Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village’s historic herb house is in the process of being turned into a state-of-the-art community center by 2026. Rory Sweeting / Lakes Region Weekly

Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village is in the midst of renovating their herb house into a state-of-the-art museum and community center.

According to a booklet explaining the project in detail, Sabbathday’s herb house is the last bastion of an herb growing tradition that has existed since the 1790s. The building itself has been in poor condition for quite some time, but restoration is a vision that the Shakers have had since the 1970s. According to Shaker Museum Director Michael Graham, a renovated herb house would give Mainers the opportunity to teach and learn traditional crafts, as well as giving the Shakers, who now number just two elderly congregants, the opportunity to preserve their artistic and agricultural traditions.

Graham notes that the herb house is part of the Shaker Village Master Plan, which was conceived in 2019 in order to improve the spaces that the Shakers use for living, work and worship. Some of the other important projects include replacing the brick roof on the large building that the Shakers live and worship in, as well as the restoration of a yellow garage that was built in 1910 to house the first automobile ever used in New Gloucester.

The Great Barn, built in 1820, currently houses the village’s large sheep population. Rory Sweeting / Lakes Region Weekly

Besides the herb house, the other major project was the restoration of the Great Barn, which has been in use since 1830, and is the only actively used Shaker barn in the country. The barn restoration, which was sponsored by the National Park Service’s Save America’s Treasures program, saw such an extensive renovation, being literally “picked up in the air” for a year while new foundations were placed underneath, that very little maintenance will be needed over the next century. Work on the barn is expected to be completed in 2025.

With those three projects either completed or well underway, the village has been able to make progress on a more public-facing project: the herb house, sponsored by the National Endowment for Humanities. Graham noted that they are still raising funds for the herb house, which will cost around $4.4 million, but they are a little more than halfway there. According to Graham, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, is a longtime supporter of the project, and has proposed that Congress approve $1.2 million in funding. Graham is cautiously optimistic that the funding will come through next year, after the new government takes office. If all funding falls into place, the herb house should be on track to be completed by 2026.

One of the leading risk factors to the 200-year-old building was the failing granite block foundation. While correcting this issue, the project leaders realized that, with just a few more feet and a slab, they could create a brand new lower level. As of 2024, the plans for this new level are highly ambitious, with it consisting of a community gathering space, classrooms for traditional and culinary arts, and an outdoor kettle and plaza. The existing building will be restored to museum standards, and become the headquarters of the Shakers’ herb business, which is expected to quadruple its production once the project is complete.

“I think that’s one of the things that’s most satisfying to the Shakers is that this isn’t going to become something else,” said Graham. “It’s going back to its original purpose as a production center for herbs, a centerpiece for the farm, and a place where people can come to collaborate and learn.”

The former foundation of the herb house will be converted into classrooms and a community gathering space. Rory Sweeting / Lakes Region Weekly

Graham envisions the herb house becoming not just a museum, but also a sort of “third place” for the New Gloucester community and beyond. The building will be open year-round free of charge, removing all barriers for the people of Maine to learn about the Shakers and their community. With 100,000 students within an hour’s drive of the village, the project is also designed to be aligned with the school year, which is new for Sabbathday Lake.

Graham noted that Sabbathday Lake is trying to “really create a hub around (the village), and transform it from a tourist attraction to a place that holds the people of Maine in relationship.”

The herb house will also be the first ADA-accessible building on the property, with a wheelchair-accessible elevator servicing all three levels of the building. Graham lamented that the existing buildings were inaccessible to individuals with disabilities, and that some volunteers had “aged out” of being able to access them. He hoped that the elevator would eliminate any barriers for guests to have an experience with living Shaker culture.

The building will be lowered into its new foundations in early December. While Graham noted that the process is intricate, and not particularly engaging for onlookers, this is a major milestone in the project, and one that will be open to the public.