The Philler Cottage, previously the Dark Harbor House Inn, is a historic house at Pendleton Point and Jetty Roads in
Islesboro, Maine
Islesboro is a town in Waldo County, Maine, United States, comprising Islesboro Island and several smaller islands. The population was 583 at the 2020 census. It has a summer colony accessible by state ferry service from Lincolnville Beach ...
. Built in 1894 for a wealthy
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
banker, it is a high-quality regional example of a
Georgian Revival
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover, George I, George II, Ge ...
summer house. It 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 town of Islesboro occupies an eponymous island in
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, ...
, on the central Maine coast. The island is roughly shaped as two lobes joined by a narrow isthmus. The Philler Cottage is located close to the village of Dark Harbor, at the northern end of a peninsula that juts south from the southern lobe of the island. It is set on a roughly triangular property bounded on the north by Pendleton Point Road (the main north–south road on that part of the island) and on the south by Jetty Road. The house is a -story wood-frame structure, with a
hip roof
A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downward to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope, with variants including Tented roof, tented roofs and others. Thus, a hipped roof has no gables or other ve ...
, clapboard siding, and a two-story servants wing extending to one side. The roof is pierced by two brick chimneys and several
dormer
A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a Roof pitch, pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window.
Dormers are commonly used to increase the ...
s with
gable roof
A gable roof is a roof consisting of two sections whose upper horizontal edges meet to form its ridge. The most common roof shape in cold or temperate climates, it is constructed of rafters, roof trusses or purlins. The pitch of a gable roof c ...
s, and is topped by a widow's walk railing. The long sides of the house each have an entrance sheltered by a porch with Tuscan columns, and an upper-level
balustrade
A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its ...
with posts topped by urns. A two-story porch, also supported by Tuscan columns, adorns the west side.
The house was built in 1894–96 to a design by architect Fred Savage of
Bar Harbor, Maine
Bar Harbor () is a resort town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population is 5,089. The town is home to the College of the Atlantic, Jackson Laboratory, and MDI Biological Laborat ...
, for George Philler, a wealthy banker from Philadelphia. Philler was one of a number of Philadelphia businessmen who organized an exclusive resort development in the Dark Harbor area, which was anchored by the now-lost Islesboro Inn. The house had served as the Dark Harbor House Inn,
[ which is now closed.
]
See also
*
References
{{National Register of Historic Places
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine
Colonial Revival architecture in Maine
Houses completed in 1894
Houses in Waldo County, Maine
National Register of Historic Places in Waldo County, Maine