In August we were joined by our friends Dave and Laurie who drove up from Massachusetts to spend a day with us exploring local history. Today's blog we'll explore the Hamilton House in South Berwick, Maine, This Georgian mansion became a National Landmark, and you'll learn all about it (and Uranium glass) in today's blog!(Photo: L to R: Tom, Rob, Dave, Laurie at the Hamilton House)
ABOUT THE HAMILTON HOUSE - The Jonathan Hamilton House, also known as the Hamilton House, is a historic house at 40 Vaughan's Lane in South Berwick, Maine. Built between 1787 and 1788 by a merchant from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, this National Historic Landmark is a little-altered and high quality late Georgian country house. It is located at 40 Vaughans Ln, South Berwick, ME 03908(Photo: Looking at the Salmon Falls River that acts as the border between Maine and New Hampshire. This is the view from the Hamilton House. Credit: R.G.)
ON A RIVER BANK - The house sits in a picturesque setting overlooking the Salmon Falls River. At the back of the house was a dock, which was constructed for ships that were built for trade with England and throughout the U.S. East Coast. When the War of 1812 happened, though, trade with England ceased (of course, because it was a war with England), so the trade business/shipping went bankrupt!!
(Photo: Front of the Hamilton House. Credit: R.G.)
+1⁄2-story wood-frame building, with a hip roof, clapboard siding, four brick chimneys symmetrically placed in its outside walls, and gabled dormers on all four elevations
(Photo: One of the upstairs bedrooms. Credit: R.G.)
ABOUT WHERE IT WAS BUILT - Hamilton House is located on the homeland of the Wabanaki. After European colonists took ownership of the area known as South Berwick, Maine, the site was purchased by merchant Jonathan Hamilton for his shipping business in the eighteenth century, farmed by the Goodwin family in the nineteenth century, and restored as the summer retreat of Emily Tyson and her stepdaughter Elise (in a wealthy railroad magnate family) at the turn of the twentieth.
(Photo: Laurie and Dave in one of the downstairs rooms. Credit: R.G.)
WHO WAS JONATHAN HAMILTON? - In 1783 land for the house was purchased by Jonathan Hamilton, a merchant who had profited during the American Revolutionary War by privateering. Known as Pipe Stave Landing, the property was advantageous for landing goods from his merchant ships. Hamilton died in 1802, and the property was sold out of the family in 1815. For much of the 19th century it was owned by the Goodwin family, who operated a farm on the property, and let the grand house decline in condition.
(Photo: Second floor hallway with the restored wallpaper. Credit: R.G.)
THEN THE TYSONS BOUGHT IT - In 1898, Emily Tyson, and Tyson's stepdaughter Elise, purchased and restored the house in the then-fashionable Colonial Revival. The Tysons made only modest alterations to the house, and restored some of its fabric, including the wallpaper in the central hall.
THE HOUSE INTERIOR - The interior of the house follows a center-hall plan, with a wide central hall decorated with wallpaper that is a reproduction (made in 1900) of older wallpaper found in the house. The two parlor chambers and dining room have mahogany window seats, paneled chimney surrounds, and folding inside window shutters. The dining room and south parlor have wallpaper painted in 1900 by George Porter Fernald
(Photo: If you look closely at this mural, you can see large leaf clusters in the top right corner that was part of the old mural. Credit: R.G.)
INTERESTING INSIDE STORY OF A MURAL - The house features two whimsical murals commissioned by the women as well as antique furnishings and handcrafted decorative arts they collected. One of the murals was originally of plants, but the last family (a mother and daughter in law) who lived there had a local artist paint over it, and incorporate some of the vegetation from the original mural into the new mural. The new mural depicts all kinds of scenes from the region, including buildings and the shoreline. (Photos: Other rooms in the house. There was some history about the owl print hanging in one of the rooms over a fireplace, but I can't recall the story!)
(Photo: The Visitor's Center that sits to the side of the house. Credit: R.G.)
VISITOR'S CENTER - The visitor's center was built after 1898, as a cottage and was not part of the original farm. It was built by the Tyson family (you'll read about them shortly). south of the house. On one side of the cottage/visitor's center is a garden the Tyson family put in, too.
INSIDE THE VISITOR'S CENTER - The fireplace has two iron figurines that were apparently part of a stove at one time (see photo)
(Photo: The garden in front of the Visitor's Center. Credit: R.G.)
THE GARDEN - The elaborate perennial garden, with its charming garden cottage, provides visitors with a place to stroll and picnic overlooking the river.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE HOUSE AFTER THE TYSONS? - After the death of Elise Tyson Vaughan in 1949, the house was bequeathed to the Society for Preservation of New England Antiquities, now Historic New England.
WHAT IS A URANIUM GLASS LAMP? -In one of the rooms was a lamp made from "Uranium glass." We had never heard of it before. Apparently, Uranium glass contains a small percentage of uranium, usually less than 2%, which makes it slightly radioactive. Uranium glass, also known as Vaseline glass, is generally considered safe to be around, but it's not recommended for use with food or drinks.
NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK -
The house was declared a National Historic Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970
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