The herb house at the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village was lowered on Dec. 3 as part of a multi-year renovation project. Rory Sweeting / Lakes Region Weekly

Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village celebrated a major milestone in its years-long project to restore the herb house last Tuesday, Dec. 3, as the 200-year-old building was lowered onto its new foundation.

In spite of the cold weather and the slow-but-intricate lowering process, turnout was strong, with around two dozen village employees and friends of the community, as well as one of the two remaining practicing Shakers, coming out to celebrate this milestone.

The lowering is just the latest step in a multi-year project to preserve and restore the last bastion of an herb growing tradition that has lasted for more than two centuries. The herb house is part of the larger Shaker Village Master Plan, which has also seen the restoration of the village’s barn, garage and main living space. Although the house was initially to be lowered mainly to correct the failing granite block foundation, the project has also expanded to include the construction of a lower level.

Plans for the restored herb house, particularly the new level, are highly ambitious, including museum-quality exhibitions, a community gathering space, classrooms for traditional and culinary arts, and a wheelchair-accessible elevator to transport disabled guests between floors. In addition, village Director Michael Graham envisions the herb house becoming a local hub where people from the New Gloucester community and beyond can come and learn about traditional Shaker crafts and customs.

Russ Gardner, a member of the Friends of the Shakers nonprofit, helped to raise funds for the herb house, and was optimistic that it would bring a lot more awareness locally and nationally to Sabbathday Lake.

“Anytime you save a 200-year-old building, there’s nothing but positives there,” said Gardner.

Work underway on lowering the herb house at Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village. Rory Sweeting / Lakes Region Weekly

Although Tyler Credit, head gardener and outdoor program manager at the village, was not directly involved in the herb house project, much of his work will move into the new building once it is complete. The herb house, he said, would be the first building at the village to be open year-round, with most of the property’s buildings only open seasonally due to a lack of ventilation. Credit said he was also excited for the chance to grow his herb classes, which are currently maxed out at 10-12 people.

Edward Walworth was the Shakers’ former physician, and recalled a time when they numbered five or six. Walworth has long been close to the community, regularly attending their Sunday meetings, and remembered when Brother Arnold, the younger of the two living Shakers and de facto leader of the religion, whom he referred to as a “real dynamo,” spoke at his wife’s funeral. Walworth was one of many who contributed to the herb house and financially supported Sabbathday Lake.

The lowering took place slowly and methodically over the course of the day, with the herb house moving around 7 inches closer to the foundation after two hours. Some of the attendees noticed that the building foundation was not completely level, with a noticeable bend just beneath the front door. Graham was uncertain whether the building was actually unlevel or if the bend was merely an optical illusion, while friend of the community Annette Kreutziger-Herr attributed it to the building being historic and tied to a foundation for centuries. Most attendees were optimistic, though, that it would not be a problem for future construction.

Renovations are currently underway to fix a drainage issue at the Shaker meetinghouse. Rory Sweeting / Lakes Region Weekly

The herb house was not the only building in the village being renovated that day. Across the street, excavators were at work in the garden outside of the village meetinghouse. According to Credit, this was to fix a drainage issue that was affecting the meetinghouse, while also installing a new fence around the garden. Unlike the multi-year endeavor of the herb house project, Credit hopes those renovations will be finished by the end of the year.

As the lowering slowly progressed, attendees gathered inside the main building, where Brother Arnold served lunch and caught up with friends, old and new. While inside, he talked about the history of the herb house, and how its restoration was the culmination of a half-century-old vision.

“The herb house being restored,” he said, “is a fulfillment of an over 50-year dream. Brother Ted first envisioned it back in 1972. We’ve been wanting to do that ever since, but have not had the means or ability to do so. The time seemed right now, and we decided that Brother Ted was right. Our hope is to see more of the community come here and experience this for themselves.”

Graham also talked about the strong community that has developed around Sabbathday Lake in spite of the Shakers’ low numbers, saying “(he thinks that) at the heart of all this is mutualism, and that’s what brings us all here.”