Ingalls House (Mercer, Maine) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Ingalls House
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 Location in Maine
Location in the United States
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| Location | Main St., Mercer, Maine |
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| Area | 2 acres (0.81 ha) |
| Built | 1835 |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 75000110 |
| Added to NRHP | June 5, 1975 |
The Ingalls House is a really old and special home located on Main Street in Mercer, Maine. It was built around 1835-1837. This house is a great example of Greek Revival architecture, which was a popular style back then. What makes it extra cool is that it used stoves for heating. This was very advanced for its time!
The house was built by Ebenezer Thatcher. His wife, Julia, was the daughter of American Revolutionary War General Henry Knox. Later, a well-known local businessman named Hannibal Ingalls owned the house for many years. Because of its history and unique style, the Ingalls House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. This is a list of important places in the United States.
Contents
What Does the Ingalls House Look Like?
The Ingalls House stands on the south side of Main Street. It is a 2+1⁄2-story house made of wood. It has a roof that slopes down on two sides, called a gable roof. The outside walls are covered with clapboard siding. The house sits on a strong foundation made of granite.
Outside Features
The front of the house faces north. It has a classic look with five windows and a door in the middle. This style was very common in the 1700s. The front door has narrow windows on each side. It is framed with simple decorations typical of the Greek Revival style.
A porch with a flat roof stretches across the entire front of the house. This porch is held up by round, fluted (grooved) columns. These columns are called Doric columns. The decorative band above the columns, called an entablature, goes all the way around the sides of the porch. This makes the sides look like they have a triangular top, or pediment. The main roof also has these triangular shapes on its ends. Simple flat columns, called pilasters, are at the corners of the house.
Inside the House
Inside, the Ingalls House has a common layout. There is a central hallway with rooms on either side. The wooden decorations inside are simple but elegant, also in the Greek Revival style.
The most interesting part of the house's design is its heating system. When it was built, it was made for heating with stoves, not open fireplaces. This was a very modern choice for central Maine back then. Many houses in the area still used fireplaces. The original stoves are no longer there. The house's heating system was updated in the 1900s.
Who Lived in the Ingalls House?
The Ingalls House was built between 1835 and 1837. The person who built it was Ebenezer Thatcher. His wife, Julia, had a famous father. She was the daughter of Henry Knox, a general who fought in the American Revolutionary War. General Knox was also a very important landowner in Maine.
Later in the 1800s, the house became home to Hannibal Ingalls. He was a well-known businessman in the local area. The house is named after him because his family owned it for many years.
