, the home was converted to an inn, with small cottages constructed surrounding the property to house additional families. Today, Maine Stay Inn & Cottages welcomes families from all over the world to experience the beauty of Kennebunkport.

Westlook // 1905

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One of a handful of Prairie style homes in Maine, the Abbott Graves House – named ‘Westlook‘ – of Kennebunkport, was designed by Graves himself and built in 1905. The two-story residence is of frame construction with a low-hipped metal roof (originally red tile) and three internal brick chimneys. The exterior is covered with a simulated stucco finish.

Born in Weymouth, Massachusetts in 1859, Graves began architectural studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1867 but was forced to leave due to financial problems before completing the program. For a few years he supported himself by working in a florist’s establishment where he earned a reputation as an arranger of flowers for interior decoration. An amateur painter since early youth, he began in earnest to develop this talent, concentrating on floral still life. He was eventually able to support himself in a small Boston studio and in 1884 to 1887 studied in Paris. His work was exhibited in the Paris Salon in 1887 and received the first of five medals he was to be awarded by that illustrious institution. Returning to Boston in 1889, he opened his own school and established himself as a distinguished painter of floral scenes and genre works. He brought his family and some students to Kennebunkport for the first time in the summer of 1891 staying at one of the first hotels in that newly emerging resort community. Graves fell in love with the community spending more and more time there each year until eventually he became a year round resident. In 1905 he designed Westlook, as he named it, and resided there until his death in 1936.

Ivory Goodwin House // c.1808

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Built by Ivory Goodwin (1783-1851), a joiner who moved to Kennebunkport from Berwick, Maine in 1799. Goodwin and his wife Mary, lived in this small Cape house with their six children, a pretty amazing feat in its own right! The Federal/Greek Revival home is five bays wide with a central entry with sidelights and pilasters flanking.

Captain George Nowell House // 1854

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Captain George W. Nowell and his wife, Frances, the daughter of the wealthy Capt. William Jefferds, built this elegant Italianate style home in 1854 that stands on Temple Street, next door to the Kennebunkport Post Office. George was a sea captain, following in his father’s footsteps and also invested in several of the ships he sailed, but had the fiscal foresight to insure his interests against loss. His prized ship was named “Tropic” and she was launched in 1855, less than a year after his house was built. On a cold December day in 1862, Nowell, captaining The Tropic left Philadelphia with a cargo of coal for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company in San Francisco. She and her crew of 20 were never heard from again. George was not yet 40 when he perished. His youngest son, Frank, never met his father and was only 8 years-old when his mother passed in 1872. Shipbuilder David Clark bought their Temple Street home and George’s brother took his children to live in Bangor.

The captain’s reputation as a prudent and charitable man was recognized by Victoria, Queen of England. She awarded Capt. George W. Nowell, of the ship Tropic, an engraved spyglass in testimony of his humanity in rescuing her subjects, the crew of the Village Belle, of Nova Scotia. The telescope and a certificate, signed by the Queen, have been proudly protected by the Kennebunkport Historical Society.

The family home features bold corner quoins, bracketed door and window hoods, and paired rounded arch windows at the top floor.

Lyric Theater // 1919

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One of the more identifiable buildings in Dock Square in Kennebunkport Village is one of the first you typically see when arriving from neighboring Kennebunk. The wood-frame building perched on stilts at the edge of the Kennebunk River features a prominent pyramidal roof and stunning windows. Through some digging, it appears the building was built in 1919 as the Lyric Theater, a 350-seat motion-picture cinema, that catered to the summer residents. Sometime after the 1970s, the theater was converted to retail use and now is home to Saxony Imports a place where you can pick up some presidential swag, gag gifts, or touristy clothing.

Gideon Walker Farmhouse // 1745

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One of the older extant homes in Kennebunkport is the Gideon Walker Farmhouse, built in 1745. The home once sat on a larger parcel of land, on the outside of the village, which at the time, only had a handful of other homes nearby. At the time, the town was named Arundel, and was later renamed Kennebunkport, in reflection to its economy becoming one of shipbuilding and trade along the Kennebunk River. As the village population grew, the Walker land was sold off and developed for other large estates. The Georgian house featured a small, one-story projecting entry, typical of the period. In 1910, owner Anson McKim of Montreal, hired Portland architect John Calvin Stevens to update the home, which included the addition of the front entry’s second story and a large side addition approximating the size and location of the former barn which once stood there. The home has since been renovated a few more times on the interior and exterior, yet it still retains its historic integrity.

John Hovey Perkins House // c.1850

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This large house in Kennebunkport Village was built in the 19th century for John Hovey Perkins (1804-1859). The Federal home was constructed sometime in the early 19th century, and by 1857, it was updated by the local master-builder, Bernard Littlefield, who likely added the two-story columned side porch and other detailing. The home was originally located at the corner of Green and Pleasant Streets, across from the Captain Lord Mansion, and was moved in 1900 to its present location on South Street. The house was converted to a bed & breakfast, known as The Inn on South Street, and it has seemingly been converted back to a single-family home.