We try to keep this list of historic house museums for Maine current, but it is best to check directly with the museums for their hours and other information.
If you know of a historic house museum not in our list, please submit it.
If you are the director of a museum in our listings and you would like to claim your listing so you are able to maintain your listing yourself, please email us at info@vpa.org and we will set you up.
Built in 1807 and in need of updating at the time the Tuckers moved in, the house was redecorated and furnished to satisfy modern Victorian taste and sensibilities. With a reversal of fortune that came at the end of the nineteenth century, the family was forced to take in summer boarders in order to survive. Due to limited financial… Read More
Built in 1813, this fine Federal-style house with Rufus Porter School wall murals was long the home of Dr. Moses Mason, physician and U.S. Congressman, and his wife, Agnes Straw. The front portion of the Mason House contains nine period rooms furnished to reflect the era of the Mason's occupancy (1813-1869). Here one will see some of the finest… Read More
Museum admission includes the Farnsworth Homestead which is next door and is an example of Greek Revival architecture. Built in 1850, it contains many of the original family furnishings. The museum also owns the Olson House. Painter Andrew Wyeth created many of his best-loved works at the Olson House, the home of Christina Olson and her brother Alvaro. Christina's… Read More
Built in 1810, the Nathan Gates House is home to the Machiasport Historical Society. The museum contains an extensive collection of old photographs, period furniture, housewares and other memorabilia. There is also a genealogical library. Read More
Shipping merchant Jonathan Hamilton built this striking Georgian mansion c. 1785. Its picturesque situation on a bluff overlooking the Salmon Falls River made it an ideal location for Hamilton’s shipping business and, more than a hundred years later, for the summer retreat of Emily Tyson and her stepdaughter Elise. Read More
Jonathan Fisher (1768-1847) was the first settled Congregational minister of the small village of Blue Hill, Maine. Fisher was also an artist, farmer, scientist, mathematician, surveyor, and writer of prose and poetry. Today, at the charming homestead he designed in 1814 for his growing family, you will see the life’s work of this ‘Versatile Yankee’. Read More
The museum is the adult home of Joshua L. Chamberlain and his family. Chamberlain was the hero of Little Round Top at Gettysburg during the Civil War, Governor of Maine, and President of Bowdoin College. Guided tours explore Chamberlain’s life, family and career. Read More
In 1796, young Daniel Marrett, a recent Harvard graduate, moved to Standish, Maine, to become the town minister. He purchased the most imposing house in town to reflect his status as the community's leading citizen. Three generations of the Marrett family remained in the house for nearly one hundred and fifty years. Read More
Offering thirty-seven period room settings and several galleries housed throughout nine historic museum buildings, the Museums of Old York showcases a wealth of early New England art, architecture, and decorative arts. The exhibits focus on the stories of southern Maine's men, women, and children and the world they created and lived in from the earliest settlement in the 1600s… Read More
Neal Dow was one of the great men of the reform movement of the nineteenth century. The late Federal style mansion was built in 1829 for the occupancy of Neal Dow and his bride, Maria Cornelia Durant Maynard. The residence was a center of political and humanitarian activity. From here the zealous reformer set out on countless journeys throughout… Read More
Located on Wiscasset's Main Street, the Nickels-Sortwell House is one of the region's finest examples of high Federal-style architecture. Built by successful ship owner Captain William Nickels, the house epitomizes the brief period when shipbuilding and the maritime trade brought wealth and sophisticated tastes to this coastal Maine village. Read More
Writer Sarah Orne Jewett (1849-1909) spent much of her life in this stately Georgian residence, owned by her family since 1819. Jewett drew on the house for inspiration for her novel Deephaven and often wrote at the desk in the upper hall overlooking the active town center. Read More
The Sayward-Wheeler House overlooks the York River, which was ideal for shipping merchant Jonathan Sayward, who purchased the house in 1720. In addition to being a successful businessman, Sayward was a judge and leading citizen in York. He enjoyed great community respect, although his Loyalist views were in the minority during the years leading up to the American Revolution. Read More
The Skolfield-Whittier House has a unique and wondrous story. Two brothers whose family made its fortune building ships and freighting goods around the world completed it between 1858 and 1862. Each brother lived on one side of this semi-detached structure. One half of the house was eventually sold off to a succession of owners, the last of which is… Read More
Charming and intimate, yet unassuming, a visit to Birdsacre is a unique and meaningful experience, perfect for children and adults, outdoors enthusiasts, bird lovers, and history buffs. Here you will hear the charming tales of a prominent family that bore a brilliant Pioneer Ornithologist, and be dazzled by hawks and owls set within a park-like sanctuary. Read More
Tate House was built in 1755 for Captain George Tate (1700-1794) and his family, which had recently arrived in the Colonies from Britain. With its clapboards still unpainted, Tate House is one of two residences in Maine with an unusual indented gambrel roof. As the only pre-Revolutionary home in Greater Portland that is open to the public, the impressive… Read More
Four early 19th century commercial buildings and the 1803 Taylor-Barry House comprise this museum. Read More
Built by John Cameron circa 1810, the central building remained in the Cameron family for 100 years. They were a family of fishermen. One year their vessels flew the “high line”, signifying that they had taken more fish than any other Southport family. Read More
The birthplace of opera singer Lillian Nordica, whose pure, strong voice brought her world renown. Displays present her costumes, stage jewelry, career mementos and original 19th-century furnishings. Read More
Artist, musician, teacher, inventor and publisher, Rufus Porter (1792-1884) thought well ahead of his time. His artistic life began as a painter of miniature portraits, then came his famous wall murals of the mountain, farm and lake landscapes around Bridgton, his childhood home, and Portland Harbor.The Museum is the only entity devoted to his work and displays his 1828… Read More
The Ruggles House, designed by housewright Aaron S. Sherman of Marshfield, Massachusetts, was built 1818-1820 for Judge Thomas Ruggles, a wealthy lumber dealer, postmaster, captain of the local militia and Justice of the Court of Sessions for Washington County. This particularly lovely example of Adamesque style Federal period architecture is remarkable for its location as well as its survival. Read More
Also known as the Morse-Libby House, the Mansion was built between 1858 and 1860 as a summer home for Ruggles Sylvester Morse, a Maine native who made his fortune in New Orleans as the proprietor of luxury hotels. Read More
The Washburn-Norlands Living History Center is a living museum and working farmstead operating under methods of the 1800s. The entire estate is has been preserved to maintain its original splendor created by the Washburn Family. There are five original buildings including the Mansion, Library, School House, Meeting House and Carriage House. Read More
1853 mansion with original furnishings and period French wallpaper. This was the home of the Perkins and Nott families and portrays life of an affluent family during Kennebunkport's hey day as a working port. Read More
The Wilson Museum was founded by Dr. John Howard Wilson. Dr. Wilson spent most of his youth in Philadelphia, Brooklyn, NY and Nantucket, he came first to Castine with his mother, Cassine Cartwright Wilson, in 1891. By 1906 Dr. Wilson had received from Columbia University, a Ph.D. in geology, was married and had a summer home on Nautilus Island,… Read More
Woodlawn is a 180-acre historic estate located a quarter mile from downtown Ellsworth, Maine. Once home to three generations of the Black family, it is now treasured for its historic house museum, its gardens, and its public park. Visitors can explore a superb historic house, stroll through beautiful gardens, play croquet, hike on pristine trails, and much more. Read More