WISCASSET — Earle G. Shettleworth Jr., Director of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission and Maine State Historian Historic New England will give a walking tour of historic Wiscasset on Friday from 2 to 3:30 p.m.
The tour will begin at Castle Tucker, 2 Lee St., at 2 p.m. and proceed down through the village to the Nickels- Sortwell House, 121 Main St. Light refreshments will be served in the Nickels-Sortwell House solarium or garden at the end of the tour.
Admission is $25 for Historic New England members and $30 for non-members. The price includes tours of Castle Tucker and the Nickels- Sortwell House.
Visitors interested in touring both houses before the walking tour should arrive at the first house no later than noon. Anyone interested in taking one house tour prior to the walking tour should plan on arriving for that tour no later than 1 p.m. Guest passes will be issued to those who wish to tour the houses at a later date.
A news release describes the homes on the tour as follows:
Built in 1807 and lived in by one family from 1858 until the turn of the 21st century, Castle Tucker visitors travel in time back to Victorian Wiscasset through the stories of Capt. Richard H. Tucker Jr., his wife, Mollie, and their five children in the setting of their home. This large, Regency style mansion is still fully-furnished with the original furniture, belongings and decoration brought here and used by the Tuckers over the years. Preserved by three generations of Tucker family women, Castle Tucker boasts one of the most intact Victorian interiors in the country.
Nickels-Sortwell House was also built in 1807, but tells a very different story. This Federal mansion was built as a trophy home by a successful sea captain whose family’s time in the mansion was tragically brief.
After years of use as a hotel, the house became the summer home of successful industrialist and former mayor of Cambridge, Mass., Alvin F. Sortwell and his family in 1899. Lovingly restored in the Colonial Revival style, the house was filled with antiques and enjoyed by multiple generations of family and friends in a by-gone world of leisure and privilege.
Pre-registration is required and space is very limited. This program will not be offered to the general public next year.
For more information, call 882-7169 or visit www.historicnewengland.org.
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