Melville Walker House

Last updated
Melville Walker House
Melville Walker House, Kennebunkport ME.jpg
The Maine Stay Inn
USA Maine location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location34 Maine Street Kennebunkport, Maine
Coordinates 43°21′35.7582″N70°28′22.965″W / 43.359932833°N 70.47304583°W / 43.359932833; -70.47304583 Coordinates: 43°21′35.7582″N70°28′22.965″W / 43.359932833°N 70.47304583°W / 43.359932833; -70.47304583
Builtc. 1860
ArchitectMelville Walker
Architectural style Italianate architecture
NRHP reference No. 76000121 [1]
Added to NRHPMay 6, 1976

The Melville Walker House is an inn on Maine Street in the Kennebunkport Historic District in Kennebunkport, Maine. The inn was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 6, 1976. It is now known as the Maine Stay Inn.

Contents

History

The Melville Walker House was built as a private residence in 1860 by merchant sea captain Melville Walker on land provided to him by his father, William H. Walker. Captain Walker transferred the title to his wife, Abbie, following their marriage.

The property then passed to brother-in-law, Hiram Fairfield on October 4, 1876, who in turn left it to his wife, Adelaide (Melville's sister), and their son Harry. 31 years later in 1891, the property passed from the founding family for the first time when Adelaide sold it to the Heuvelman family. The Heuvelmans held the property until 1899, at which time they sold it to George Little, an executive with the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. [2] The Society's records show that electric lights were installed in 1905 at the Little's on Maine Street, then known as “The Maples.”

Title to the house and property then passed to Senator Wickes of New York in 1924. The next owners, the Eldridge family, gave the property its current name “The Maine Stay” and opened their guest house. The first cottage was added to the property in 1954. The inn remained under the Eldridge ownership until 1970 when it was sold to the Taylor-Milligan family. They sold The Maine Stay to Max and Jane Andrews in 1976. Jacques and Carol Gagnon purchased the house in 1983 and turned it into a bed and breakfast. In April 1989, the title passed to Carol and Lindsay Copeland who sold it to George and Janice Yankowski in 2002. On April 30, 2008, Janice and George sold the inn to Judi and Walter Hauer. [3]

Design

The design of the main house is considered to be square-block Italianate architecture, contoured in a low-hip roof design, with additions and renovations added over the years. [4] In the early 1900s, Queen Anne style architecture was introduced to the inn with the construction of the suspended spiral partially flying staircase, starburst crystal glass windows, ornately carved mantels and moldings, and additions of bay windows and the wrap-around porch.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kennebunkport, Maine</span> Town in the state of Maine, United States

Kennebunkport is a resort town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,629 people at the 2020 census. It is part of the Portland–South Portland–Biddeford metropolitan statistical area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walker's Point Estate</span> Building complex

Walker's Point Estate is the summer retreat of the Bush family, in the town of Kennebunkport, Maine. It lies along the Atlantic Ocean in the northeast United States, on Walker's Point. The estate served as the Summer White House of George H. W. Bush, the 41st President of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arrowhead (Herman Melville House)</span> Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

Arrowhead, also known as the Herman Melville House, is a historic house museum in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. It was the home of American author Herman Melville during his most productive years, 1850–1863. Here, Melville wrote some of his major works: the novels Moby-Dick, Pierre, The Confidence-Man, and Israel Potter; The Piazza Tales ; and magazine stories such as "I and My Chimney".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Calvin Stevens</span> American architect

John Calvin Stevens was an American architect who worked in the Shingle Style, in which he was a major innovator, and the Colonial Revival style. He designed more than 1,000 buildings in the state of Maine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elm Court (Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts)</span> Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

Elm Court is a former Vanderbilt mansion located on Old Stockbridge Road, straddling the town line between Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and until July 2012 was owned and operated as a hotel by descendants of the original owners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gooding House and Tavern</span> Historic house in Ohio, United States

The Gooding House and Tavern has a long and storied history that begins with its genesis as the home of George B. Gooding, who amassed a large amount of farmland and used his home as a stagecoach stop and tavern during the earliest years of Delaware County's development. Also known as "Halfway House" and the "Gooding Tavern," this property was well situated on what is now U.S. Route 23 previously known as "Mud Pike", about halfway between the town of Worthington, Ohio on the south and the town of Delaware, Ohio on the north. Owned by the Gooding family for 175 years, this farmstead and tavern played an important role in the commercial development of Orange Township and Delaware County during the 19th century and early 20th century. The property demonstrates the broad pattern of Ohio's transportation-related commerce in the early 19th century, when inns and taverns were built to accommodate and sustain the traveler.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas A. Beach House</span> Historic house in Illinois, United States

The Thomas A. Beach House is a historic home located in Fairbury, Illinois, United States. Built in 1872, it is a fine example of Italianate architecture, and has been compared with a building considered a landmark example of the style. The house was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Longfield (Bristol, Rhode Island)</span> Historic house in Bristol, Rhode Island, US

Longfield is an historic house at 1200 Hope Street in Bristol, Rhode Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kennebunkport Historic District</span> Historic district in Maine, United States

The Kennebunkport Historic District encompasses most of the village center of Kennebunkport, Maine. It includes the town's highest concentration of historic architecture, with many buildings from the late 18th and early 19th century, when Kennebunkport was at its height as a shipping and shipbuilding center. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 6, 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maplewood Farm (South Windham, Maine)</span> Historic house in Maine, United States

Maplewood Farm, also known as the Anderson-Lord House, is an historic farm property on River Road in South Windham, Maine, United States. The 135-acre (55 ha) farm has been held in the same family since 1738, and features an architecturally distinctive Gothic Revival main house. It is also notable as a summer estate of John Anderson, a prominent mid-19th century Maine politician, and of his son John Farwell Anderson, a noted civil engineer and agriculturalist. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cottage Home Historic District</span> Historic district in Indiana, United States

The Cottage Home Historic District is a historic district and neighborhood located on the near east side of Indianapolis, Indiana. A small portion of Cottage Home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places while a larger area is listed on the state and local levels. Known for its preponderance of "cottage-style" homes built with strong Victorian influences, Cottage Home has historically been a working class neighborhood. Numerous industrial buildings are also scattered throughout the district, providing a base of economic activity. Today, however, many of these buildings are vacant, providing a special challenge to preservation and urban renewal efforts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silver Row</span> United States historic place

Silver Row is a historic site located in Provo, Utah. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastholme</span> United States historic place

The Eastholme, also known as Eastholme of the Rockies, is a historic building in Cascade, near Colorado Springs, Colorado. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dougherty Mission House</span> Historic house in Michigan, United States

The Dougherty Mission House is a house located at 18459 Mission Road in Peninsula Township, Michigan. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1956 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011. The house was certainly one of the first frame buildings constructed in Grand Traverse County, and is thought to be the first post and beam house constructed in Michigan's lower peninsula north of Grand Rapids.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Arundel Summer Colony Historic District</span> Historic district in Maine, United States

The Cape Arundel Summer Colony Historic District encompasses an enclave of large summer estates on the coast of Kennebunkport, Maine. The area was developed in the late 19th and early 20th century as a resort area for the wealthy of the northeastern United States. It notably includes the Kennebunk River Club and Walkers Point, the location of the Bush compound, which has a Shingle-style house built in 1903. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capt. Nathaniel Lord Mansion</span> Historic house in Maine, United States

The Captain Nathaniel Lord Mansion is a historic house at 6 Pleasant Street in the village center of Kennebunkport, Maine. Built in 1812 by a wealthy shipowner, it is a fine example of Federal period architecture, which remained in the same family until 1972. It is now a bed and breakfast called The Captain Lord Mansion, Inn & Spa. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huston House</span> Historic house in Maine, United States

The Huston House is a historic house at 220 Bristol Road in Damariscotta, Maine. Built in 1853, it is a rare statewide example of a large Greek Revival house with a longitudinal temple front. It now serves as home to the Down Easter Inn, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">S. Walker's Hotel</span> United States historic place

S. Walker's Hotel, also known as the Brick Walker Tavern, is a former hotel/tavern located at 11705 US-12 in Cambridge Township, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. The hotel is notable for its brick exterior and three-story height - most other surviving early brick tavern/hotel buildings in Michigan are two-story frame structures. The building is currently operated as an event space known as the "Brick Walker Tavern."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivy Cottage (West Whiteland Township, Pennsylvania)</span> Historic house in Pennsylvania, United States

Ivy Cottage is a historic residence located in Exton, a census-designated place in West Whiteland Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. Built in 1799 by politician and soldier Richard Thomas, the cottage started out as a plain stone farmhouse in the double-door Georgian style. It underwent extensive renovations and embellishments in the Queen Anne style in 1881 followed by an award-winning restoration in 2019. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 9, 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dock Square (Kennebunkport)</span> Public square in Kennebunkport, Maine

Dock Square is a public square in Kennebunkport, Maine, United States. It stands at the intersections of Western Avenue, Spring Street and Ocean Avenue and extends southwest to the Mathew J. Lanigan Bridge separating Kennebunkport from Kennebunk.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. Kennebunkport Historical Society, http://www.kporthistory.org/ Archived 2008-05-02 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Maine Stay Inn & Cottages
  4. iLoveInns, http://www.iloveinns.com/maine-stay-inn-cottages-at-the-melville-walker-house-id8072.html

Official website