L.L. Bean founder Leon Leonwood Bean’s Freeport home will be getting a splash of color if a restoration project, up for review by the Freeport Planning Board next week, is approved.
“The objective is to return the house to its historic appearance during the period of significance,” said Freeport-based historic architect Malcolm Collins, who has been contracted for the restoration project.
It is believed that the Queen Anne style home, located at 6 Holbrook St., across a parking lot from Main Street, was designed by Francis H. Fasset, Portland’s leading architect of the 1870-1880s.
“This is the house that L.L. Bean and his first wife Bertha moved into when they moved to Freeport in 1912,” said Collins, noting that during this period L.L. Bean founded his company and invented the product that the company built its reputation on: the Maine Hunting Shoe, now commonly called the Bean boot.
L.L. Bean continued to live at 6 Holbrook St. until the time of his death in 1967. Bean’s second wife, Claire, sold the home a year later and it passed out of the family until 1987, when the company purchased it back.
Collins has been involved in the project since 2007, when he was first contracted to conduct an exhaustive historic structures report to determine the original appearance of the home.
“A historic paint specialist made an extensive report,” said Collins, “and they were able to determine every color of every paint layer,” and particularly the color scheme of the house during the period of significance.
“Francis Fassett was known for very colorful work, and the color scheme during that period used five colors on the exterior,” he added. “A couple of paint manufacturers were able to give us duplicates of those colors. It will certainly catch your eye when you drive past it.”
Key to getting the restoration project up and running was L.L. Bean Museum and Archive Center administrator Ruth Porter, said Collins.
“I was actually looking for some extra space to store things,” said Porter about her early involvement in the project. “I thought it was important that we take care of the house, which to me meant that we restore it and at least bring the exterior back to its former glory.
“It’s a beautiful house, but I’m not fond of it totally white,” she added, referring to the current color of the building. “If you look at the colors, it was once very unique.”
The interior will be updated with climate controls, Porter noted giving her the sought-for extra storage space.
In addition to restoration and some new construction on the main house and adjacent barn, some demolition work will also be done.
“The reason for the (demolition) work is that there were several additions put on after the period of significance,” said Collins, “and we will remove those and restore what used to be exterior walls and are now interior walls.”
Two additions will be removed and rebuilt with structures in the existing footprint, said Collins. Another addition will be replaced with a deck, as appeared on the structure during the period of significance. One addition, built in the 1980s, will be demolished and replaced with a climate controlled gallery.
“All of the additions are in poor shape and were poorly built,” said Collins. “To restore them we would have to remove them and rebuild the foundations.”
Historic photographs of the home also show a wood shingle roof, said Collins. The asphalt shingles on sloped portions of the roof will be removed, he said, and replaced with cedar shingles with copper flashing. Two chimneys will also be restored; those had previously been removed leaving only one chimney.
The work to be reviewed now is part one of the twophase project, said Collins. Phase one includes restoration to the exterior of the home, while phase two would focus on restoring the interior.
The Freeport Planning Board will review the project materials and conduct a public hearing at 6 p.m. July 9 in the Freeport town hall council chambers, located at 30 Main St. Materials detailing the project are available for viewing at the town planner’s office, located in the town hall.
rgargiulo@timesrecord.com
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