Victoria Mansion, Historic House Museum - Portland, Maine - History Museums on Waymarking.com

The Victoria Mansion, is an Italianate style brownstone mansion that is historically known as the Morse-Libby Mansion. It was built in 1858 as a summer home for hotel magnate Ruggles Sylvester Morse and his wife Olive. The mansion was designed by architect Henry Austin. Morse lived in the house until he died in 1893. In 1894 the house was sold to Joseph Ralph Libby, a Portland merchant and department store owner. Libby occupied the house until 1928. The house was abandoned and was saved from demolition by William H. Holmes who bought and preserved the mansion as a museum that he opened in 1941 and that he named the Victoria Mansion. It continues to be operated as a museum.

The Victoria Mansion Museum is a restored home museum that recreates the lavish lifestyle, in a social and historical context, of the Gilded Age in the late 19th century in America. The Mansion features 19th century technologies such as gas lighting fixtures, hot running water, a servant call system. The Mansion is furnished with period furniture, trompe l'oeil wall paintings, works of art, wall to wall carpets, stained glass, porcelain, silver, and glassware items.

The mansion has an asymmetric design with a central four story tower with a single window on the second level, then a round window, and at the top a triple set of tall windows with rounded tops. At the bottom of the tower is a central entrance reached by a set of steps. The entrance is flanked by four fluted Ionic columns and four semi-fluted square columns.

A veranda with a flat roof is to the west of the entrance. Set back, above the veranda are a pair of ornate windows. To the east is a protruding block with three tall rectangular windows, Above, on the set back second level is a triple set of ornate windows.

Theme: History of the lifestyle of the Gilded Age of late 19th century America. Street Address: 109 Danforth Street Portland, Maine 04101 Food Court: no Gift Shop: yes Hours of Operation: Daily 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM. May through October Closed November 1-24 Open Tuesdays-Sundays 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM during the Holiday Season Close Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's s Day Cost: 16.00 (listed in local currency) Museum Size: Medium Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]

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