William Sewall House

Last updated
William Sewall House
SewallHouseIslandFallsME.jpg
Photograph c. 1910
USA Maine location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location1027 Crystal Rd., Island Falls, Maine
Coordinates 46°0′30″N68°16′11″W / 46.00833°N 68.26972°W / 46.00833; -68.26972
Area0.3 acres (0.12 ha)
Built1865 (1865)
ArchitectOsgood Pingree
Architectural styleGreek Revival
NRHP reference No. 82000740 [1]
Added to NRHPApril 12, 1982

The William Sewall House is a historic house at 1027 Crystal Road in Island Falls, Maine. Built in 1865, it is a well-preserved example of vernacular Greek Revival style in a rural setting. The house is notable as the longtime home of a second-generation resident of the community, William Wingate Sewall, who had a long and enduring friendship with Theodore Roosevelt, a regular guest until 1878. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. [1] It is still in the hands of Sewall descendants, operated as a yoga retreat center.

Contents

Description and history

The Sewall House is located on the north side of Crystal Road (Maine State Route 159) just west of the Island Falls Post Office in the village center. It is a 2+12-story wood-frame structure, three bays wide, with a side-gable roof, twin interior chimneys, and clapboard siding. A single-story hip-roofed porch extends across the south-facing front and around the right side, supported by square posts. The front entrance is flanked by sidelight windows and pilasters. A two-bay two-story garage extends to the right, connecting the main house to a carriage barn. [2]

The house in 2015 IslandFallsME WilliamSewallHouse.jpg
The house in 2015

One of the first settlers of the town of Island Falls was Levi Sewall, who arrived in 1842. His tenth child, William Wingate Sewall, was born in 1845, and was the community's first native-born resident. The younger Sewall made his home in the town for his entire life, working on Maine's logging drives until he was 75. This house was built for Sewall by Osgood Pingree, a neighbor. Sewall's house was a well-known stop for hunters who worked and recreated in the Maine woods. In 1872 Theodore Roosevelt, then a somewhat sickly young man, paid a visit, and established a friendship with Sewall that lasted until Roosevelt's death in 1919. Roosevelt last visited Sewall in Maine in 1878, but invited him on one of his expeditions into the Dakota Territory in 1884. [2] Roosevelt stayed in the house three different times. [3]

Yoga retreat

The house remains in the hands of Sewall's descendants. Since 1997 the house has been operated by yoga instructor Donna Amrita Davidge as a yoga retreat center. Davidge is a great-granddaughter of Sewall. The menu at the yoga retreat is vegetarian and vegan. Specific yoga retreats are offered for groups such as women, writers, and artists. [3] In 2023, USA Today named Sewall House #2 on the list of 10 Best Yoga Retreats in the US. [4] The yoga retreat operates from May through October. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

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

Kittery is a town in York County, Maine, United States, and the oldest incorporated town in Maine. Home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Seavey's Island, Kittery includes Badger's Island, the seaside district of Kittery Point, and part of the Isles of Shoals. The southernmost town in the state, it is a tourist destination known for its many outlet stores.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sagamore Hill</span> Estate in Cove Neck, New York

Sagamore Hill was the home of the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, from 1885 until his death in 1919. It is located in Cove Neck, New York, near Oyster Bay on the North Shore of Long Island, 25 miles (40 km) east of Manhattan. It is now the Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, which includes the Theodore Roosevelt Museum in a later building on the grounds.

Lighthouse Hill is the name of a hill, and the neighborhood situated thereon, in the New York City borough of Staten Island. Lighthouse Hill is situated to the north of Richmondtown, south of Todt Hill, and west of Grant City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site</span> Historic building in Manhattan, New York

Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site is a recreated brownstone at 28 East 20th Street, between Broadway and Park Avenue South, in the Flatiron District of Manhattan, New York City. It is a replica of the birthplace and childhood home of 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt.

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

Pennellville Historic District is a residential district located in Brunswick, Maine. To locals, the neighborhood is known simply as "Pennellville."

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

The Sarah Orne Jewett House is a historic house museum at 5 Portland Street in South Berwick, Maine, United States. The house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1991 for its lifelong association with the American author Sarah Orne Jewett (1849–1909), whose influential work exemplified regional writing of the late 19th century. The house, built in 1774, is a high-quality example of late Georgian architecture. It is now owned by Historic New England, and is open for tours every weekend between June and October, and two Saturdays per month the rest of the year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foster–Payne House</span> Historic house in Rhode Island, United States

The Foster–Payne House is a historic house at 25 Belmont Street in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Built in 1878, the two-story multi-gabled house is distinguished by its clapboarded and exterior woodwork and opulent parlors in the interior. The property also has a matching carriagehouse with gable roof and cupola. The house was originally constructed and owned by Theodore Waters Foster, but it was sold to George W. Payne in 1882. The Foster–Payne House is architecturally significant as a well-designed and well-preserved late 19th century suburban residence. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

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

The Norlands is a historic building on Norlands Road in Livermore, Maine, United States. It was owned by Israel Washburn and his descendants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sewall-Scripture House</span> Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The Sewall-Scripture House, is a historic house museum in Rockport, Massachusetts that is owned by the Sandy Bay Historical Society. The Sewall Scripture Museum features antiques, period artifacts and items of local history. The Federal style building, the only house in Rockport built out of native granite, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

The Oyster Bay History Walk is a path through downtown Oyster Bay, New York that leads the walker to 30 historic sites. It is a 1-mile loop and is the first certified American Heart Association Start! Walking Path on Long Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winter Harbor Light</span> Lighthouse in Maine, US

Winter Harbor Light is a lighthouse in Winter Harbor, Maine. It is located on Mark Island, a small island between the Schoodic Peninsula and Turtle Island, near the entry to the town's main harbor. The light was built in 1856 and was deactivated in 1933; it is no longer an aid to navigation, and is privately owned. The light was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Winter Harbor Light Station on February 1, 1988.

Joseph Sewall was an American politician and businessperson. He served four terms as President of the Maine Senate (1975–1982), which made him at that time the longest serving Senate President in Maine history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elkhorn Ranch</span> United States historic center

The Elkhorn Ranch was established by Theodore Roosevelt on the banks of the Little Missouri River 35 miles north of Medora, North Dakota in the summer of 1884. Roosevelt hired Bill Sewall and Wilmot Dow, two Maine woodsmen, to run the ranch. Sewall and Dow built the ranch house, "a long, low house of logs," in the winter of 1884–1885.

The Adam-Derby House is a notable 19th-century house, designed in the Queen Anne style, located at 166 Lexington Avenue in Oyster Bay, Nassau County, New York.

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

Columbia House, also known as Gowen Wilson Tavern, is a historic house and hotel on Main Street in Columbia Falls, Maine. Probably built about 1834, it was for many years the town's only hotel, apparently closing about 1882. It is a locally important example of transitional Federal-Greek Revival architecture, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Island Falls Opera House</span> United States historic place

The Island Falls Opera House is a historic multipurpose building at the junction of Old Patten Road, Burleigh Street and Sewall Street in the center of the small town of Island Falls, Maine. Built in 1894, the building included retail, performance, and residential spaces, and is a type of building that was once common and is now rare in rural Maine. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. Until recently the building sat vacant and unused. Since the sale of the building in December 2020, the Opera House has seen much cleanup and repair activity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eighth Maine Regiment Memorial</span> United States historic place

The Eighth Maine Regiment Memorial, now the 8th Maine Lodge, is a historic summer fraternal meeting house at 13 Eighth Maine Avenue on Peaks Island, an island neighborhood of Portland, Maine. Built in 1891 as a reunion site for veterans of the American Civil War 8th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment, it is a fine example of Shingle style architecture, and an important work of the local architectural firm of Fasset and Tompson. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006, and presently operates as a summer lodge and museum, with rooms rented to the public.

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

The Peabody-Fitch House, also known as Narramissic Farm, is a historic farm property on Ingalls Road in Bridgton, Maine. It is a well-preserved late 18th to early 19th century farmstead, now owned and operated by the local historical society as a museum property. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

The Murch Family House is a historic house on Calderwood Neck in Vinalhaven, Maine. Built in 1855, it is the only granite house in a community long known for its granite quarries, and one of a relatively small number of documented stone houses in the state. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juniper Hill Farm-Maxwell Evarts House</span> Historic house in Vermont, United States

Juniper Hill Farm, also known historically as Juniper Hill Inn and the Maxwell Evarts House, is a historic estate and mansion house on Juniper Hill Road in Windsor, Vermont. Built in 1902 by Maxwell Evarts, it is a large and elaborate example of Colonial Revival architecture. Evarts was a prominent New York lawyer, who played host to two presidents of the United States here. The property has seen a variety of commercial uses since the death of Evarts' son in 1936. In 2016, it reopened as the Windsor Mansion Inn with new owners. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. 1 2 "NRHP nomination for William Sewall House". National Park Service. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
  3. 1 2 Kamila, Avery Yale (2019-07-07). "Looking for some R&R (&V)? These 3 Maine lodging spots offer vegan food". Press Herald. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  4. "A New England yoga retreat ranked the second best in the U.S." www.boston.com. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  5. "Seven Gorgeous New England Wellness Retreats". Boston Magazine. 2019-07-11. Retrieved 2023-04-25.