Squire Tarbox House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Squire Tarbox House
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Location | 1181 Main Rd., Westport, Maine |
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Area | 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
Built | 1763 |
Architectural style | Federal |
NRHP reference No. | 85000725 |
Added to NRHP | April 11, 1985 |
The Squire Tarbox House is a really old and special house located at 1181 Main Road in Westport, Maine. It was first built way back in 1763 and then made bigger in 1820. This house is a great example of two old building styles: Georgian and Federal architecture. Because it's so important, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. Today, it's known as the Squire Tarbox Inn, a place where people can stay!
What Does the Squire Tarbox House Look Like?
The Squire Tarbox House is on the west side of Main Road, which is also called Maine State Route 144. It's right in the middle of Westport Island, a quiet, country area. The house is part of a long farm building, like a connected set of buildings.
The main part of the house is two stories tall and sits at the north end. It's connected to other parts by single-story sections called "ells." These ells lead to a carriage barn, which is where horse-drawn carriages used to be kept. There's even another ell just south of the barn.
The main house is made of wood and has a rectangular shape. It has a special kind of roof called a "hip roof," which slopes down on all four sides. You can see chimneys coming out of the middle of the roof. The front of the house has five sections, with the main door in the middle. The door has decorative pillars on each side, called "pilasters." Above the door, there's a fancy flat piece called an "entablature" and a decorative top edge called a "cornice." Inside the house, especially in the main living room, you can still see the original woodwork from the Federal period.
Who Was Squire Tarbox?
The oldest part of the house is actually a single-story section that extends out the back. This part was built in 1763. Fun fact: it wasn't always in this spot! It used to be on a hill north of where it is now.
In 1819, a man named Samuel Tarbox moved this older section to its current location. He had bought it in 1806 from John Parsons. Samuel Tarbox was a very important person in Westport. People called him "squire" because of his high standing in the town. He was key in helping Westport become its own town, separate from Edgecomb. He was probably the richest person living there at the time. In 1828, when Westport first formed its own government, Samuel Tarbox was one of the first people to serve on its board of selectmen, which is like a town council.