Congratulations to everyone for making it through our Challenges. Don’t forget to give me your best guesses as to which two I will visit of all the places I posted about – a free book is the prize!
The Zebulon Smith House was built in 1832, by silversmith, jeweler and watchmaker Zebulon Smith. It is one of the earliest known temple style Greek Revival houses in Maine. The style, inspired by ancient Greek architecture, gained popularity in the late 18th century in England and spread to the United States in the early 19th century. It peaked in Maine from the 1830s to the 1860s. The architect of this house is unknown.
I found an aerial view of the house, and it is currently nestled among parking lots and car dealerships, businesses and the waterfront park, a final vestige and reminder that in downtown Bangor there were residential streets near the waterfront. This sole remaining house embodies the neighborhood’s gracious past. The house has four bedrooms, a dining room, a living room, two sitting rooms and a small kitchen in the ell. There are nine fireplaces, with slate mantels downstairs and wooden mantels in the bedrooms.
The house looks much as it did in photographs from the early 20th century. The portico retains its original lunette (half moon) window, and the Ionic pillars still stand. It has been painted red for many years, a curiously inappropriate color for a house inspired by Greek temples. The current owners suspect it was originally white. I searched for quite a while to find other pictures of this house but was stymied!
James and Elizabeth Buckley bought the house in 1919 and it has been lived in by their descendants ever since, despite the fact the neighborhood was changing, with stately homes on the block either turned into apartments or demolished to make way for businesses. The father of the current owner, Eugenia Franco, held out, and after he died, her mother had no desire to move. Mrs. Franco and her husband consider themselves the keepers of the home, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
I’m giving a huge sigh of relief, along with a little sadness, at having come to the end of this year’s A-Z Challenge. I hope anyone who visited my blog enjoyed posts about Maine as much as I liked writing them!
I’ve really enjoyed your posts Noelle, and I now have a real hankering to visit Maine. Looking forward to following your blog now the challenge is done 🙂
Thanks, Alison! I’ve already got a couple of of posts in mind.
Wonderful last post, Noelle. I love stately (as the English say?!) homes, and of course Greece and Rome are our shared cultural beginnings. I’ve enjoyed all of your posts. Thanks for showing me around Maine!
Thank you, Luccia, and you’re welcome. I just wish the house wasn’t all by itself in the middle of a commercial district.
I have very much enjoyed all these visits to Maine this past month and what a wonderful way to end. This sounds like a beautiful home and I’m so glad to see that it survived the demolition of its neighbors.
It sits in the middle of card dealerships and other businesses, which is kind of a shame. It deserves to be in a real neighborhood!
Perfect end to a fabulous journey. Thanks Noelle.
You are most welcome! Glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks for the journey. This A-to-Z has been a blast and I’m still behind on my commenting 🙂
Your welcome, Shawn. Come by any time!
I’ve certainly enjoyed it. I’d guess at the sailing ship and the lighthouse, but that’s just my personal preference. And the train….
Well done for making it through the alphabet – and it’s been a fantastic journey.
Your welcome, Jemima – good guess, but no. If you are the only one to guess, you get the book.
I will definitely miss your tour through Maine. Thanks so much for all your posts, pictures and history. I now have some new places to visit
Stay tuned – there will be more!
Ahhhh, well then..I’ll be looking forward to it.
Congratulations, Noelle. Now looking forward to hearing which two places you’ll visit (I would have difficulty choosing for sure)!
You should take a stab at it! And thanks, Olga!
Another beautiful place, Noelle. Thank you. We did it! We’ve come to the end. Yes, little sadness here as well. 🙂 Which two places will you visit? Knowing that you teach, I would say the college I read about a couple of posts ago, and knowing you like water — but that’s all of Maine — I’d say somewhere on the water. 🙂 All right, that’s not a good guess, but I sure look forward to showcasing your book on my blog. Congrats on a blogging job well done, my friend. Talk to you soon. Hugs.
This was a really big challenge to guess where we’re going this summer. I’ll announce it later this week, after I take a breath. The third book is cooking along right now, so I’m reluctant to spend time on the blog for a bit! Your blog was so typically Sylvia – thoughtful, introspective and wonderfully woven into your book. Hugs from me.
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I’ve already guessed once, so I think I’m out of chances, but congratulations on reaching the end! So much history and information this month. It was wonderful. 🙂
You’re most welcome, Alex – loved your posts with such wonderful photos. You can guess again!
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mille merci pour ce post, Noelle! why?… ’cause Smith is a very dear and close name in our family…
https://myvirtualplayground.wordpress.com/2014/04/19/amour-sans-frontieres-sous-une-pluie-de-petales-de-roses/
How great! This house is intriguing but set in the middle of used car lots!