8 minute read
Talking Walls
MadaboutSaffron
Just sprinkle in a Revolutionary War hero, and you’ve got one helluva saltbox.
BY COLIN W. SARGENT
PETER G. MORNEAU L
ookingforthe oldest house in Kennebunk? It depends on which cocktail party you’ve been to most recently.
In 1751, architect/builder James Hubbard (we called them joiners then) built this classic manse at 56 Summer Street. e land his saltbox surveyed included 27 acres near the Kennebunk River, where shipyards and mansions would one day earn this stretch the nickname Captain’s Row.
By 1775 he’d become so in uential that on October 3, “our records state [that] a petition addressed to the general court…and signed by Col. Ephraim Doolittle asked that Hubbard, along with certain other of cers, be commissioned, and on the following day the petition was read and committed by the General Court, and James Hubbard o cially became a captain in Colonel Doolittle’s regiment,” says Leanne Hayden, collections curator at the Brick Store Museum in Kennebunk.
Likely he was ru ed by the high taxes the King was exacting in the Kennebunks and beyond. (Some of us know the feeling.)
RABBLE IN ARMS
Captain Hubbard marched to Massachusetts against the Redcoats with a group of Kennebunk and Kennebunkport irregulars under his command. “All our records say he died a short time a er his arrival at Cambridge. ere is no mention of a speci c battle,” Hayden says. “We know his company had enlisted for an eight-month
Step Back in Time: 1853
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service in 1775.” e length of the hitch is signi cant that early on. Many might have guessed that Captain Hubbard disappeared in a ash at the Battle of Bunker Hill, but no—the records mysteriously insist on Cambridge. e manner of his death is lost to history, but the post-and-beam saltbox at 56 Summer Street elegantly survives.
A LION IN A DEN OF SAVAGE DANIELS
Igrew up spending summers in the Kennebunks, and whenever we drove past this house in our Ford Falcon painted a cool shade of copper, my mother used to look at it wistfully. Remember Mad Men and the Drapers’ kitschy knotty pine kitchen? In the wild 1960s, in a world of “authentic” Colonial Revival copies, 56 Summer Street stood out as the real thing. “If I could just get my hands on it,” Mom said and laughed. If she hadn’t passed away so young, I bet she would have.
She wasn’t alone in loving it. In the ear-
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ly 1960s, it was owned by Jon Milligan, the hotelier and collector of Louis Norton pastels that glowed on the walls of his lobby and dining room at the Sea Spray Motor Inn and Motel on Gooch’s Beach. Color was important to him too.
Before that it was owned by the station keeper of the Kennebunk Railroad Depot across the street, which was restored by some hippies named Tom and Kate Chappell who founded Tom’s of Maine as the 1970s bloomed.
WHERE WERE YOU IN THE SUMMER OF 2022?
is past summer, a er more than one restoration, de ly painted a deep mellow yellow and listed for $649,000, the James Hubbard House was host to forty showings the rst few days it was listed by real-estate agent Randal Simon. e saltbox showed well.
Here’s some context across time:
September 4, 1998: $205,000
September 19, 2005: $429,000
March 30, 2021: $555,000
MASSIVE EVIDENCE
“Do you see these [enormous hand-adzed beams that support the ceilings on the rst oor]?” Simon says. “ ey’re not decorative. ey’re real.”
Visitors can’t help but gawk at the four fireplaces, including the mammoth floor-to-ceiling beauty in the salon. In particular, the palette of Colonial color choices impresses. The perfect green on the paneling—a sea green you’d drive a hundred miles to see. So often there are near misses. But these shades are dead on.
We wrote to the sellers, who bought the house in March, 2021, and asked about the interior selections.
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Andrew Besemer replies:
My partner, [former Syracuse, New York, real-estate executive] Tim Cassavaw…asked if I would respond to you regarding our house. e house was built in 1752 and is in the Kennebunk Historic District. I'm afraid we can't take credit for many of the interior trim colors. ey were chosen by the previous owners, who took loving care of the house. Tim and I changed out the bedroom trim colors on the second oor to a warm toasty charcoal color.
“All of the interior walls of the house are nished in what was a Benjamin Moore Historic Williamsburg nish called whitewash. e walls are plaster, so the whitewash is perfect for the period. It's not as thick as latex paint, and has a wonderful matte nish to it. is works with the ow of the plaster and [enhances the patina]. I had to hunt far and wide to nd a Benjamin Moore dealer that would take the time to re-create this expired nish for me.
“ e exterior trim is a custom mix from Sherwin-Williams. ere was a tiny bit le in an old can in the basement. It didn't have the mix recipe on the old can. e Sherwin-Williams dealer came up with the original recipe that was perfect. It's a dark tan bu and is the perfect counter to the dark yellow of the house. It truly stands out, especially from the road, because most yellow houses are painted with white trim (a later Colonial Revival combination).
“One of the largest projects we tackled was redesigning the side steps to the house and incorporating a large brick courtyard between the house and the garage. ere was a lot of demolition involved here, and removal of the crumbling old brick steps and walkway. is had to be approved by the Historic [Preservation] Commission. All of this work was accomplished by George Burr and his very able sta right here in Kennebunk. We were thrilled with the results.”
Mr. Besemer credits Ernest and Mary White, the previous owners, for the curatorial-level color selections that predate him. It’s a joy to see what at least two caring sets of owners in a row can do for a house like this.
STEP INSIDE
Wend your way through 2,350 square feet encompassing three bedrooms, three full baths, a dining room with replace, and more on the 3-D virtual tour: compass.com/ listing/56-summer-street-kennebunkme-04043/1073131281878736249/.
So, is it really the oldest?
“As with anything like this, it’s still up for debate,” says Hayden. “For a long time it was believed that the Tobias Lord House on Water Street was the oldest, but as more people are researching the history of their homes, the Butland House on Sea Road and the Colonel Storer House on Hovey Street are also in the running, apparently. It’s di cult to say ‘exactly’ when you’re dealing with the mid-18th century. To be honest, they were all built around the same time as the Hubbard House.” n
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