Victoria Mansion

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Victoria Mansion is a historic house in downtown Portland, Maine. The brownstone exterior, elaborate interior design, opulent furnishings and early technological conveniences provide a detailed portrait of lavish living in nineteenth-century America. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1971.

This stately brownstone Italianate villa was completed in 1860 as a summer home for hotelier Ruggles Sylvester Morse. The house was designed by the New Haven architect Henry Austin. Its distinctive asymmetric form includes a four-story tower, overhanging eaves, verandas, and ornate windows. The frescoes and trompe-l'œil wall decorations were created by the artist and decorator Giuseppe Guidicini. Morse lived in the house until his death in 1893.

A year later, the house and its contents were sold by his wife to Joseph Ralph Libby, a Portland merchant and department store owner. The Libby family occupied the house for over 30 more years, until 1928. Due in part to the Great Depression a year later, the home was repossessed in 1939 due to back taxes. William H. Holmes bought the house in order to preserve it as a museum; it opened in 1941 as the Victoria Mansion.

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Victorian Mansion collection, [1944]. Maine State Library
referencedIn Peabody, Frances W. Frances W. Peabody papers, 1821-1999. Maine Historical Society Library
referencedIn Records of the National Park Service, 1785 - 2006. National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks Program Records, 2013 - 2017 National Archives Library, National Archives Records Administration
referencedIn Collection of architectural drawings, [ca. 1936-1939]. Brown University Archives, John Hay Library
referencedIn Calderwood, Roger, 1911-1986. Calderwood collection, 1882-1979. Maine Historical Society Library
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Calderwood, Roger, 1911-1986. person
associatedWith Peabody, Frances W. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Portland ME US
Subject
Occupation
Activity

Corporate Body

Active 1970

Active 1941

Active 1928

Active 1894

Establishment 1860

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Ark ID: w63s1kwr

SNAC ID: 88006331