4 minute read
Protecting New England’s Rural Landscapes
Above: From the south, Valley Lodge resembles a typical Federal-style house. The original central chimney tucked behind the southern roof slope provides a clue that the original one-and-a-half story Cape Cod-style house is enclosed within the later addition. Photograph by Aaron Usher III.
by ELIZABETH PALIGA, Preservation Services Manager, Northern New England
At first glance, Valley Lodge looks like many similar colonial farmhouses dotting the Maine landscape. Painted a glowing yellow and sitting atop a rolling hill in the middle of 156 acres of forest and open land, the house in Baldwin, Maine, is flanked by a garage and barn on one side and a family burial ground on the other. When you start to take a closer look at Valley Lodge, however, its fascinating history becomes clear.
Ephraim Brown built the one-and-a-half story Cape Cod-style Valley Lodge in 1792. Brown left Concord, Massachusetts, in 1788 to assist his father in laying out the colonial town of Flintstone (now Baldwin), Maine. His father, David, was an army captain during the American Revolution and fought in the 1775 Battles of Lexington and Concord. For his service, Massachusetts rewarded Captain Brown with a bounty-land warrant in what would later become the state of Maine. David Brown eventually divided the land between his two sons. The house Ephraim Brown built on his half remains standing today, though identifying its original structure takes a bit of hunting.
Within a few years of its completion, Brown’s family began to outgrow the modest Cape. In the early nineteenth century, he expanded the house, encapsulating the original one-and-a-half story structure with the two-and-a-half story Federal-style facade that is visible today. Then, as now, additions were expensive and time-consuming. Whether it was due to lack of funds or other priorities associated with running a farm and raising a family, the Browns were slow to finish the newly built rooms, completing them over several decades. When they did so, rather than adopting a consistent style throughout, they made design choices that reflected contemporary trends. As a result, the woodwork, trim, and other decorative architectural features installed in the nineteenth-century addition turned each room into a time capsule of rural, vernacular interpretations of late Georgian, Federal, and Greek Revival interior finishes.
Remarkably, this architectural digest has remained intact for more than two hundred years, thanks in part to its continued ownership by the Brown family until the 1930s, and to the dedicated efforts of its current owner, Peter Cyr, to preserve its unique history. Last year, Cyr, who has stewarded Valley Lodge since 1973, donated a preservation restriction on Valley Lodge to Historic New England. Now the house, including its remarkable chronological interior finishes, will be protected in perpetuity, as will the property’s outbuildings, stone walls, burial ground, and natural landscape features. Any proposed changes to these features are subject to review and approval by Historic New England, which will work with Cyr and future owners to ensure the farm remains livable while preserving its defining characteristics.
Valley Lodge is an exciting addition to Historic New England’s Preservation Easement Program, which protects 125 properties across the region. These perpetual restrictions help preserve the vernacular history of rural New England landscapes when other preservation alternatives, such as Local Historic Districts, are not feasible. If you would like to learn more about how Historic New England protects private properties through its Preservation Easement Program, visit HistoricNewEngland.org.
