Victoria Mansion facts for kids
|
Morse-Libby House
|
|
|
U.S. Historic district
Contributing property |
|
Victoria Mansion
|
|
 Location in Maine
Location in the United States
|
|
| Location | 109 Danforth Street, Portland, Maine, United States |
|---|---|
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1858-1860 |
| Architect | Henry Austin |
| Architectural style | Italianate |
| Part of | Spring Street Historic District (ID70000043) |
| NRHP reference No. | 70000074 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
|
| Added to NRHP | May 19, 1970 |
| Designated NHL | December 30, 1970 |
| Designated CP | April 3, 1970 |
The Victoria Mansion, also known as the Morse-Libby House, is a very old and special house in Portland, Maine, United States. It's famous for its beautiful brownstone outside and amazing decorations inside. The house shows us what fancy life was like in America during the 1800s. It was named a National Historic Landmark in 1971. This means it's a very important building because it's a great example of an Italianate style mansion that is still in excellent condition.
A Grand Summer Home
This impressive brownstone house was finished in 1860. It was built as a summer home for a rich hotel owner named Ruggles Sylvester Morse. Mr. Morse had become wealthy by running hotels in big cities like New York, Boston, and New Orleans.
The house was designed by an architect named Henry Austin from New Haven. It has a unique shape with a tall, four-story tower. You can also see wide, overhanging roofs, open porches called verandas, and fancy windows. The beautiful wall paintings and clever trompe-l'œil (which means "trick the eye") decorations were made by an artist named Giuseppe Guidicini.
The Victoria Mansion is one of the best examples of a large Italianate style house in the United States. It still looks much like it did when it was first built. A designer named Gustave Herter created the insides of the house. This house is the earliest and only complete work by him that we know of.
Thanks to gifts from the Libby family, almost all of the original items are still in the house. This includes furniture made by Herter, detailed wall paintings, artworks, carpets, and even the old gas lights. There are also stained glass windows, fancy dishes, silver, and glassware.
The house has many cool features. There are two sinks in the guest bedroom upstairs. It also has a special Turkish smoking room. This room is one of the first examples of Islamic architecture in the U.S. You can see fireplaces made of carved marble and a "flying staircase" that seems to float.
When Mr. Morse designed the house, he added things from his luxury hotels. These included a very large and tall entrance hall. He also had wall-to-wall carpets. The house used some of the newest technology of its time. This included central heating, gas lighting, and hot and cold running water. There was even a system to call servants. Water for the house came from gutters on the tower and third floor. It flowed through pipes to all the rooms. There were separate pipes for hot water, heated by coal, and cold water.
Mr. Morse lived in the house until he passed away in 1893. A year later, his wife sold the house and everything inside to Joseph Ralph Libby. Mr. Libby was a merchant and owned a department store in Portland. The Libby family lived in the house for over 30 years, until 1928. They didn't change much, except for repainting one room from green to white. Sadly, this white paint could not be removed when the house became a museum.
Becoming a Museum
The last members of the Libby family moved out of the house in 1928. A few years later, in 1939, the house was taken by the city because of unpaid taxes. This happened after the Great Depression and a big flood in Portland in 1938. The house was left empty, and its future was unclear.
An oil company planned to buy the old house and tear it down to build a gas station. But a man named William H. Holmes saved it! He bought the house to protect it and turn it into a museum. In 1941, Holmes opened the house to the public. He named it the Victoria Mansion, after Britain's Queen Victoria. Later, it was added to the National Historic Register. Today, it is still open as a museum for everyone to visit.
See also
