The Baxter Summer Home is a historic house on Mackworth Island, in

Casco Bay Casco Bay is an bay, open bay of the Gulf of Maine on the coast of Maine in the United States. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's chart for Casco Bay marks the dividing line between the bay and the Gulf of Maine as running from ...

off the coast of

Falmouth, Maine Falmouth ( ) is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 12,444 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area. A northern suburb of Portland, Falmouth borders Casco Bay a ...

. Now a centerpiece of the campus of the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf, the house was built in 1917–18 by

James Phinney Baxter James Phinney Baxter (March 23, 1831 – May 8, 1921) was an American politician, businessperson, historian, civic leader, and benefactor of Portland, Maine. He was elected as mayor of Portland for six single-year terms between 1893 and 1905. Hi ...

, and was given (along with the rest of the island) to the state by his son

Percival Perceval (, also written Percival, Parzival, Parsifal), alternatively called Peredur (), is a figure in the legend of King Arthur, often appearing as one of the Knights of the Round Table. First mentioned by the French author Chrétien de Tr ...

, a two-term

Governor of Maine The governor of Maine is the head of government of the U.S. state of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the governor of Massachusetts was chief executive. The current governor of Maine is J ...

best known for establishing

Baxter State Park Baxter State Park is a large wilderness area permanently preserved as a state park in Northeast Piscataquis, Piscataquis County in north-central Maine, United States. It is in the North Maine Woods region and borders the Katahdin Woods and Wa ...

. The house was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1985.

Description and history

The former Baxter Summer Home is located near the center of Mackworth Island, a roughly circular island located just of the coast of Maine, and joined to it by a causeway. Most of the island is a state park, and open to the public. The house is located in a campus-like setting, surrounded by the dormitories and school facilities of the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf, an area not generally accessible to the public except by prior arrangement. The house is a 2½ story masonry structure, built out of dark red brick, with a green terracotta tile roof and a fieldstone foundation. An enclosed porch extends along the south side of the building, and there is a circular solarium on the north side. The main entrance faces east, and is flanked by sidelights, with a transom window above which has stained glass highlights in a sailing motif. The entry is sheltered by a portico supported by Ionic columns and Doric pilasters. Mackworth Island was purchased in 1885 by James Phinney Baxter, a six-time mayor of

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

and a leading historian and businessman of the period. He retained Portland architect Frederick Thompson to design this house, which was built in 1917–18, replacing an earlier wood-frame structure (since demolished). The property was inherited by his son Percival, who served two terms as

in the 1920s, and most notably gave the state most of the lands that make up

. In 1943 he donated the island to the state to provide a permanent home for the state School for the Deaf, which was renamed in his honor. The school moved onto the island in the 1950s.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine Renaissance Revival architecture in Maine Houses completed in 1917 Houses in Cumberland County, Maine Buildings and structures in Falmouth, Maine National Register of Historic Places in Cumberland County, Maine Baxter family

Description and history

See also

References