BRUNSWICK

The Brunswick house in which Harriet Beecher Stowe lived at the time she produced her most famous novel will be getting a facelift that will make its appearance closer to the way it looked in the mid- 19th century.

The Brunswick Village Review Board on Tuesday unanimously granted the building’s owner, Bowdoin College, a certificate of appropriateness to allow renovations of the 209-year-old building at 63 Federal St.

The college will use the building for offices, while a barn and former restaurant on the property will be used for storage space.

Renovations will consist of rehabilitating the building’s exterior and demolition a portion of the restaurant area constructed between the 1940s and 1950s.

Doing so will detach the house from a barn that is, in turn, connected to the socalled “motel” building used as student housing, restoring a historical element to the property.

S. Catherine Longley, Bowdoin’s chief financial and administrative officer, told the board the renovation would be a modest rehabilitation of the “Stowe House proper.”

The Stowe House is on the National Register of Historic Places and located within the federally-designated Federal Street Historic District.

The college intends to “restore select areas of the property” using research including historical photographs and helping to return the building to its 1855 appearance, according to a memo from Nancy Barba, the college’s architect.

Also known as the Titcomb house, the building was also home to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow when he was a Bowdoin student. Stowe occupied the colonial-style house between 1850-1852 at a time when her husband, Calvin Stowe, was teaching at Bowdoin College.

Stowe is believed to have written the anti-slavery novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” at the time. The renovation will include a room dedicated to Stowe memorabilia.

According to the college, the building was remodeled in 1855.

“There’s very little left of what (Stowe) touched and felt, except for the shape of the space within the building,” Barba told the village review board, as a result of the 1855 renovation.

The site was home to an inn and restaurant from 1946 until 1998, before being purchased by the college in 2001.

Board members praised Bowdoin College’s plan on Tuesday.

“I think it looks like a terrific project,” said VRB Chairwoman Emily Swan.

Board member Karen Topp, employed by Bowdoin College, recused herself from Tuesday’s discussion.

No members of the public addressed the board.

Neighbors were informed of the proposed renovation at a neighborhood meeting earlier this month.

Town Council Chairwoman Sarah Brayman, who attended the meeting, said the neighbors’ response was positive.

“I’m thrilled to see the college is renovating the building,” Brayman said in an interview on Monday.

Brayman said Bowdoin’s current plans are preferable to a renovation floated a couple of years ago that would have included additional office space in the back of the building. There was some concern about the impact that plan would have had to the neighborhood.

“They’ve spent a lot of time studying the building,” Brayman added. “They’ve paid a lot of attention in taking great care to restore it in an appropriate manner.”

Demolition is expected to begin in March and continue through July.

jswinconeck@timesrecord.com

History of the house

THE STOWE HOUSE is on the National Register of Historic Places.

ALSO KNOWN AS the Titcomb house, the building was also home to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow when he was a Bowdoin student. Stowe occupied the colonial-style house between 1850-1852 at a time when her husband, Calvin Stowe, was teaching at Bowdoin College.

STOWE IS BELIEVED to have written the anti-slavery novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” at the time.