Historic New England: Hamilton House

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A striped header image reading Historic New England: Hamilton House

My second stop on my adventure in Maine was Hamilton House, located in South Berwick just down the road from Sarah Orne Jewett House Museum & Visitor Center. These Georgian style homes were built around the same time, with Hamilton House constructed around 1785 by wealthy privateer Jonathan Hamilton. He copied and enlarged the architectural features seen at Jewett House. Notable similarities include the layout of the houses, three-story buildings with four rooms on the main floor, a grand central staircase, and a wooden arch in the atrium, reminiscent of a ship’s hull. Hamilton House is more traditionally decorated than its counterpart across town, with Neoclassical wallpaper and white trim. The owner of this opulent manor paid double the taxes of the next best house in town. Due to the high price in upkeep and the economic downturn surrounding the Jefferson Embargo of 1807 and the War of 1812, the Hamilton family was forced to sell the house during the second generation.

A Georgian house with tall chimneys across from a long garden with symmetrical shrubs and a fountain. A black and blue sign reading Hamilton House c. 1785. The Historic New England logo is on the lower right corner. A sign reading Hamilton House The Hamilton House Exterior Preservation and REsiliency Project is being supported in part by a Save America's Treasures grant from the Historic Preservation Fund administered by the National Park Service, Department of the Interior. A Georgian house viewed through a short white wooden pergola in a garden. A stone path leads through the pergola. Three-quarter view of a Georgian house with tall chimneys. The house is three stories high, with large doors on both visible sides and many windows. View of the back of a Georgian house. The three-story wooden home is perfectly symmetrical, with a tall red brick chimney at each corner of the house. A small brown wooden house with windows of multiple sizes. A pergola stands to the front right of the house. The front of a small brown house seen across a green lawn. A stone wall stands in front of the house. A large window with a semicircular top takes up much of the front of the house. A a pair of small connected red wooden buildings surrounded by shrubs. The side of a wooden house with a large window. Behind the house is a body of water surrounded by trees. A body of water surrounded by trees. A white faux-marble statue of a woman wearing a dress and carrying flowers under her arm. Tall flowering plants surround the statue. Steps up to the short white pergola are being the statue.

The homeowners of Hamilton House and Jewett House were well-acquainted for several generations, as they were the wealthiest members of the area even during a bad economy. Sarah Orne Jewett loved the building and convinced her friends, widowed heiress Emily Tyson and her stepdaughter Elise Tyson, to purchase and preserve Hamilton House. She even included the house in her novel The Tory Lover, alongside surprise appearances of Benjamin Franklin and John Paul Jones. (I have not read this book and have heard mixed reviews from four tour guides to date.) In return, the Tysons memorialized Jewett’s home on a custom mural painted onto the wallpaper in their Parlor. Created by George Porter Fernald, it depicts architecturally significant buildings in the Piscantaqua River region of Maine and New Hampshire. Additionally, the adjoining parlor was decorated in a Tory Lover theme, with customized valances featuring silhouettes of the main characters.

A Neoclassical mural painted on the wall around an open door revealing a large hallway and another room. A dining room with a square wooden dining table and matching chairs. On the left wall is a fireplace with a mirror hung over the mantel. The back wall has two large windows with sheer white curtains and painted wallpaper. A decorative clock hangs between the windows. A wooden side table with a pair of matching candle sticks and a Neoclassical statuette of a womman wearing a green and pink tunic. On the wall behind the table is painted wallpaper of a Venetian fantasy scene. A pair of swans swim in a canal, while a group of woman have a conversation in a walled garden. Neoclassical wallpaper of stacked stone arches with garlands hanging below each arch and an hurn with flowers set atop each arch. The background is light blue. A 19th century barometer hung on a wall in the hallway. A model of a late 18th or early 19th century merchant boat approximately a yard (a meter) long set atop a wooden chest in the hall at Hamilton House. A decorative clock with a round clock face, a midsection shaped like a lyre, and a rectanglar bottom. The trim of the clock is painted gold, while scenes of nature are painted on the front. A white and green porcelain tea set on a tray. White and dark blue wallpaper with a leaf pattern. The corner of the Parlor showing details of the Colonial Revival style painted wallpaper featuring buildings from the local area. Another corner of the Parlor show details of the painted wallpaper. The building on the left wall is a three-story Georgian house with light yellow paint and green shutters.

Outside the home is the Salmon Falls River, a tributary of Piscataqua River marking the border of Maine and New Hampshire. The gardens are filled with seasonal flowers. Outbuildings include a rustic garden cottage and a bright red shed. The venue can be rented for weddings, with one being set up during the tour. Photographers will love to linger both inside and outside to capture stunning images.

A fireplace with the bust of Benjamin Franklin on the mantel between a pair of fans and a pair of decorative urns. An Oriental style firescreen depicting a man wearing a kimono-like garment walking towards a pagoda. A set of five white, wooden shelves holding a mismatched assortment of glassware and ceramics. A traditional 18th century fireplace with cast iron pots. A pair of twin beds with matching white coverlets and wooden bedframes. Framed paintings hang over the beds. A bedroom with a poster bed cover by an intricate canopy, a pair of rugs on the floor, furniture, and floral wallpaper.

As an added bonus, the guide on this tour was among the best I have experienced at Historic New England sites. She kept the perfect balance of explaining the history of the area, the design details of the house and its contents, and the stories of its past residents through multiple generations. She gave a clear picture of why the house mattered in the context of local and national history. Additionally, she was an excellent crowd controller, managing a full tour that included a baby while allowing everyone to fully explore the rooms and ask questions.

A decorative Colonial Revival style rug depicting horses and plants. A view into a parlor with a matching pair of floral print easy chairs and a large red Oriental rug. A bust of John Paul Jones stands on the mantel. A Tory Lover themed valience, with sillouettes of a woman and a man. A white, wooden archway in the atrium of a home, near a grand staircase. A John Jay Audubon print of owls hung over a fireplace A window with sheer curtains facing a short long and a body of water. A window with sheer curtains facing a garden. The stairwell, with the stairs going up on the left. At the end of a short hallway is a floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the garden.

Just like at Jewett House, 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 by wheelchair, and the stairs might be too steep for people with low mobility. Hamilton House does not have an online virtual tour at this time. While the baby on my tour was well-behaved and had an attentive family (in stark contrast to the baby on the Lyman Estate tour), I must emphasize that this is not a baby-friendly experience; please leave your baby with a sitter.


Abby Epplett’s Rating System

Experience: 10/10

Accessibility: 7/10



Location: 40 Vaughans Ln, South Berwick, ME 03908, USA