Greek Revival Farmhouse

Small Town Life And Home Preservation / Restoration
In The Maine Highlands

What Style Am I?

Having given very little thought to the actual architectural style of the house, I was a little surprised when a visitor described it as "Greek Revival". Most people who have cared to venture a view agree it's a Greek Revival Farmhouse. One opinion was more Late Victorian and I can see why - the small porch roof has sort of fancy brackets seen on Victorian houses, apparently the bay window is more of a Victorian feature and the door hardware is kind of "ginger-bready" looking.

But - there are more features in common with Greek Revival - corner pilasters, wide cornice boards, front-facing gable, etc. We don't have a large pediment or porch columns. I believe this could be called a "vernacular variation" Greek Revival farmhouse.

A "Fixer-Upper"

Located northwestwest of Bangor in Guilford, Maine. A small town in Piscataquis county, the population density is around 5 people/square mile.

We bought this house in 2005 with the intention to "fix it up".

Starting the great project in early 2006, progress has been slow. Mostly cleanup at this point, we're hoping mostly to restore the house to good condition while keeping as much of the original building as possible in tact.

We believe the house was built some time between 1850 - 1880, based on the opinions of knowledgeable people. The property assessor stopped by (boo ...) and was very helpful and the Old House Nuts at the Old House Web mostly all agree it's circa mid to late 19th century.

Conclusions ... So Far

The intermingling of the 2 styles (Victorian and Greek Revival), balloon framed house with post and beam barn and other things draw me to the conclusion that the latter part of the estimate is probably correct. The house was probably built after 1870 and before 1880. This opinion can change at a moments notice ... I'd like to find some carpenters plan books from that era and see what was in them.

"Home" Page

Kitchen - Realty vs Reality

So, here's what the realty picture looked like on the web.
Scroll your mouse over to see what we found when we got there ...