Historic New England: Castle Tucker

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A black, white, and light blue striped header image with the words Historic New England: Castle Tucker

Stop three on my two-day tour of Maine was Castle Tucker, a property of Historic New England in Wiscasset, Maine. This charming tourist town has a history as a busy port along the Sheepscot River stretching back to the early colonial era. Many residents in the 18th and early 19th century made their fortunes through the shipping industry’s Transatlantic trade routes.

An oddly shaped yellow house. The front portion is a cube with many floor to ceiling windows. The windows on the top floor are rectangles, while the windows on the bottom floor have a semicircular top. On either side of the cube are cylinders with more windows and a chimney. In front of the building is a grassy lawn. The property is surrounded by trees. The yellow house viewed from the side. The cube section is at the center of the picture. The cylindar is in front of the cube. A smaller, rectangular addition to the house is on the right. A wider view of the house. In addition to the sections seen in the previous image and second smaller rectangle piece of the building connects the house to a barn or garage.  View of the house from the opposite side, with the same structure as before, but in reverse. Official Historic New England Castle Tucker Sign; A black and blue scene reading Castle Tucker 1807 with the Historic New England logo on the lower right side. A view of the opposite side from the house as seen from down a hill. An oblong white cloud about the side of the house is directly above it in an otherwise clear blue sky. The original side of the house but seen from an extreme angle standing very close to the rectangular part of the building on the right.

The house itself, then called Elm Lawn, was built in 1807 by the Lee family. Patriarch Silas Lee built a solid brick structure with the money he had made with shipping, along with investments in real estate. Lee was a career politician with widespread influence, but this did not protect him from the economic downturn caused by President Thomas Jefferson’s disastrous Embargo Act of 1807 and the War of 1812. The Hamilton family, who built Hamilton House in South Berwick, Maine, also suffered from these events, and this is not the last time I will write about the recession! Back at Elm Lawn, Lee died in 1814, burdening his family with his debts. The house was first rented out and later sold. In 1845, local politician and swindler Franklin Clark added an ugly addition to the house and was arrested for attempting to leave without paying for it.

A diagram showing the original brick structure of Castel Tucker during its construction in 1807 versus the hideous cube addition added by 1860. A sunroom with large rectangular windows on the left wall and a window with a semicircular top on the front wall. A whitewashed room with a red brick counter. Gifts available for purchase sit on a wooden table at the center of the room. Farming tools hang on the walls. Another view of the whitewashed room with farming tools on the walls. A parlor with floral wallpaper, parquet flooring covered with an oriental rug, matching red upholstered furniture, and portraits hung on the walls. A winding wooden staircase in a grand entryway.

In 1858, recently married shipping agent and former ship captain Richard Tucker, Jr., entered the picture. At a forty-one year old, his life had changed abruptly when he met widow Mary Armstrong and her sixteen-year-old daughter, also named Mary Armstrong. Of course, Richard married Mary — the sixteen-year-old, that is. Within a year, she was pregnant with their own daughter, also to be named Mary. Anticipating a growing family, Richard bought Elm Lawn from the people to whom Franklin Clark owed money. Richard renamed the estate Castle Tucker after himself. He should have called it Mary.

A pendant light fixture hanging from a rosette on the ceiling. A decorative clock with a black case and golden trip topped by the statue of a man wearing a cloak. A unique lamp with an ornate metal boddy and a lampshade made of red fringe. The lamp is a attached to a wall with leafy wallpaper. A billiards room with the billiards table in the center, a shelf with books to the left of a fireplace, and a grandfather clock to the right. A model steam ship about three feet (one meter) long. A pair of blue sunglasses from 1850. A basic bed in a room with floral wallpaper and matching floral carpet. Detail of the sunroom's cardboard repairs, with blue or red strips holding together panels of cardboard. A close-up of the leafy wallpaper

The Tuckers were the Kardashians of 19th century coastal Maine. Richard and Mary had five children, one of which died in infancy, and nearly got divorced after dealing with financial difficulties, Mary’s stay at a mental hospital, and a twenty-five year age gap. The entire family wrote long, nasty letters to each other, which are preserved by Historic New England. Mary the Third joined Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, while the other children had equally interesting but odd careers. The family spent less time at Castle Tucker, turning the home into an invite-only rental property. Unwilling or unable to spend money on repairs, they fixed water damage to the sunroom using cardboard, which actually does not look too bad.

A tall double door with a wood framed window on either side and a semicircular window above. A room with floral wallpaper, a fireplace with a cast iron insert, a decorative clock on the mantel, and a painting hung on the wall above the fireplace. A cast iron fireplace attached to the wall underneath a shelf holding vases of faux flowers, candlesticks, and a basic clock. Three shelves and a counter filled with floral dishes. A bureau holding a washset and a matching pot on the floor beside the bureau. Opening the chest to reveal a hidden chamberpot to match the washset. A decorative clock with an art nouveau style wooden case. A simple bed in a room with floral wallpaper Detail of a carpet with a multicolored pattern. A still life painting hung on floral wallpaper. A singer sewing machine on the dining room carpet Detail of the basic clock in the dining room Detail of rose wallpaper Detail of floral wallpaper Detail of the decorative fans and paintings pinned to the cardboard wall in the sunroom. Another view of the billiards room, with a pair of curios cabinets topped with busts and a billiards table in the middle of the room.

The youngest child, called Jane or Jennie, ran the business until the 1930s, when wealthy visitors stopped coming to Wiscasset. When she died in 1964, she left the house to another Jane Tucker, her niece, who worked with Historic New England to maintain and restore the building. Historic New England has controlled Castle Tucker since 1997, with the second Jane Tucker remaining as a resident until 2003. She is memorialized with a picture and sign in the gift shop.

A large cast iron kitchen stove in front of a red brick fireplace. An open window showing the view of the lawn and river nearby. A sink set in a counter surrounded in vertical shiplap. Fancy kitchen cabinet with many doors for storage. Two seat outhouse painted blue Three busts of old white men set on a ledge about a doorway. A laminated image of an old woman standing in the parlor of Castle Tucker. The name Jane Tucker is on a plaque to the right of the image. A basket and wooden box with decorative writing. Details of the large cast iron stove featuring the built-in waffle maker A view of a shed through a window with a heavy curtain. A view of the lawn and river from a window with a red curtain A kitchen table covered with faux food and cooking supplies. A shelf on the wall above the table holds baking supplies. A round clock hangs on the wall above the shelf. A pair of braided rugs over the wooden floor.

The tour guide at Castle Tucker was fun and accommodating, like visiting the home of an old friend. The house is filled with unusual and eclectic items from the Tucker family’s collection. Like many Historic New England properties, tours run on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from Historic New England’s open house in June through mid October with tours on the hour at 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Tickets are standard Historic New England pricing: $15 for adults, $13 for seniors, $7 for students, and free for Historic New England members (like me!). The house is not accessible to those using a wheelchair, and the stairs might be too steep for people with low mobility. Castle Tucker does not have an online virtual tour at this time. My bonus note for this house is please be polite to museum employees! Our lovely guide was flustered at the start of the tour because another visitor had yelled at her and tossed a book in the gift shop.


Abby Epplett’s Rating System

Experience: 8/10

Accessibility: 7/10



Location: 2 Lee St, Wiscasset, ME 04578, USA