The Riggs-Zorach House is a historic house in the Robinhood area of
Georgetown, Maine
Georgetown is a town in Sagadahoc County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,058 at the 2020 census. Home to Reid State Park, the town is part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area. Located on an island accessible by ...
. Built in the early 19th century for a local state legislator, it is an excellent local example of Federal/Greek Revival period architecture. It is most prominent as the home of artists
Marguerite Thompson Zorach
Marguerite Zorach (née Thompson; September 25, 1887 – June 27, 1968) was an American Fauvist painter, textile artist, and graphic designer, and was an early exponent of modernism in America. She won the 1920 Logan Medal of the Arts.
Early lif ...
and
William Zorach
William Zorach (February 28, 1889 – November 15, 1966) was an American sculptor, painter, printmaker, and writer. He won the Logan Medal of the Arts in 1927. He was at the forefront of American artists embracing cubism.
He is the husband of ...
in the mid-20th century. 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 Riggs-Zorach House stands near the end of Stone Bridge Lane in Robinhood, a hamlet in northeastern Georgetown on the banks of the
Sasanoa River. The house is set on and oriented with a view toward the water. It consists of a -story main block, to which a series of additional structures (ell, carriage barn, and barn) are connected, giving the entire structure a W shape. The main block has a combination of Federal and Greek Revival features, with narrow Federal period molding around its windows, and a Greek Revival entrance surround. The building is covered by gabled roofs, with clapboard siding and a granite foundation. The interior has Federal period wood paneling and detailing on its main staircase.
The house was built sometime in the first three decades of the 19th century by James Riggs, the son of Benjamin Riggs, who came to the area in the 1770s. The younger Riggs was a merchant who also served one term as a state legislator. The house remained in the Riggs family roughly through the end of the 19th century, and was abandoned for about 20 years. In 1923, it was purchased by
William
William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...
and
Marguerite Zorach
Marguerite Zorach (née Thompson; September 25, 1887 – June 27, 1968) was an American fauvism, Fauvist Painting, painter, textile artist, and graphic designer, and was an early exponent of modernism in America. She won the 1920 Logan Medal of t ...
. William was a
Lithuanian
Lithuanian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Lithuania, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe
** Lithuanian language
** Lithuanians, a Baltic ethnic group, native to Lithuania and the immediate geographical region
** L ...
immigrant and sculptor, whose works, as well as those of his wife, a prominent Fauve and post-modernist painter and textiles artist, have been displayed in major American museums. The house served as the Zorachs' summer studio until his death in 1966.
[
]
See also
*
References
{{National Register of Historic Places
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine
National Register of Historic Places in Sagadahoc County, Maine
Federal architecture in Maine
Houses in Sagadahoc County, Maine
Georgetown, Maine