maine house

Nathaniel C. Allen House // 1793

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

The Nathaniel C. Allen House is a two-story Federal style residence located in New Gloucester, Maine. The house was built in 1793 by Shubael Marsh, a local builder (and father of Shubael Jr. (1797–1867), who moved to Texas with Stephen F. Austin) and sold to Nathaniel Coit Allen, an early settler in New Gloucester, who served as a General during the American Revolution. The property was purchased by Col. James Madison Thompson, then owner of the Glen House, an early White Mountains hotel in New Hampshire, who renovated the home by replacing the central chimney with two narrow ones and raised the ceilings and introduced Victorian interior woodwork. A subsequent owner added large Colonial Revival porches on the front and side entrances along with a new entry. The house showcases the changing tastes from Federal style to Victorian back to traditional tastes.

Morrill House // c.1830

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

This stunning brick Federal style home sits in the center of Gray Village in Maine. The house dates to the early 19th century and was long-owned by members of the Morrill Family, seemingly first by William C. Morrill and remaining in the family for generations. The residence is a high-style example of the Federal style with recessed elliptical entrance with fanlight transom and sidelights with a Victorian-era front door. The house was likely built by a local mason or housewright who employed the designs of a Federal style plan book for the architectural detailing at the entry.

Samuel Perley House // c.1784

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

Built around 1784 for Reverend Samuel Perley, this Federal style home is one of the finest in the town of Gray, Maine. Samuel Perley (1742-1830) was educated at Harvard College and while there, met and befriended John Adams, who would later become the second President of the United States. The two maintained a lifelong friendship. Perley came to Gray in 1784 as a pastor of Gray’s first church. He likely had this house built at the time or purchased an existing house and updated it and the house is said to have Moses Eaton stencilling inside. At one point, Rev. Perley and his wife lived on one side of the house while his son Isaac, his wife, and their twelve children lived on the other.

Auld-McCobb House // 1807

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

The Auld-McCobb House is set on a rocky ledge overlooking the absolutely charming downtown Boothbay Harbor, Maine. The brick, Federal-period double-house was built in 1807 for Jacob Auld and Joseph McCobb, two prominent local merchants. The two were engaged in a business partnership that included fishing, shipbuilding, and general mercantile pursuits, and were a dominant force in the local economy in the first quarter of the 19th century. The duo owned a good bit of land in town, eventually selling the five-acre Burnt Island to the Federal Government for a new lighthouse. McCobb married Auld’s sister in 1807, and it is thought that this is what necessitated the house’s construction at the time. The house is interesting, not only as a rare example of a double-house of the period, but also as one of the first (and only) brick homes in Boothbay Harbor.

Point O’ View Cottage // 1892

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

The Point O’ View Cottage in Kennebunkport sits on a large lawn on the rugged Maine coast, with sweeping views of the Atlantic Ocean. Built in 1892 by Burleigh S. Thompson as a rental property (he rented it for $1,500 for the summer) the nine-bedroom “cottage” was designed in a Tudoresque version of the Queen Anne architectural style and originally named Fort Bradford. The cottage (like others built for Mr. Thompson) was designed by Henry Paston Clark, THE architect for the Cape Arundel Summer Colony in the 1890s, who also designed St. Ann’s Episcopal Church and other cottages nearby. The cottage was renovated more in keeping with the Shingle style and was entirely clad in cedar shingles, but it retains its perfect, rustic stone foundation and rounded porch. It is now known as Point O’ View Cottage. What a view it has!

Kewaydin Cottage // 1900

Buildings of New England1 Comment

Every good summer cottage needs a name, and this charmer in the Cape Arundel Summer Colony of Kennebunkport, Maine, is no exception! This is “Kewaydin” a massive summer home built for Eben Caldwell Stanwood Jr. (1856-1906) a merchant and later banker of Boston, Massachusetts. Stanwood hired the Boston firm of Chapman & Frazer to design the cottage, which blends Shingle style and Queen Anne elements in a rustic composition that has such great curb appeal! The use of cedar shingles and rubblestone chimneys, paired with the vergeboards and complex roofline with dormers, makes this one of the gems of Kennebunkport!

Moses Howard House // c.1794

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

This charming Federal style saltbox house was built around the turn of the 19th century for Moses Howard, a “shipmaster” who moved to Kennebunkport from Cohasset, Massachusetts in 1793. The house here is clapboard with a symmetrical facade and central chimney. A saltbox roof extends off the rear of the house. Moses Howard did not stay in Kennebunkport for long as he moved to Portland by 1812. The house was lovingly maintained for the next 200+years.

John Andrews Jr. House // c.1808

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

John Andrews Jr. (1747-1844) was born in Essex County, Massachusetts to John Andrews Sr., a church Deacon, merchant, and blacksmith. John Jr., was a fisherman and would later move to Arundel by 1783 (now named Kennebunkport) and built this stately Federal style residence in the village. The house was built sometime between 1783 and 1810, with my best estimate dating the house (at least in its current form) to around 1808 as the high-style entry is similar to what is seen in Asher Benjamin’s plan books of the early 19th century, like the American Builder’s Companion, which provided builders with plans for elevations, cornices, entrances and windows, and any other features of a house built at the time.

Dillingham House // c.1845

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

This perfect Greek Revival cape house sits on Pascal Avenue, the main street that cuts through the center of Rockport, Maine. The house dates to the 1840s or early 1850s and was owned by the Dillingham Family for a few generations. The original owner may have been Josiah Dillingham (1796-1861), a mariner and sea captain. Josiah died in 1861, and the property was inherited by his eldest son, Josiah Winslow Dillingham (1829-1895) who went by Winslow, seemingly to differentiate himself from his father of the same name and same profession. The Dillingham family home is a quintessential Greek Revival cape with central portico with Ionic columns and corner pilasters with full length entablature at the facade. In true Maine fashion, the side elevations are covered in weathered shingle siding.

Bailey Homestead // c.1815

Buildings of New England2 Comments

Located on a hill overlooking the Head Tide Village of Alna, Maine, this stately brick farmhouse has sat for roughly 200 years. According to old maps of the area, the property was occupied by the Bailey Family as far back as the land was surveyed in 1813. The property was owned by Ezra Bailey, who possibly built the house soon after as the village began to develop. By 1857, the property and its house were owned by I. H. Bailey, seemingly Ezra’s son, Isaac, who married his first cousin, Laura Palmer. The couple resided in the old homestead until they sold it in 1866, moving to Boston. The brick, Federal style house has a four bay facade with the entry door surrounded by a recessed arched relief. Above the door is a blind fan with sidelights.