The Sen. John Holmes House is a historic house on Main Street (
United States Route 202
U.S. Route 202 (US 202) is a spur route of US 2. It follows a northeasterly and southwesterly direction stretching from Delaware to Maine, also traveling through the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massa ...
) in
Alfred
Alfred may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series
* ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne
* ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák
*"Alfred (Interlu ...
,
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 ...
. Also known as the Bow and Arrow house for a distinctive balustrade motif it once sported, it was built in 1802 for
United States Senator John Holmes, one of western Maine's leading politicians of the period. The house 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 1975.
Description and history
The Holmes house is located on the west side of Main Street at the northern end of
Alfred Village. It is a two-story wood-frame structure with a hip roof and clapboard siding. The roof was originally encircled by a balustrade that included a
bow and arrow
The bow and arrow is a ranged weapon system consisting of an elastic launching device (bow) and long-shafted projectiles ( arrows). Humans used bows and arrows for hunting and aggression long before recorded history, and the practice was comm ...
motif, but that has since been removed. The house has a number of features that are unusual for the location and period, including a two-story wraparound porch, supported by a colonnade of slender columns. The five-bay front facade faces east, and is symmetrically arranged, with the main entrance centered in an enclosed vestibule, above which is a balcony accessed by a doorway on the second floor. The first floor interior features high-quality Federal period woodwork.
The house originally had an enclosed court. The kitchen, which held a fireplace with ovens and a copper vat for water, has been removed. An L-shaped addition has been added to the northwest section of the house.
[Waymarks](_blank)
/ref>
The house was built in 1802 for Senator John Holmes, one of western Maine's leading politicians and a major proponent of statehood for what was then the District of Maine
The District of Maine was the governmental designation for what is now the U.S. state of Maine from October 25, 1780 to March 15, 1820, when it was admitted to the Union as the 23rd state. The district was a part of the Commonwealth of Massachuse ...
in . The bow-and-arrow balustrade, now removed, is said to have been a nod to Holmes' Native American ancestry on his mother's side.[ The railing was said to have been made by the Griffins, who had a blacksmithing shop nearby.Maine Memory Network]
/ref> The house remained in the Holmes family until 1849, when it was purchased by the Sayward family. The Sayward family owned the house until the early 1900s. The Marshall family inhabited the house after the Saywards. Dr. Sumner Marshall and his wife Elizabeth York Marshall, who was a nurse, raised three children here. They hosted re-enactments of Senator Holmes' return at the house that were attended by thousands of locals. It now serves as both a home and a dance studio.
See also
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes, Sen. John, House
Alfred, Maine
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine
Federal architecture in Maine
Houses completed in 1802
Houses in York County, Maine
National Register of Historic Places in York County, Maine
Historic district contributing properties in Maine