Interior of a historic wood-paneled house showing a wooden staircase beside an open door leading to a room with a bookshelf, chest of drawers, and oval braided rugs on the floor.

Jonathan Fisher House

Photo: Jonathan Fisher House

Tucked along the scenic Blue Hill coast stands a remarkable Federal style plank house, largely designed and built by one man: Jonathan Fisher. Not only was he the first Congregational minister of Blue Hill, but he was also a writer, artist, scientist, farmer – a true renaissance man. He helped found the Bangor Theological Seminary, painted vivid watercolors, and built his own press on which he made copies of his engravings.

Raised in Massachusetts, his intellectual gifts prompted his family to send him to Harvard in 1788. In 1796 he made his way to Blue Hill and settled with his wife, Dolly. By 1810 the family, now including ten children, had outgrown their small home, and construction on the house we know today began.

When you visit today you can see Fisher’s remarkable design and craftsmanship in addition to furniture he built, his artwork, and his extensive library. This 1814-1818 home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is an Affiliate Member of the Historic Artists’ Homes and Studios, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Jonathan Fisher Homestead

A faded, wide-angle historic photograph depicting a homestead with a two-story house covered in vines on the left and a barn to the right. Several people dressed in late 19th-century attire stand and sit on the lawn in front of a dense, low hedge that separates the buildings from a dirt pathway. — This 1888 photo of the Fisher homestead with four family members. From L are: Jonathan & Dolly Fisher's son Willard; Willard's daughter Mary and son Frederick; and Willard's niece Sarah Stevens Hinckley. Photo: Jonathan Fisher House.

A yellow colonial-style farmhouse with a central brick chimney and gray shingle roof. — Jonathan Fisher House today. Photo: Jonathan Fisher House.

Interior of a historic house showing a weathered wood-paneled door open to a room with a portrait of a man hanging on the wall, a small candle stand, and a rush-seated wooden chair. — Interior of the house featuring a self-portrait by Jonathan Fisher. Photo: Jonathan Fisher House.

A black and white photograph of a historic, two-story clapboard house partially obscured by large leafy trees on either side. The house features a prominent central chimney, multi-pane windows, a small enclosed front entryway porch, and text along the bottom reading "THE JONATHAN FISHER HOME - BLUEHILL, MAINE B315". — An Eastern Illustrating Co postcard: "The Jonathan Fisher Home, Bluehill, Maine." Photo: Penobscot Marine Museum.

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