Timber Point, Biddeford, York County, 1931-1954

Date listed:

Download
Criterion C: ArchitectureLocal Significance

The Charles and Louise Parsons Ewing estate, commonly known as "Timber Point," is significant under National Register Criterion C as it embodies the distinctive characteristics of its type and period, illustrating an impressive interpretation of the Maine coastal summer estate which not only combined contemporary trends but the personal taste of the designer, owner, and master architect, Charles Ewing and approached with an eye of a practicing artist with an appreciation of European and American traditions. At Timber Point, Charles Ewing established an estate in the style of those established during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Timber Point retains much of its architectural integrity and remains relatively unaltered from the time of construction. Fourteen contributing resources are located on the Timber Point property including ten buildings: the main house, a garage, a laundry house, a greenhouse/potting shed, a paint shed, a bath house and boat house, a pool changing house, a truck garage, and a hose shed as well as four structures: a tennis court, a concrete swimming pool, pool pump footings, the remains of a lifeboat. There are two non-contributing structures: a seawall and the foundation footings of an Alfred Shaker village barn moved to the property from Alfred in 1938 and more recently relocated off the estate. The main house, garage, and laundry clearly represent the work of a master and the contributing structures help to illustrate the range of outbuildings that comprise an unusually good example of a period summer estate. Although several of the associated outbuildings and structures are deteriorated or in ruins, taken together they represent a full picture of a summer estate. The district conveys its historic associations and possesses integrity of location, design, setting, materials, and workmanship. The period of significance for the district begins in 1931 when the earliest extant structures were constructed and extends to 1954, the year of Charles Ewing's death.