The Cobe Estate, also known as Hillside Farm, Cariad or Oak Hall, is a historic summer mansion house on Bluff Road in
Northport, Maine. Overlooking
Penobscot Bay
Penobscot Bay () is an inlet of the Gulf of Maine and Atlantic Ocean in south central Maine, a stretch known as Midcoast Maine, in a broader Atlantic region known as Down East. The bay originates from the mouth of Maine's Penobscot River, ...
, this 1910s mansion is one of the largest Colonial Revival houses in the state. It was built in 1912-14 for Chicago lawyer
Ira M. Cobe, and 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 1983.
Description and history
The Cobe Estate is in northern Northport, on the west side of Bluff Road just south of the
Bayside neighborhood and the Northport Golf Club. The house is a large 2- story structure, whose main section and side wings are finished in brick. Its long facades face the northeast and southwest, and are sheltered by two-story colonnades of columns, round on one side and square on the other. The southwest colonnade is topped by a Colonial Revival railing, protecting a balcony space accessible from the attic level. Two-story wings extends the house's length, with one end also sporting sunporches.
The interior of the house is lavishly appointed, with marble and carved woodwork widely used. The central hall has flanking wooden staircases rising to a common landing. Walls feature both wooden and plaster paneling, with the music room particularly decorated with designs incorporating musical instruments. All of the rooms are Colonial Revival in style except for the library, which has Gothic features.
[
The house was designed by Benjamin H. Marshall of Marshall & Fox, a leading ]Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
architectural firm, and was built in 1912-14 for Ira M. Cobe, a Chicago lawyer and investment banker. Cobe's wife Anne was from Belfast, Maine
Belfast is a city in Waldo County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population was 6,938. Located at the mouth of the Passagassawakeag River estuary on Belfast Bay (Maine), Belfast Bay and Penobsc ...
, and the house was built in Northport so that she could be nearer her family in the summertime.[
The estate grounds were designed by Warren H. Manning.]Passions
''Passions'' is an American television soap opera that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1999, to September 7, 2007, and on DirecTV's The 101 Network from September 17, 2007, to August 7, 2008. Created by screenwriter James E. Reilly and ...
as the exterior of the Crane Mansion.
See also
*
* List of Gilded Age mansions in Maine
References
External links
The Oak Hall Estate
{{National Register of Historic Places
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine
Colonial Revival architecture in Maine
Houses completed in 1912
Buildings and structures in Waldo County, Maine
1912 establishments in Maine
National Register of Historic Places in Waldo County, Maine
Gilded Age mansions