The Well Traveled House

This house is far more interesting than many of our projects.  According to neighborhood legend, the house was built in 1880 and started life as a part of Holy Cross Catholic Church on Cottage Rd.  It was used over the years by the nuns and the church staff.  

I found this aerial photo from the early 1950's (part of the South Portland Historical Society archives).   It's really hard to see any detail, but it's clearly our Maison!   The only odd thing is the back of the house, the mansard roof doesn't have the same angle as the rest of the house and the window looks very different than it does today.  So maybe they changed something when it was moved?

Close up of Maison Mansard.  See how the back looks clipped off?

In the late 1950's, Holy Cross wanted to build a new, larger church where the house stood.  But what to do with the house?  It was in good shape and it seemed a shame to tear it down.  So it was moved a couple of blocks to a new location.

There are good things and bad things about moving a house.  The good news - it got a nice new (aka 1960's) basement, which is a big upgrade from the typical old rubble stone foundations we find from the 1880's in Maine.   The maybe not-so-good news is the plaster is probably a mess from cracking on the move.  Most of the walls are covered in paneling, so we really can't tell what shape it's in.  But it could be a budget buster!

I've been searching for photos of the original house.  A friend found this house from an anniversary booklet the church published in 1963.  You can just barely see the edge of the house on the left.  I've tried to enhance the quality of the photo, but still can't make out a lot of detail.

The amazing Kathy DiPhilippo from the South Portland Historical Society has been helping me figure out the history of the house.  She was able to find this photo, which again shows a corner, but not the full house.  She's helping me learn more about the history of the house - so there's more to come!

If any other local folks have more information on the history of the house, I'd love to hear it!  Not many houses are this well traveled!  😂 Pin It