The McLellan-Sweat Mansion (or The McLellan House) is a

historic house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a ...

on High Street in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

. It forms the rear component of the

Portland Museum of Art The Portland Museum of Art, or PMA, is the largest and oldest public art institution in the U.S. state of Maine. Founded as the Portland Society of Art in 1882. It is located in the downtown area known as The Arts District in Portland, Maine. Hi ...

complex. Built in 1800–01, the house 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 1970 as a well-preserved Federal style brick townhouse.

Description and history

The McLellan-Sweat Mansion is set at the corner of High and Spring Streets in downtown Portland, but is accessed via the main entrance of the Portland Museum of Art at Congress Square. It is a three-story brick structure with a low-pitch hip roof and a granite foundation. The brick of the walls is laid in Flemish bond. The main facade, facing Spring Street, is five bays wide, with a central entrance sheltered by a semicircular portico supported by Doric columns, and topped by a balustrade. The entry is flanked by sidelight windows and topped by a fanlight window. Above the entry on the second level is a Palladian window. The roofline has a bracketed cornice, and there is a low balustrade ringing the roof whose posts are surmounted by urns. The interior has a central hall plan, with high-quality woodwork in the public rooms of the first floor. Constructed in 1800-1801 for

shipping Freight transport, also referred as ''Freight Forwarding'', is the physical process of transporting Commodity, commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it h ...

magnate The magnate term, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders, or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

Major Hugh McLellan, the brick mansion was designed by John Kimball Sr. (1758-1831), an architect/housewright originally from

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. The cost was $20,000. After a change of owners, the property was purchased in 1880 by

Lorenzo De Medici Sweat Lorenzo De Medici Sweat (May 26, 1818 – July 26, 1898) was a U.S. Representative from Maine. Early life and education He was born in the town of Parsonsfield in the Massachusetts District of Maine, where he attended Parsonsfield Semina ...

. In 1908, his widow bequeathed it to the Portland Society of Art (now the Portland Museum of Art). The

L. D. M. Sweat Memorial Galleries The L. D. M. Sweat Memorial Galleries are a series of art galleries that are part of the Portland Museum of Art, which is located in the Arts District of Portland, Maine. History The L. D. M. Sweat Memorial Galleries were built in 1911 by Maine a ...

, designed by

John Calvin Stevens John Calvin Stevens (October 8, 1855 – January 25, 1940) was an American architect who worked in the Shingle Style, in which he was a major innovator, and the Colonial Revival style. He designed more than 1,000 buildings in the state of Maine ...

, were added in 1911 behind the house, to which they connected by corridor. In 1957, two

mantelpiece The fireplace mantel or mantelpiece, also known as a chimneypiece, originated in medieval times as a hood that projected over a fire grate to catch the smoke. The term has evolved to include the decorative framework around the fireplace, and c ...

s salvaged from the 1805 Commodore Edward Preble House, designed by

Alexander Parris Alexander Parris (November 24, 1780 – June 16, 1852) was a prominent American architect-engineer. Beginning as a housewright, he evolved into an architect whose work transitioned from Federal style architecture to the later Greek Revival. Parr ...

, replaced originals lost during a

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 ...

remodeling Renovation (also called remodeling) is the process of improving broken, damaged, or outdated structures. Renovations are typically done on either commercial or residential buildings. Additionally, renovation can refer to making something new, ...

of the drawing and dining rooms. In 1970, the house was added to 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 ...

and was designated a

. The Charles Shipman Payson Building by

Henry N. Cobb Henry Nichols Cobb (April 8, 1926 – March 2, 2020) was an American architect and founding partner with I.M. Pei and Eason H. Leonard of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, an international architectural firm based in New York City. Early life Henry N. ...

of Pei, Cobb, Freed & Partners opened in 1983, extending the length of the museum to its new entrance on Congress Square Plaza. After an extensive

restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

, The McLellan House reopened in 2002.

References

External links

Portland Museum of Art
{{Authority control Houses completed in 1801 Historic house museums in Maine Museums in Portland, Maine Houses in Portland, Maine National Historic Landmarks in Maine Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine National Register of Historic Places in Portland, Maine Historic district contributing properties in Maine 1801 establishments in Maine

Description and history

See also

References

External links