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>Exhibits>Downeast Doorways
DOWN EAST DOORWAYSTHESE PHOTOGRAPHS, TAKEN BY GEORGE W. FRENCH FOR THE MAINE DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION BETWEEN 1941 AND 1949, WERE FOCUSED ON SOME OF THE MOST ELEGANT FRONT DOORS IN THE STATE OF MAINE. THE MAJORITY OF THESE HOMES WERE CONSTRUCTED IN THE FEDERAL STYLE OF AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE (1775 – 1830). FEDERAL ARCHITECTURE USUALLY FEATURED TWO WINDOWS ON EITHER SIDE OF THE DOOR, WITH FIVE WINDOWS ACROSS THE SECOND STORY OF THE FAÇADE. NEARLY ALL OF THE MANSIONS PICTURED HERE WERE BUILT BY WEALTHY SEA CAPTAINS AND MERCHANTS WHO WERE PROMINENT IN THE COASTAL SHIPPING TRADE. WHILE A FEW OF THESE STATELY DWELLINGS ARE STILL MAINTAINED AS PRIVATE HOMES, MOST ARE OPERATED TODAY AS BED-AND-BREAKFAST ESTABLISHMENTS, COUNTRY INNS, OR ARE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AS MUSEUMS.
LOCATION UNKNOWN CAN ANYONE TELL US WHERE THIS HOUSE IS LOCATED? WITH ITS SIMPLE IONIC COLUMNS CONTRASTING WITH THE INTRICATE CARVINGS AROUND THE DOOR, THIS HOUSE IS A SPLENDID EXAMPLE OF FEDERAL ARCHITECTURE.
ETCHED GLASS SIDELIGHTS FRYEBURG THE SIDELIGHTS ADD AN INTERESTING FEATURE TO THIS DOORWAY. THEY ARE REPEATED AGAIN IN THE WINDOW ABOVE THE DOOR.
PARSONSFIELD THERE IS ALSO A VERY NICE ANTIQUE LANTERN HANGING AT THE LEFT OF THE DOORWAY. GEORGE FRENCH GREW UP IN THE PARSONSFIELD - FRYEBURG AREA SO IT IS NOT SURPRISING THAT HE INCLUDED SOME HOMES IN WESTERN MAINE.
AN ELABORATELY CARVED DOORWAY WISCASSET WE SHOULD REMEMBER THAT DURING THE YEARS WHEN MOST OF THESE PHOTOGRAPHS WERE TAKEN, PEOPLE IN COASTAL TOWNS WERE RATHER JITTERY. THEY WERE CONCERNED ABOUT GERMAN SUBMARINES THAT WERE KNOWN TO BE NEARBY.
SYMETRICAL PERFECTION WISCASSET MANY OF THESE COASTAL HOMES HAD “WIDOW’S WALKS” IN THE CENTER OF THE ROOF, WHERE ANXIOUS WOMENFOLK COULD LOOK FOR THE RETURN OF VESSELS BEARING THEIR LOVED ONES. SEAFARING WAS A DANGEROUS TRADE AND OFTEN THE MEN NEVER RETURNED.
GRACEFUL SIMPLICITY THOMASTON THESE WERE THE YEARS WHEN SAILING SHIPS PLIED THE OCEANS OF THE WORLD, AND MANY OF THESE HOUSES WERE FURNISHED WITH CURIOS, CHINESE DINNER SETS AND OTHER MEMORABILIA FROM FARAWAY PLACES.
A DIFFERENT DOORWAY STYLE DAMARISCOTTA THE INTRICATELY CARVED TRELLIS MAY BE A LATER ADDITION. IT IS UNUSUAL FOR WHAT APPEARS TO BE A TYPICAL FEDERAL-STYLE HOME.
AN UNUSUAL DOORWAY WISCASSET THIS DWELLING WAS BUILT AS A DUPLEX, PERHAPS TO HOUSE THE IN-LAWS OR OTHER RELATIVES AS WELL AS THE OWNER AND HIS FAMILY. THE SEA CAPTAIN OR MERCHANT WHO BUILT THIS PLACE CERTAINLY DID NOT NEED TO CHARGE THE OTHER INHABITANTS RENT, UNLESS HE WAS PARTICULARLY MISERLY.
A GRACEFUL RESIDENCE THOMASTON SIMPLE CLASSICAL PILLARS FRAME THIS DOORWAY AND RISE STRAIGHT TO THE ROOFLINE. THOMASTON IS WELL- KNOWN FOR NUMEROUS SEA CAPTAINS’ HOMES LIKE THIS ONE.
A HOME IN WISCASSET THE TRELLIS THAT SURROUNDS THIS DOORWAY MAY BE A LATER ADDITION. OTHERWISE, THE VISIBLE EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THAT THE HOUSE IS A TYPICAL FEDERAL-STYLE STRUCTURE.
THE NICKLES – SORTWELL HOUSE WISCASSET THIS ELEGANT MANSION WAS BUILT IN 1807 BY CAPTAIN WILLIAM NICKELS. AT THE TIME IT WAS BUILT, LABOR WAS SO CHEAP THAT IT ONLY COST $14,000 DOLLARS TO CONSTRUCT. IT WAS PURCHASED LATER IN THE CENTURY BY ALVIN SORTWELL FOR USE AS A SUMMER HOME. IF YOU HAD FOLLOWED THE LITTLE DOG THROUGH THE FRONT DOOR, YOU WOULD HAVE DISCOVERED THE INTERIOR TO BE AS BEAUTIFUL AS THE EXTERIOR.
1832 HOME BLUE HILL THIS DOORWAY COULDN’T BE MORE INVITING. WOULDN’T YOU LIKE TO “SET A SPELL” IN THE ROCKING CHAIR AND ENJOY A NICE SUMMER BREEZE?
DOORWAY NORTH PARSONFIELD YOU CAN TELL THAT WORLD WAR II WAS RAGING WHEN YOU NOTICE THE SMALL FLAG WITH THREE STARS HANGING IN THE LOWER WINDOW ON THE LEFT. THESE STARS WERE PROVIDED TO FAMILIES OF SERVICEMEN BY THE NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF GOLD STAR MOTHERS. ACTIVE SERVICEMEN WERE INDICATED BY BLUE STARS; DECEASED MEMBERS OF THE MILITARY BY GOLD STARS. THE FOLKS WHO LIVED HERE HAD THREE MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY IN THE SERVICE.
THE SARAH ORNE JEWETT HOUSE SOUTH BERWICK SARAH ORNE JEWETT (1849 – 1909) WAS A NOTED NOVELIST AND SHORT STORY WRITER, PERHAPS BEST-KNOWN FOR HER NOVEL THE COUNTRY OF THE POINTED FIRS. HER FAMILY HAD OWNED THIS HOUSE SINCE 1819.
ANOTHER DWELLING IN WISCASSET ALTHOUGH THIS HOUSE SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN IN SOME DISREPAIR AT THE TIME THIS PHOTOGRAPH WAS TAKEN, THE DOORWAY HAS SOME UNUSUAL FEATURES. NOTE THE CIRCULAR PORTICO SUPPORTED BY FOUR COLUMNS INSTEAD OF THE USUAL TWO.
A WINDOW BOX GRACES THIS DOORWAY FRYEBURG MANY OF THESE HOUSES HAD ELLS, STABLES, CARRIAGE HOUSES AND OTHER OUTBUILDINGS THAT ARE NOT SHOWN IN THESE PHOTOGRAPHS.
THE RUGGLES HOUSE COLUMBIA FALLS THIS HOUSE WAS DESIGNED AND BUILT IN 1818 FOR THOMAS RUGGLES BY AARON SHERMAN OF MARSHFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS. REKNOWNED FOR THE “FLYING STAIRCASE” IN THE FRONT HALL, THE HOUSE ALSO CONTAINS MANY ORIGINAL FURNISHINGS THAT PASSED DOWN THROUGH GENERATIONS OF THE RUGGLES FAMILY.
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