Westbrook Historical Society President Mike Sanphy and project curator Deborah Shangraw display a $100,000 check donated by the Cornelia Warren Community Association toward the restoration of the Harris House. Behind them is one of several oil-painted murals, which will be preserved as part of the project. Robert Lowell / American Journal
The preservation of Westbrook Historical Society’s Nathan Harris House and plans to turn it into a museum got a jump-start this month with a $100,000 check from the Cornelia Warren Community Association.
The society will use the funds to restore the exterior of the 195-year-old house on Main Street.
“I’m thrilled they believe in us,” project curator Deborah Shangraw said. “Once I have the money, it’s no holds barred.”
The Harris House is located on Main Street in the Cumberland Mills triangle. File photo
Shangraw hopes the $100,000 from the association, a charitable group that funds projects in the city, will cover all exterior work except for windows. She has $25,000 in previous donations and will apply for additional grants to finish the entire restoration, which she estimates will cost at least $260,000.
Harris, a well-to-do merchant, built the Cumberland Mills house in 1828, and the Cape-style building has been on the U.S. Department of the Interior’s National Register of Historic Places since 1993.
Pamela Pallas, the widow of attorney Ray Pallas, earlier this year gifted the landmark to the historical society in keeping with her husband’s wishes. In April, the historical society announced plans to restore the house as museum and learning center for the community. Shangraw said then she envisioned it similar to the Tate House Museum in the Stroudwater section of Portland.
Shangraw said she’d like the Harris museum to also play a role in teaching schoolchildren about local history and the importance of preservation.
The immediate goal is to get the exterior work completed before freezing weather, she said. A new roof is needed, steps need to be repaired and rotted clapboards need to be replaced. Jarred DesVergnes of Alpha Remodel Design in South Portland will handle the exterior restoration.
In the spring the house will be painted beige with “colonial maroon” trim, colors that are “warm and inviting. We want it to stand out as elegant,” Shangraw said. The house once had exterior window shutters that will be put back in place.
The furnace is in “good shape” and found to be ready for another 20 winters.
Shangraw hopes that Westbrook Public Services would remove the vegetation surrounding the house with the exception of a century-old rose bush.
Inside, period-appropriate wooden boards will replace modern flooring and other late-date fixtures like lighting will be removed and replaced.
“My goal: I want it 100% renovated by 2024,” she said.
Restoring the oil-painted murals on interior walls, which once were covered with wallpaper, will take a little longer.
“The murals are a godsend,” Historic Society President Mike Sanphy said.
Shangraw sees the murals preserved by 2025.
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