Steward–Emery House
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The Steward–Emery House is a historic house in
North Anson, Maine North Anson is a village in the northeastern part of the town of Anson, Somerset County, Maine, United States. History According to an 1886 ''History of Anson, Maine,'' "In 1845 nsonwas divided, and North Anson incorporated out of it; but a re-u ...
. It is a handsome
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 ...
house, built c. 1870 with
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 archit ...
alterations early in the 20th century. The house is most notable for the large amount of high-quality ''
trompe-l'œil ''Trompe-l'œil'' ( , ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a two-dimensional surface. ''Trompe l'oeil'', which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into ...
'' artwork on its walls, which is among the finest known domestic examples in the state. The property 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 ...
in 1992, and was delisted in 2023.


Description and history

The Steward–Emery House is located on the west side of North Main Street (Maine State Routes 8 and 16), just north of Madison Street and south of the Carrabec Community School, on the northern fringe of North Anson village. it consists of a roughly square main block, connected via ells of decreasing size to a large carriage barn; the entire complex forms an L shape. The main house has a truncated hip roof topped by a low balustrade at the center. The walls are finished in clapboards, with quoined corners. The front facade, facing east, is three bays wide, with a central entrance sheltered by an ornate portico with chamfered posts and elliptical arches. Above the entrance are paired round-arch windows; the remaining bays have sash windows. The south facade of the main block has an enclosed Colonial Revival porch extending across most of hits length. Unfortunately, in 2019 a house fire caused by a space heater took the life of the resident, and left the house in disrepair. It has since been torn down. The building interior follows a central-hall plan, with high-quality woodwork and marble fireplace surrounds on the first floor. The hall, from the ground floor to the attic, has been painted with an extensive and extremely well-preserved ''
trompe-l'œil ''Trompe-l'œil'' ( , ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a two-dimensional surface. ''Trompe l'oeil'', which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into ...
'' fresco that includes elements painted to resemble woodwork paneling, elaborate cartouches, and a richly detailed cornice. Some of the downstairs chambers have also retained portions of this fresco work. The frescoes are believed to be the work of a Danish artist named Wallentine L. Keiler (b. 1840) whose name is painted on an attic post. The paintings rival in sophistication, and exceed in quality of preservation, all other documented examples of this type of work in the state, including several notable examples 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 ...
. The house was built about 1870 for Marcellus Steward, a businessman about whom is little known. He purchased what is believed to be this property in 1866 (deed research is unclear), and is presumed to have built the house soon afterward. The Colonial Revival additions, included the porch on the south side and enlarged windows on the front, were made by his daughter's family.


See also

*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Somerset County, Maine This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Somerset County, Maine. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Somerset County, Maine, United S ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steward-Emery House Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine Italianate architecture in Maine Colonial Revival architecture in Maine Houses completed in 1870 Houses in Somerset County, Maine National Register of Historic Places in Somerset County, Maine Former National Register of Historic Places in Maine