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The Benjamin Cleaves House is a historic house on South High Street in Bridgton,
Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...
,
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. Built in 1828, it is a well-preserved late example of Federal period architecture, and is most notable for the murals drawn on its walls, probably by the itinerant artist
Rufus Porter Rufus Porter may refer to: *Rufus Porter (painter) (1792–1884), American painter, inventor, and founder of ''Scientific American'' magazine *Rufus Porter (American football), American football linebacker in the National Football League {{Hndis, ...
. 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 1988.


Description and history

The Cleaves House is located on the west side of South High Street, between Bridgton Hospital and Tuttle Lane. It is a -story wood-frame structure, five bays wide, with a side-gable roof, two interior chimneys, clapboard siding, and granite foundation. Its main facade is symmetrical, with a center entrance flanked by sidelight windows and topped by a segmental louvered fan. A hip-roofed porch extends across the southern facade, and a telescoping series of ells extend from the rear of the main block to join it to a large barn. The house interior has a narrow central hall with winding staircase, and parlor rooms in front to either side. Both the hall and the northeast parlor walls have painted murals, depicting country and coastal scenes. The house is believed to have been built about 1828 for Benjamin Cleaves, a local tinsmith. It is a well-preserved late example of Federal period architecture, a form of which Bridgton only has a few examples. The murals on its walls are attributed to Rufus Porter, and are believed to have been painted between 1830 and 1835. The subject material and form of the murals is stylistically with guidelines published by Porter in his 1825 publication ''Curious Arts'', and uses a more bold color palette than his earlier work.


See also

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


References

{{National Register of Historic Places Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine
Cleaves Cleaves is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Cassius Cleaves (born 2003), English rugby player * Henry B. Cleaves *Jessica Cleaves (1948–2014), American singer-songwriter * Margaret Cleaves (1848–1917), American physician *Ma ...
Houses completed in 1828 Buildings and structures in Bridgton, Maine National Register of Historic Places in Cumberland County, Maine