Daniel Coit Gilman Summer House, also known as Over Edge, is a historic house on Huntington Lane, a private road off Huntington Road in

Northeast Harbor, Maine Northeast Harbor is a village on Mount Desert Island, located in the town of Mount Desert in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The original settlers, the Someses and Richardsons, arrived around 1761. The village has a significant summe ...

. It was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1965 for its association with Daniel Coit Gilman (1831–1908), the president of

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

and a leading advocate of

graduate education Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree. The organization and struc ...

in the United States. The house is still used as a private summer residence.Polly M. Rettig and S. S. Bradford (March 8, 1976) , National Park Service and

Description and history

The Gilman House is set on a high bluff, overlooking the town of Northeast Harbor's harbor area to the east, with views extending south toward Bear and Sutton Islands. It is a three-story wood-frame structure, clad in wooden shingles, with a side gable roof large enough to house the full third floor. The house is oriented to the waterfront, with an open veranda across the eastern facade, and porches on the north side of the first and second floors. The living room, which takes up the southern part of the house, has a projecting bay window. The house is little-altered since it was built in 1880s, the principal alteration being the removal of some partitions to enlarge the kitchen. The house was built for Daniel Coit Gilman, and was his summer residence until his death in 1908. Gilman was a native of

Norwich, Connecticut Norwich ( ) (also called "The Rose of New England") is a city in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The Yantic, Shetucket, and Quinebaug Rivers flow into the city and form its harbor, from which the Thames River flows south to Long ...

, who graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1848. He helped to organize Yale's

Sheffield Scientific School Sheffield Scientific School was founded in 1847 as a school of Yale College in New Haven, Connecticut, for instruction in science and engineering. Originally named the Yale Scientific School, it was renamed in 1861 in honor of Joseph E. Sheffield, ...

in 1855, and became the school's librarian and secretary, as well as teaching geography as a professor. He became president of the recently founded

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

in 1872, but left that school over disagreements on curriculum. He was appointed president of the newly founded

in 1875, where he was able to implement ideas about high level competence in subject material by its professors, a high-quality student body, and the importance of academic freedom and research in the university setting. The success of these ideas was demonstrated by their wide adoption by other academic institutions, and by the presence of Johns Hopkins graduates in the professorial ranks of more than 60 schools by 1892.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places National Historic Landmarks in Maine Houses in Hancock County, Maine Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine Mount Desert Island National Register of Historic Places in Hancock County, Maine Buildings and structures in Mount Desert, Maine

Description and history

See also

References