The Deacon Hutchins House is an historic house on

Maine State Route 5 State Route 5 (abbreviated SR 5) is a state highway in Maine that runs from an intersection with State Route 9 in Old Orchard Beach, to an intersection with State Route 120 in Andover. Route description From its southern terminus near the Pie ...

Rumford, Maine Rumford is a New England town, town in Oxford County, Maine, Oxford County, Maine, United States. The population was 5,858 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Rumford is home to both ND Paper Inc's Rumford Mill and the Black Mountain ...

. Built c. 1802, it is an excellent example of vernacular Federal style architecture, and is further notable for murals drawn in one room by the itinerant painter

Rufus Porter Rufus Porter may refer to: *Rufus Porter (painter) Rufus Porter (May 1, 1792 – August 13, 1884) was an American painter, inventor, and founder of '' Scientific American'' magazine. Famous family Rufus Porter descended from an old coloni ...

. 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 1987.

Description and history

The Hutchins House is -story wood-frame structure, five bays wide, with a gable roof and two substantial brick chimneys placed symmetrical on the roof gable. The main facade, facing southwest, is symmetrical, with a center entry flanked by pilasters and topped by a transom window and lintel entablature. A -story ell extends from the northeast corner of the house. A secondary entry, capped by a gable pediment, is located on the southeast facade. The house, built c. 1802 for Deacon Hezekiah Hutchins, a New Hampshire native and veteran of the French and Indian and

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

s, who moved to the area in 1801 and was one of the founders of the Congregational church at Rumford Center. He also served as town moderator and as a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

, indicating his prominence in the community. His house is a well-preserved example of a vernacular Federal style house. The most significant element of the house, however, is the addition c. 1840 of a series of murals in its southeast parlor, drawn by Rufus Porter, who was then at the height of his time as an itinerant painter. In addition to painting on the plastered walls, Porter also applied graining effects to some of the room's woodwork.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine Houses in Oxford County, Maine Buildings and structures in Rumford, Maine National Register of Historic Places in Oxford County, Maine Federal architecture in Maine

Description and history

See also

References