McLaughlin House and Garden facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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McLaughlin House and Garden
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 Location in Maine
Location in the United States
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| Location | 97 Main St., South Paris, Maine |
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| Area | 3.5 acres (1.4 ha) |
| Built | 1851 |
| Architect | Bernard McLaughlin |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival, Italianate |
| NRHP reference No. | 00001202 |
| Added to NRHP | October 27, 2000 |
The McLaughlin House and Garden is a special place in South Paris, Maine. It's like a living museum where you can explore history and nature! This property includes an old house, a connecting building, and a barn, all built around the mid-1800s. The amazing garden, however, was started much later, in the 1930s, by a man named Bernard McLaughlin.
Today, the garden is home to more than 500 different kinds of flowers and plants! It's one of only a few unique gardens like it in the state of Maine. Because of its history and beauty, the property was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2000. A local non-profit group now takes care of it. You can visit the McLaughlin House and Garden for free between May and October each year.
Contents
About the House and Garden
The McLaughlin House is a two-and-a-half-story building made of wood. It sits near busy Main Street in South Paris. The main entrance is in the middle, with special windows on the sides and a decorative cover above the door. Part of the house has a unique bay window that sticks out.
A two-story section is set back from the main house. It connects to an old barn through a smaller building. This connecting part and the two-story section have an enclosed porch on the south side. Inside the main house, the wooden details show a mix of two popular styles from the past: Greek Revival and Italianate.
The House's History
People believe the house was built around 1851 by John Holmes. He bought the land that year and sold it for a much higher price the next year. The house stayed with the Holmes and Bicknell families until 1890. Then, Frederick Tribou bought it.
Frederick's daughter, Rena, married Bernard McLaughlin in 1936. They lived in the house until they passed away (Rena in 1986 and Bernard in 1995). The Tribou and McLaughlin families did not use the land for farming. Instead, they sold off most of the farm land over time for other buildings.
The Amazing Garden
Bernard McLaughlin loved plants and was a self-taught gardener. He used parts of the old farm land to create a beautiful garden over 60 years! In 1994, experts looked at the garden and found more than 500 different types of plants. Many of these were irises and lilacs, but there were also many other flowers and woodland plants.
Even though Bernard was not a professional gardener, his collection became very important in Maine. It is one of only three such special gardens in the entire state.
Visiting the Property
Bernard McLaughlin's will said that the property should be sold. However, people in the local area worked together to save this special place. Now, the property is open to everyone for free from May to October. You can also pay a small fee for a guided tour, or even rent parts of the property for events.
See also
