The Bigelow-Page House is a historic house at 20 High Street in
Skowhegan, Maine
Skowhegan () is the county seat of Somerset County, Maine. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 8,620. Every August, Skowhegan hosts the annual Skowhegan State Fair, the oldest continuously-held state fair in the United States. Skowh ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. Built in 1846–47 and substantially altered in the early 20th century, this expansive two-story wood-frame structure is a bold statement of
Greek Revival
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...
architecture, and is an early work by a notable local master builder of the period,
Joseph Bigelow. It was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1988.
Description and history
The main block of the Bigelow-Page House is a roughly square two-story wood-frame structure, with a hip roof and two interior brick chimneys. A series of ells extend to the rear, connecting the main house to a gable-roofed barn with cupola. The main block has a single-story hip-roof porch wrapping around two sides, supported by paneled square posts. The corners of the main block are decorated by pilasters, and a broad entablature encircles the house below the roof line. The first ell is a fairly large two-story structure with Italianate features. The interior of house is stylistically diverse, reflecting the architectural trends also visible in the exterior. Original Greek Revival features are joined by an
Italianate
The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...
arched fireplace mantel, and a
Colonial Revival
The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture.
The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archi ...
bay window.
This house was built in 1846–47 by
Joseph Bigelow for his own family. Bigelow (1804–83) had by then already acquired a reputation in the area for is high quality craftsmanship, having
built a church in
Bloomfield and the
Symphony House in
Bangor. He is also credited with building one of
Skowhegan
Skowhegan () is the county seat of Somerset County, Maine. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 8,620. Every August, Skowhegan hosts the annual Skowhegan State Fair, the oldest continuously-held state fair in the United States. Skowh ...
's other fine Greek Revival houses, the
Gov. Abner Coburn House. Bigelow exchanged houses with lumberman
Samuel Robinson Samuel Robinson may refer to:
* Samuel Robinson (1666–1729), member of Parliament for Cricklade, England
* Samuel Robinson (politician) (1738–1813), Vermont political and military leader
* Samuel Robinson (industrialist) (1794–1884), English i ...
in 1853, and the house was acquired in 1893 by Edward Page, whose family is responsible for the later Colonial Revival alterations.
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See also
*
References
{{National Register of Historic Places
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine
Greek Revival houses in Maine
Houses completed in 1846
Houses in Somerset County, Maine
Buildings and structures in Skowhegan, Maine
National Register of Historic Places in Somerset County, Maine