Samuel Penney House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Samuel Penney House
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Samuel Penney House circa 1902
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 Location in Maine
Location in the United States
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| Location | Mechanic Falls, Maine |
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| Built | 1902 |
| Architect | Miller, William R. |
| Architectural style | Colonial Revival, Victorian, Greek Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 02000346 |
| Added to NRHP | April 11, 2002 |
The Samuel Penney House is a special old home located at 78 Maple Street in Mechanic Falls, Maine. It was finished in 1902. A famous architect named William R. Miller designed it. Many people think this house is one of his best designs for homes.
This house was once part of a group of three very similar houses. They stood next to each other until the early 1920s. Because of its importance, the Samuel Penney House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. This means it is recognized as a significant historical building.
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Discovering the Samuel Penney House
The Penney House stands on the west side of Mechanic Falls village. You can find it at the corner of Maple and Summer Streets. It is a large, beautiful house with 2.5 stories. It was built in a style called Georgian Revival.
What Makes the House Special?
The house has a special roof shape called a hip roof. It also has small windows that stick out from the roof, called dormers. The outside walls are covered with clapboard siding. The bottom part of the house is made of brick and granite.
The most eye-catching part of the house is its grand front porch. This porch sticks out from the front of the house. It has tall, two-story columns called Corinthian columns. These columns support a fancy triangular roof section called a pediment. This pediment has a beautiful flower design in the middle.
This grand porch covers a special window on the second floor. This window is known as a Palladian window. It also partly covers a smaller porch that leads to the main front door. This smaller porch has more Corinthian columns.
Inside the Penney House
The windows on the first floor have decorative tops. These tops are called entablatures and are decorated with swags. They also have small ledges sticking out above them. The inside of the house is just as beautiful as the outside. It has detailed plasterwork and woodwork. There is even a colorful stained glass window on the main staircase landing.
The Architect and Its History
The Samuel Penney House was designed by William R. Miller. He was an architect from Lewiston. This house was his very first design for a home. It is a very fancy Colonial Revival building. It stands out in what was once a smaller factory town. Its bold style is typical of Miller's work.
The Penney Brothers' Homes
William R. Miller designed three almost identical houses for the Penney brothers. These brothers owned a factory nearby. Their factory built steam engines and boilers. Sadly, one of the brothers' houses, Almont Penney's, was destroyed by fire. Charles Penney's house was moved and partly taken apart in the 1940s.
When the Samuel Penney House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002, it still had some original features. It used the old knob-and-tube wiring for electricity. Parts of its original steam heating system were also still working. This heating system was likely made by the Penney brothers' own factory!
