COMING EVENTS

It's House and Garden Tour season in Down East Maine. This week there are two events worthy of mention for our house and garden loving readers.

THE BLUE HILL HOUSE TOUR

There will be a house tour on Thursday the 26th, sponsored by the Jonathan Fisher House and Blue Hill Historical Society museums in Blue Hill.  Eight houses dating from 1812 to 1948, plus the two museums will be featured.   The emphasis of this year's tour, which coincides with Blue Hill's 250th anniversary (For those who don't know, a 250th is a Sestercentennial) is New England style.  Tickets are $20.00, and may be purchased in advance.  For more details, click HERE

Parker House, Blue Hill

Highlights of the Blue Hill tour include 'Parker House', a handsome 1812 Federal with later Colonial Revival enchancements by Boston architect George Clough, a restoration in progress by a descendant of the early owners, and 'Blueberry Hill', a 1932/1938 New England style summer 'cottage' designed by Rolf Bauhan, a Princeton, New Jersey architect.  Bauhan is best known today for the estate he designed for the Church family at Montauk New York, owned for many years by Andy Warhol. 

'Blueberry Hill'

Playhouse interior at 'Blueberry Hill', from Architectural Forum, October, 1937

The beach front playhouse at 'Blueberry Hill' was featured in Architectural Forum in 1937.  Also featured on the tour will be three classic Shingle style summer cottages, including one with a dipsomaniac ghost, another whose second floor was removed in the downsizing of the 1970's, and carefully replaced and restored, better than ever a few years ago, with a new open stairwell designed by the current owner.

Looking as good as when it was built in 1907 for Pittsburgh newspaper publisher Theodore Nevin, the Carroll cottage actually was missing its second floor for 20 years, carefully replaced by its current owner.

'Elwin Cove' in Blue Hill, built for inventor/manufacturer E.J. Brooks in 1908

Proceeds of the Blue Hill tour support the Jonathan Fisher House and the Blue Hill Historical Society .   At the Fisher House, in addition to their important collection of folk art, may be seen an early orchard restoration, to original plan, in progress, and at the Holt House, a gem of an Asher Benjamin inspired Federal, a highlight is the Adelphi reproduction wallpaper, based on an original

MOUNT DESERT OPEN GARDEN DAY

And over on Mt. Desert Island, the Garden Club of Mount Desert is hosting a tour of six extraordinary gardens on private estates, including those of Rosserne, one of Northeast Harbor's finest shingle style summer houses.  On the beautiful lawn sweeping down to Somes Sound is an ancient apple tree, whose move from Ellsworth to Northeast Harbor famously tied up traffic for an entire day.  Other gardens include those of 'Southerly', a cliffside cottage in Seal Harbor, and a Robert Stern designed house nearby.

'Rosserne', designed by Fred Savage in 1891

Photographs of the gardens are closely guarded and unavailable before the tour, and so to whet your appetite for the tour, visit this slide show of the grounds at Rosserne .  The estate also incorporates the former Haskell estate, whose original landscaping was by Beatrix Farand.

'Southerly'

Proceeds of the Mount Desert Open Garden Days benefit several worthy public gardens, including The Wild Gardens of Acadia , and The Beatrix Farrand Society at Garland Farm, last home and garden of the great designer.

For more details about the Mount Desert Open Garden Day, click HERE