Castle Tucker

Description

Built on the top of a hill overlooking the Sheepscot River, Castle Tucker presents a vivid record of Wiscasset history. Judge Silas Lee built this Federal-style mansion at the peak of prosperity, when the town was the busiest port east of Boston. Lee's death in 1814, combined with the stunning effect of the Jefferson Embargo, forced his widow to sell. The house passed through a succession of hands until 1858, when Captain Richard Tucker, scion of a Wiscasset shipping family, bought the property, updated the interiors, and added a dramatic two-story porch to the front. Shortly after, he brought a shipload of fashionable furnishings from Boston and moved in with his young bride. The couple raised five children here, while Captain Tucker oversaw various business ventures including the wharves and iron foundry just below the house. In 1871, however, his fortunes collapsed. Renovations and lighthearted family entertainments gave way to subsistence farming and taking in paying guests. After Tucker's death, his daughter Jane returned from New York, bringing with her a passion for Japanese and exotic decoration. Fortunately, she, and later her niece, took an avid interest in preserving the house and contents, making few changes to the decorating schemes. Their dedication preserved Castle Tucker much as it appeared in the late 19th century.

The house offers tours and educational and recreational programs.

Marrett House

Description

In 1796, young Daniel Marrett, a recent Harvard graduate, moved to Standish to become the town parson. The grand house he purchased reflected his status as the community's leading citizen. Over the years, his children and grandchildren enlarged and updated the house, but left unchanged many furnishings and interior arrangements as relics of the past. They preserved the southwest parlor exactly as it had appeared on the occasion of a family wedding in 1847. In 1889, the family celebrated the house's centennial by refurbishing several of the rooms with reproduction heirloom wallpapers and bed hangings. Today, the visitor can see the layering of eras and tastes that occurs when a family resides in one house for three generations. The Marrett sisters' extensive perennial garden, which they laid out in the 1920s and 1930s, has been restored.

The house offers tours and educational and recreational programs.

Roseland Cottage

Description

Roseland Cottage depicts the summer life of a prosperous family in mid 19th-century America. Built in 1846 in the newly fashionable Gothic Revival style, the house provided a seasonal escape from a more formal city existence for Henry Chandler Bowen and his family. Bowen, a Woodstock native, made his fortune in New York and became an active abolitionist, Congregationalist, and Republican.

The cottage offers tours and educational and recreational programs.

Double Trouble State Park and Historic Village [NJ]

Description

Originally a cranberry farm and packing plant, the former company town called Double Trouble is a window into past and current industries in the Pinelands. The Double Trouble Company was formed to sell timber, millwork products, and cranberries. A succession of sawmills has been on site since the mid-1700s. The village consists of cranberry bogs and 14 original historic structures dating from the late 19th century through the early 20th century including a general store, a schoolhouse and cottages.

The site offers tours.

Casa del Herrero [CA]

Description

The 1925 Casa del Herrero, meaning "house of the blacksmith," is a Spanish Colonial-style estate. The home is furnished with pieces original to the site; and contains drawings, sketchbooks, horticultural records, antiques, and books, which once belonged to the family in residence. The grounds contain extensive gardens. During the 1920s, a new form of distinctive California landscape design inspired by Spanish land and gardens rose to prominence. While the site name includes the word "blacksmith," the owner George Fox Steedman was an engineer by trade and a silversmith for enjoyment.

The site offers period rooms; gardens; guided tours of the residence, workshop, and gardens; and guided group tours. Tours are by reservation only, and all participating children must be at least 10 years of age. With the exception of holiday tours, tours are available between mid-February and mid-November only.

Boulder Historical Society [CO]

Description

"The Boulder Historical Society and Museum was founded in 1944 by A.A. 'Gov' Paddock, then publisher of the Boulder Daily Camera. The organization, now called the Boulder History Museum, is located in the historic landmark Harbeck-Bergheim House on University Hill in Boulder, Colorado. A private-not-for-profit organization, it is governed by a board of trustees of 18 community leaders and has a staff of five. Its mission is to foster understanding and appreciation for the unique history of the Boulder region and the resourceful, innovative people who have chosen to live here - a living history that grows with each new generation."

Van Liew Suydam House

Description

"Standing atop the hill where South Middlebush and Blackwells Mills Roads meet, with a spectacular view of the Franklin countryside, fields and woods, of the Six-Mile Run Valley, the sunsets may have been one reason Peter Van Liew settled on this site back in the 1700's, and why Joseph Suydam later built part of the house that is seen today. The newest and largest portion of the house was built in 1875. Although the most recent long term owner of the house was named French, the house has been named
after its two founders builders, Van Liew-Suydam.The ornate woodworking on the porch and walls clearly demonstrates a perfect example of the architecture of a 19th century Victorian farmhouse. "

The Milton House Museum

Description

"Pioneer, Joseph Goodrich, came to Prairie du Lac, as Milton was called then, in 1838, looking for a better place for his family to live. He chose prairie land at the intersection of two Indian trails and built a small frame home. In the years to come, this prairie crossroads became heavily traveled and this seemed a good place for an inn. All were welcome under Joseph's roof, but not all of his guests traveled by stagecoach or train. Some were spirited into his care by the Underground Railroad.

Visit us--have a look back into the past."

Waterville Historical Society [ME]

Description

"The Redington Museum offers a comprehensive and charming view of life in Waterville during the past two centuries. Fascinating collections of furniture, accessories, household artifacts, toys, tools, and weapons as well as historical papers and diaries, are located in an elegant Federal-style home at 62 Silver Street. The museum is a civic treasure, maintained and supported with pride by the Waterville Historical Society. Waterville has had a long and varied history of commerce, agriculture, and manufacturing that in turn supported a lively community bound together by educational institutions, the arts, sports, politics, social and recreational activities. A visit to the Redington Museum affords accurate and engaging insights into the lives of the people who lived here."