Maine Architecture Survey

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.

Poland Springs House // 1876-1975

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In 1844, Hiram Ricker (1809-1893) of Poland, Maine, drank spring water on his property and found that his chronic dyspepsia was cured. As a result, he began touting the medicinal qualities of the water and in 1859 started selling the water commercially. While the first water was bottled and sold in 1859, it was not until after the Civil War that Hiram Ricker and his sons began heavily promoting the spring as a destination for medical cures – and at the same time promoted the inn and resort that they were building in association with the spring. From this, the Poland Springs Resort (and Poland Springs bottled water) was born. The development saw swarms of tourists looking to escape the polluted cities for clean Maine air and natural spring water, therefore, the Ricker Family built the great Poland Spring House in 1876 to cater to resort visitors taking its waters. The original hotel was Second Empire in style and stood four-stories tall containing 100 rooms. Throughout the 1880s and 1890s, the resort building was expanded, quadrupling its size to 450 rooms as the demand for the resort increased every summer. An annex was also built nearby, named the Riccar Inn, providing even more hotel rooms for guests. By the early 20th century, the 1870s hotel was completely remodeled in the Beaux Arts style by architect Henry Wilkinson with domed roofs and sweeping verandas. After WWII, the resort saw diminishing visitors and would ultimately close in the 1960s. During a period in the 1960s, the hotel was operated as the country’s largest Women’s Job Corps Training Center, but deferred maintenance caught up to the building and it was ultimately shuttered, suffering a devastating fire in 1975, it was demolished soon after. While the large hotel no longer stands, there are many other amazing buildings on the grounds, stay tuned!

First Parish Congregational Church of Pownal // 1811

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Completed in 1811, the First Parish Congregational Church of Pownal, Maine, is an excellent and well-preserved example of a vernacular Federal-period church in a rural setting. Located across from Mallett Hall and built at the foot of Bradbury Mountain, the church was built by a crew headed by master-carpenter Uriel Whitney, a Revolutionary War veteran who moved to the area after the war. He was active in this church and is buried in the church cemetery. Little remains of the original Federal Style architecture, as its current Greek Revival Style (architects unknown) dates from remodeling apparently undertaken in 1838 and 1857.

Jacob Randall House // c.1796

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The Jacob Randall House on Lawrence Road in Pownal, Maine was built about 1796 and is a fine example of Federal period architecture executed in brick in the town. Built for Jacob Randall (1771-1829) a native of Weymouth, Massachusetts, who purchased over 100 acres of land in town, and had this house built sometime after. His property spanned the nearby Chandler River, upon which he established a sawmill and gristmill. When Pownal was incorporated in 1808, Randall was one of its first town selectmen, a seat he held nearly continuously until his death in 1836. The house is five bays wide, with its entrance in the central bay, recessed with a fanlight.

Mallett Hall // 1886

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Built in 1886, Mallett Hall is one of the most interesting and significant buildings in the small town of Pownal, Maine. The town is located equidistant to the larger cities of Portland, Brunswick, and Lewiston, but retains a very rural charm. This hall was built following a town meeting on March 15, 1886, where an article was approved to appoint a committee charged with developing plans and estimates for a new town hall. The hall is named after Edmund Mallett, a businessman who partially funded its construction. The architect is not officially known, but estimates guess it was the work of Francis Fassett, a popular architect at the time in the area. In addition to housing town offices and functions, it has also served as a community center, hosting social events. The Colonial Revival style building takes strong cues from Greek Revival meeting houses in the area but exhibits a Palladian window and fanlight in the pediment.

Sabbathday Lake Shaker Dwelling House // 1883

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Located across the street from the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Meeting House in New Gloucester, Maine, this large, three and one-half story brick building has historically housed many of the active Shakers in the community. Built in 1883-4, the central dwelling house contains a self-contained town of rooms, including sleeping rooms, a chapel, music room, kitchen, and dining facilities. The building features granite lintels and sills and a square cupola at the roof. The building was designed by the Portland architects Francis H. Fassett and John Calvin Stevens.

New Gloucester Universalist Meeting House // 1839

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Constructed in 1839 by local carpenter/builder Jeremiah Cotton, the Universalist Meeting House of New Gloucester, Maine, is a dignified example of the Greek Revival style in a rural context. The First Universalist Society of Christians in New Gloucester was organized in 1805 with members drawn from nearby communities including those of Gray and Poland. In 1830, the congregation reorganized itself into the First Universalist Society of New Gloucester and Pownal. During its early history services were apparently held at various places in the community for it was not until November of 1838 that a meeting was called “…to take such measures for Building a meeting house as a majority of Subscribers or proprietors may think proper.” After World War I, membership began to decline and from the 1930s until the society’s demise in 1957 services were infrequently held. In 1969 the property was acquired by the New Gloucester Historical Society, who maintained and restored the building. The flushboard siding, fully pedimented gable, pilasters, and symmetrical façade containing two entry doors, all work together to display the Greek Revival style in a high-style example, but in a rural setting. The building appears to be opened periodically by the Historical Society.

New Gloucester Masonic Lodge // 1902

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Built in 1902 and dedicated in June 1903, the Cumberland Lodge of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons #12 is located at the corner of Route 100 and Bald Hill Road in New Gloucester, Maine. The building was constructed as a centennial celebration of the local Masonic Lodge chapter’s founding a century earlier. The impressive and detailed brick structure exhibits engaged brick pilasters and a stained glass lunette (half-round) window in the gable. The building is still occupied and owned by the local Masons who hold meetings in the hall.

Whitman-Fessenden-Coombs House // c.1800

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This important Federal-period house sits in the middle of New Gloucester village in Maine, and dates to the early 19th century with mid-19th century alterations. The original owner was Obediah Whitman, who sold the house soon after to General Samuel Fessenden (1784-1869) lived here while practicing law in New Gloucester. He was an avid abolitionist who served as a congressman and in 1828, he declined the presidency of Dartmouth College. The General’s son, William Pitt Fessenden, resided there from ages three to fourteen. William later became a U.S. Senator and Lincoln’s Secretary of the Treasury. The third notable owner was artist, Delbert Dana “D.D.” Coombs, who used the second floor for his studio for some years. The update from the mid-19th century of the modest bracketed eaves and two-over-one windows showcases how later owners can update a home without diminishing the original design.

New Gloucester Old High School – New Gloucester Public Library // 1902

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This building, the present New Gloucester Public Library, was originally constructed in 1902 as the town’s high school, a use that remained until 1962, when pupils would go to a modern school building in nearby Gray, Maine. The building is an excellent example of the Colonial Revival style with a symmetrical facade dominated by a row of multi-light windows separated by paneling, a segmental-arched dormer, and cupola at the roof with a bell. When the high school moved to its present location, this building sat vacant for some time and would be occupied by the New Gloucester Historical Society for storage and display of their collections until the public library moved into the building by the early 1990s.